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What to do with my tomato plants now?

EB123EB123 Posts: 23
in Fruit & veg
I grew cherry toms from seed for the first time this year and now have a range of plants in pots that I am not sure what to do with. A couple look dead with mostly brown, woody stems. Many still have tomatoes on them - red, orange and green. Many have new growth and one has just sprouted a load of new flowers. Some are really really tall. They seem to need less regular watering as many of the saucers below the pots still have water in each morning. I have a plastic outside greenhouse (but the door zip is broken) and I have some room inside to put a few plants in front of a south-facing window. I am in south-east London. What should I be doing and when with these plants?

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    This time of year, I strip off all remaining fruits and dispose of the plants. Treat as annuals in the  UK. There is insufficient light and heat in the winter months for them unless you have a heated articially lit greenhouse.
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Although your tomato plants are reaching the end of their productive life, try not to leave them standing in water as that will accelerate their demise. Remove the flowers that have recently appeared as they will not produce fruits this late in the season. Unripe tomatoes can be brought indoors and many of them will ripen if you spread them out on a tray. I will be leaving mine in the greenhouse for a while longer but it depends where you live as to whether or not you should leave the fruits or bring them indoors immediately. As you are in London I reckon you don't need to rush outside and strip the vines of tomatoes just yet as it is still fairly warm. Once you have dealt with the tomatoes, get rid of the plants and look forward to growing more next year.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    My tomatoes are outdoors so I take off new growth and flowers around early-mid September because they won't produce any more fruit, and take off some leaves (particularly any tatty ones) to allow as much sunlight as possible to reach the fruit that's already formed.  When there's frost forecast (usually sometime in October but it can be later) I take off all the fruit and put it on a tray on a sunny windowsill to finish ripening, and chop up the plants for the compost bin. Any tomatoes that don't ripen can be cooked, or made into chutney if there's enough (most of mine usually ripen, eventually, which is fortunate because we're not big chutney eaters).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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