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Tomatoes why does thou not begin to ripen..eth?
Joe Brown2
Posts: 65
in Fruit & veg
First year growing tomatoes, Ukranian purple & Moneymaker. Both have a reasonable number of fruits on, moneymaker more productive but looks like some Ukranian ones will be huge. Anyhow one truss of the moneymaker has seven large fruits but they seem to have been that size for coming on two weeks now and show no sign of changing from green, is this acceptable for this time for year or should I be concerned it's due to some sort of issue with their care? The plant(s) seem otherwise healthy, have about 5-6 trusses on most fruiting though this truss on one plant is ahead of them markedly.
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All that's needed is a bit more patience. You should notice the green fruit becoming paler green before they begin to change colour
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sunshine and warmth (in moderation) help, but it just takes time. If you haven't done so you could try remoiving the lower leaves, which are probably yellow and horrible by now anyway. This lets more light and air in to the lower trusses. Pinching out the top helps too. I'm sure they'll be yummy
Agree with the patience as mine are much the same - it's not been a great "sunshine" summer to be fair
Keep your door and window open (if in a greenhouse) as even on a cooler sunny day, my temperature gets past 100° F (37° C) - feed once a week and water regularly - pinch out shoots and some of the thicker, leafier branches - they will come
yeah been taking off side shoots (though trained it to two main stems, well the one in question) and watering no probs.
Yeah it's a greenhouse though a cheap plastic jobbie so no window but can leave zip door wide open. So how hot is too hot, since it said heat more than light I assumed they liked it hot to change colour, though I've had the door open when it gets over 30c.
Steve309
Sunshine and warmth (in moderation) help, Yup...living up here in the north we'd like to share a little of what the south has been getting or its going to be green tomato chutney for me!
Lots of supportive good advice there, JB2: Here in coastal SW Wales my indoor Gardeners Delight are only just now giving the first ripe fruit. Plenty of green fruit coming on nicely, so I'm clearing the lower leaves too (makes it easier to feed & water too). Green Zebra is obviously not going to go 'red', but Moneymaker in the same gh are also slow to mature this year. Patience is a virtue which every gardener does well to cultivate!!
Anything above low-20s is optimum for ripening. It's the temperature that's key, not direct sunlight. They will ripen in full shade if the temp is right. In good ripening weather, you're looking at roughly 4 weeks to ripe from the time the tom starts to change from dark green to a lighter green.
Temps into the 30s are fine, though you risk plant stress, particularly in an enclosed environment. I've got temps into the 40s up on my terraces, ripening is pretty rapid, and the open-air environment helps with the stress problem. The downside is that flowers rarely set fruit at that temperature so I'm getting fruit that set before the heat hit. It's a little cooler overnight now so fruit is starting to set again.
I grew tomatoes for the first time here in 2013. I read in the gw mag that the particular author of the article sowed his seeds at the start of January, my dad, who has been growing here for 30 years almost, laughed at me and said it wouldn't work.
Well, it did work,very well, just as the article said, we have warmer Springs and here, at least, the best weather is in June. By then, my plants had set their flowers and were planted in the greenhouse. they took advantage of the mid year sun, longest days and so on, and I had so many tomatoes the freezer was full and they lasted well into the winter.
Must admit, my dad did eat his hat!
This year, with other commitments, I didn't sow until mid March, and now, as everyone is saying, they are not ripening very quickly, we will soon be going into cold nights again, I can see a lot of green tomato chutney being made this year.
January it is for me next year, laugh if you like, I have thick skin, bit like the tomatoes at the moment
Outside ours just beginning to turn, in the glasshouse been picking for weeks here in South Wales, Shirley and Gardeners delight.