i have never taken all leaves off. Some, yes but not all. Monty said to reduce watering to once a week at this time, that doesn't sound enough. I have reduced my watering to once a day rather than twice.
I try to ripen as many on the plant. I have had masses this year but I had more plants than previous years. I think the flavour hasn't been as good. But I still have trays and trays roasting in the oven. I roast them with a little drizzle of oil. Then bag and freeze them for winter soups and casseroles. Great!
Actually the plants are continuing to produce flowers and set new fruit. But that may not be what you want. If you were growing for more fruit and were guaranteed more heat and sun then you can let them continue to grow, flower and fruit.
I keep mine going with a bit of pinching out the tips until the beginning of September and clear out the entire plant by end of September or early October depending on the weather.
Sitting looking at the Bank Holiday rain, I'm ever hopeful of an Indian summer this year!
i have never taken all leaves off. Some, yes but not all. Monty said to reduce watering to once a week at this time, that doesn't sound enough. I have reduced my watering to once a day rather than twice. ......
Mine only get watered when the leaves go a bit limp in the day and they don't perk up in the evening. Never more than twice a week, sometimes not even once a week. They're in big pots outside.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Chicky.....what photosynthesis is needed now for tomato plants? the plants, as I see it,,are simply holding the fruit whilst they naturally ripen.
I don't know - I was quoting from GQT as it seemed relevant to the discussion. If we all agree that they taste better ripened on the vine, then something must be happening to them whilst they are there......maybe PS helps in that process? But I don't really know .....I have a CB book downstairs, might go and read the photosynthesis chapter
Oh, Chicky, you are the second person this week to mention the "C" word, naughty! I have had huge crop of outdoor toms, picked a good bowlfull today. I took the leaves off in July, Hubby and a friend told me off, well, they were so big and bushy, and had melded in with the runner beans, and spuds. Some of the leaves have grown back, I took them all off apart from the very top ones, so the sun could ripen them,
The tomato plants seem well able to decide when their own leaves are spent. I cannot figure out this desire for gardeners to fiddle with the plants. Why? We don't do it to other crops, so why the poor old tomato.
Only in my case, because they had become huge, you couldnt get down the path separating them from runner beans and spuds, when I remove sideshoots I only take the ones in the "fork" between main and sideshoot, Hubby takes off a lot more, I hadnt done that and they had just gone barmy, and the toms in the centre werent getting any sun. I work away a couple of days each week, and in my absense, they had grown so much.
But tomatoes don't necessarily need sun to shine on them to ripen them. As we know tomatoes can ripen in a closed drawer. Sideshoots are one thing, wholesale removal of leaves is another.
We don't denude bean plants, for example. Or potato plants, before the foliage turns yellow or gets blight. Or chilli leaves.
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i have never taken all leaves off. Some, yes but not all. Monty said to reduce watering to once a week at this time, that doesn't sound enough. I have reduced my watering to once a day rather than twice.
I try to ripen as many on the plant. I have had masses this year but I had more plants than previous years. I think the flavour hasn't been as good. But I still have trays and trays roasting in the oven. I roast them with a little drizzle of oil. Then bag and freeze them for winter soups and casseroles. Great!
Actually the plants are continuing to produce flowers and set new fruit. But that may not be what you want. If you were growing for more fruit and were guaranteed more heat and sun then you can let them continue to grow, flower and fruit.
I keep mine going with a bit of pinching out the tips until the beginning of September and clear out the entire plant by end of September or early October depending on the weather.
Sitting looking at the Bank Holiday rain, I'm ever hopeful of an Indian summer this year!
Mine only get watered when the leaves go a bit limp in the day and they don't perk up in the evening. Never more than twice a week, sometimes not even once a week. They're in big pots outside.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I don't know - I was quoting from GQT as it seemed relevant to the discussion
. If we all agree that they taste better ripened on the vine, then something must be happening to them whilst they are there......maybe PS helps in that process? But I don't really know .....I have a CB book downstairs, might go and read the photosynthesis chapter
Part of the process of photosynthesis is that it fixes CO2 into sugars - isn't that what we want when ripening tomatoes?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Oh, Chicky, you are the second person this week to mention the "C" word, naughty! I have had huge crop of outdoor toms, picked a good bowlfull today. I took the leaves off in July, Hubby and a friend told me off, well, they were so big and bushy, and had melded in with the runner beans, and spuds. Some of the leaves have grown back, I took them all off apart from the very top ones, so the sun could ripen them,
Only in my case, because they had become huge, you couldnt get down the path separating them from runner beans and spuds, when I remove sideshoots I only take the ones in the "fork" between main and sideshoot, Hubby takes off a lot more, I hadnt done that and they had just gone barmy, and the toms in the centre werent getting any sun. I work away a couple of days each week, and in my absense, they had grown so much.
We don't denude bean plants, for example. Or potato plants, before the foliage turns yellow or gets blight. Or chilli leaves.