GWRS thank you, I seem to have been berated for removing leaves from toms, BUT I couldnt get down the path either. Last year I got blossom end rot, in my greenhouse toms, April it was very hot in the day, and "normal night temps", my outdoors did very well, so this year I grew them all outside, and they have done very well.
I always remove the leaves, starting as I pluck the first crop - did it this year and now I'm having difficulty keeping up with cropping. I leave the fruit to ripen 'naturally', i.e. on the vine but, when they stop ripening that way but there are still plenty left, I take one or two that are half-ripened and then put them in brown paper bags together with a half-ripened one in each bag and store them somewhere not too hot or cold; just ensure it's dark. Last year, I went on holiday for 2 weeks from the middle of September and came back to a huge amount of ripened tomatoes. Lovely home-made tomato soup at Christmas and plenty of spaghetti sauce, to say nothing of the lovely tomato salad when we returned home.
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Well, as I said I couldnt get down the path for the tomatoes,, so there was no choice, everyone said it would kill them, but it made them stronger!!!
just proves that gardening isn't an exact science! ask 6 gardeners for advice, get 6 different answers!
I picked amother bowlful of ripe tomatoes today. I feel another soup coming up!
Who was it that said"I didnt do the experiment wrongly 300 times, I learnt how NOT to do it" Trial and error!
Yep we all find our way,,,, might not be the most direct but we get there.
Deedot is right , we all have slightly different ways of doing the same thing , that's what make gardening interesting
O/H does take some leaves off and I cut the tops when they reach the top of the greenhouse or they block the path
This year the little toms outside have done better than the greenhouse ones , strange ?
GWRS thank you, I seem to have been berated for removing leaves from toms, BUT I couldnt get down the path either. Last year I got blossom end rot, in my greenhouse toms, April it was very hot in the day, and "normal night temps", my outdoors did very well, so this year I grew them all outside, and they have done very well.
Also removing some of the lower leaves does make it easier to water
I always remove the leaves, starting as I pluck the first crop - did it this year and now I'm having difficulty keeping up with cropping. I leave the fruit to ripen 'naturally', i.e. on the vine but, when they stop ripening that way but there are still plenty left, I take one or two that are half-ripened and then put them in brown paper bags together with a half-ripened one in each bag and store them somewhere not too hot or cold; just ensure it's dark. Last year, I went on holiday for 2 weeks from the middle of September and came back to a huge amount of ripened tomatoes. Lovely home-made tomato soup at Christmas and plenty of spaghetti sauce, to say nothing of the lovely tomato salad when we returned home.
