Tomatoes - strange results
Boater
Posts: 241
I don't know if it's the cool, wet and windy summer we had, or the month I was away on holiday (most of September), or a combination of both, or seeds that weren't what they claimed to be.
I started some Gardeners Delight in propogators way back, maybe as early as March. First thing I noticed was way more seeds in the packet than advertised, so many that I ended up with more plants going outdoors than in my conservatory.
I am bad with seedlings and they always get quite leggy, these were no exception, and even once planted in growbags (pots outdoors) they continued to grow and grow and grow. By the end of August I had some flowers and some tomatoes starting to form, which I knew meant they would probably be about ready when I got back.
Having got back from holiday the wind devasted the garden (again) and it took a few days to tidy up the outdoor plants and cut the side shoots out of all them (some were huge) and see what I had.
What I had was a few small ripe tomatoes and quite a few green tomatoes, and some trusses still flowering. I fed the plants since only a few had started fruiting before I left and only those ones got fed, and only once. Another week on and I have picked some of the tomatoes (half a dozen maybe) and some others are starting to turn orange, but in all honesty most of my plants are not going to produce ripe fruit before it gets frosty, some have not fruited at all.
The tomatoes I picked were very nice and sweet, leading me to suspect I could have been sent seeds for a cherry variety which would explain the size of the tomatoes, but not the fact that the plants are still growing happily long after they should have flowered and fruited.
Any ideas? I know I have mucked them about a lot but I would have thought that would have lead to early fruiting or just dying.
Posts
Hi Boater
i'm afraid that you just can't neglect tomato plants and expect to get optimum results.
The reason most of us give our tomato plants a lot of attention, pinching out the sideshoots before they're an inch long, staking, watering and feeding regularly and stopping the plants after they've reached the appropriate number of trusses, is because that's the way to get good fruit.
I really don't think that you can ignore them for a month and expect good results - especially in Scotland where the weather is hardly ideal for outdoor tomatoes.
What happened to the ones in your conservatory? Did you get someone to water them?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
There was a thread here a couple of months ago. Several posters bought GD seeds and ended up with a small yellow plumb tom.
I bought Sungold, and mine turned out to be yellow plum toms and not sungold.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Hi Dove, I wasn't expecting optimum results, I tried to start them early in the hope they might be ready before I went away with the expectation that by the time I got back they would be ruined. I wasn't going to bother at all this year but then I saw the GD came in a small packet size and decided to try anyway.
I used a computerised timer to water the conservatory plants - probably had too much water overall although I was aiming for the same amount as a weekly watering divided by 7 days. I don't think the drippers are as accurate as they make out. I normally water once a week, 1 can (5l) per growbag and that seems about right, once fruit sets every second watering is a feed so only really missed one and next one a bit late.
I pinched out the growing tips (and sideshoots) of all the plants in the week before I left, but they continued to sideshoot whilst I was away. I didn't realise they could still make sideshoots after the tip was pinched out, I thought it was supposed to cause some chemical change that makes them concentrate energy on fruit instead? Obviously I got that wrong!
I'm just curious why they seemed to be so slow to set in the first place, and whether the neglect would normally lead to small tomatoes or if it was more likely the wrong seed?
You are quite right about the troubles with growing in Scotland, my tomatoes are never as good as other people's, maybe I should give up and concentrate on something Scottish like Raspberries
Pointless growing them outdoors up here Boater. I don't know anyone who's ever bothered trying to grow them outside. Too much rain and cold conditions. We don't get consistent overnight temps for long enough, and that slows the whole process down. If they don't get well pollinated you won't get so much fruit either, and weather has a big influence there too.
I've had to bring most of mine indoors to ripen as they weren't brilliant even undercover. I normally get a decent crop, but it's been colder than usual through the main summer months so it's been less consistent.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Tomatoes outside in Scotland is a pipe dream except for the summer of 76 (or was it 77?). That was the last time I grew tomatoes outside.
It was '76 Hogweed. That's the summer Wonky was born - very hot!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Can someone tell me how I can ripen my tomatoes off please.
I've been told to wrap them in newspaper and put them in a dark place.
I just pick and bring them indoors and lay them on a tray in the windowsill - they ripen within a few days.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Or put them in drawer with a ripe banana.
I put mine on a sunny wondowsill like Dove - seems to work. But I have done the banana one too and that works just as well, I think.
My tomatoes outside have done better than ones inside the polytunnel this year. And the polytunnel ones get a lot more love. I think I must give off 'dead tomato vibes' so the less they see me the happier they grow.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Thanks everyone.
It was just my overflow that went outside, I should have not sowed all the seeds really, but then it was a bit of a trial and now I need not try again
I've had about a dozen small but very nice tomatoes, and I will try to ripen up some others.
My carrots on the other hand haven't been troubled by the neglect, they are enormous!