Tomatoes

[Doug99]

Cheers all - I've been keeping my mini greenhouse door open during sunny days to keep the temp down and vent the plants. Maybe that's why ripening is taking time. I'll shut the door

 

[Doug99]

I've started harvesting those toms which have ripened, but several have split. I made sure to keep the grow bags moist throughout the growing season so rather disappointed. Should I have taken them off sooner? I left the red toms on the plant as others on the truss were still green. I had visions of the whole truss turning red together.
Not too down though as I have lots of good looking toms.

 

[KenGMac]

Doug99, good evening.again.

Yes i was harvesting today, and have found several split Toms, reds and yellows, large and small.do not like the waste but there were not too many of them, the ones i do not feel too bad about are the Tome "Hiding" behind leaves and in almost inaccessible positions. As an aside that has also occurred with both courgettes and believe it or not Cucumbers, note to self get a Machete? well possibly not?

The story goes that if you leave a ripe Tom on a truss the still green Toms will turn, and they do, look at what happenc at the end of season pick all the Toms red and green, leave them all in a basket, red and green together, after a wee while all[or most] will turn red.

The trick is that you need to pick when ready, OK an obvious statement but ?

Ken.

 

[sodthisforfun]

I've started harvesting those toms which have ripened, but several have split. I made sure to keep the grow bags moist throughout the growing season so rather disappointed. Should I have taken them off sooner? I left the red toms on the plant as others on the truss were still green. I had visions of the whole truss turning red together.
Not too down though as I have lots of good looking toms.

Again, that's normal. Fluctuating temps can cause that, as well as watering - watering needs to be as even as possible. I grow my toms outside and often have some split because (I think) dry spells and then rain. It's hard to avoid imo! Still, as you say, it's worth growing them anyway. I always end up with enough so many toms that I don't know what to do with them

Cheers all - I've been keeping my mini greenhouse door open during sunny days to keep the temp down and vent the plants. Maybe that's why ripening is taking time. I'll shut the door

Just looked it up because I couldn't remember the exact time scale (only that it takes so much longer than realise), but it takes 20-30 days for a tomato to grow from flower and around another 20+ days for it to turn red. I don't think it's anything you're doing wrong!

 

[Doug99]

I have lots of ripe toms but there are many still green. As temps are now cooling, when should I pick the greens to bring indoors to ripen? Cheers all

 

[Nige F]

Picked these the other day. Dropped the same amount round my sisters on the way home. Still have more than that to harvest and that’s just my regular toms. I have twice the total amount of plum tomatoes and they are twice the size but as yet, not one of my plum tomatoes has started to ripen.

]

you have offended me with your tomato success. Never again in my garden

 

[Mottie]

you have offended me with your tomato success. Never again in my garden

That was about a quarter of my harvest - don’t know what I did right, I didn’t stake them, didn’t feed them, didn’t pinch them out, just let them grow into one big mess - a bit like a blackberry bush but with tomatoes! We have just roasted them all, put them through the blender and then strained them through a fine sieve to get 8 massive portions of pasatta which we have frozen. That’ll go in any spag Bol and chilli con carne recipes we make. Still waiting for the plum tomatoes to ripen and that will be our chopped tomato bases.

 

[securespark]

View attachment 170570

Gorgeous!

 

[Doug99]

I have lots of ripe toms but there are many still green. As temps are now cooling, when should I pick the greens to bring indoors to ripen? Cheers all

 

[sodthisforfun]

I have lots of ripe toms but there are many still green. As temps are now cooling, when should I pick the greens to bring indoors to ripen? Cheers all

Entirely up to you. I don't find at the end of season the last green ones ripen that well, and tend to go soft and not great tasting by the time they turn red. Personally I just pick those red or slightly turning ones leftover and leave the rest on the plant. Sometimes get to pick a few more before the cold gets to them.

Edit: here's a couple of ideas: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/end-of-tomato-season.htm

 

[scbk]

What should you do if a tomato grows an erection?

Should I give it a tug?

 

[Mottie]

Talking of Toms, just got this email from our allotments:
Evening friends – a Plot Holder has found tomato blight on tomato plants. It is seen as brown or black marks on the tomato stems – do not put in your compost bins or dig into the ground but dispose in bags and take to the tip.

Bugger! Only composted half of mine last week.

 

[sodthisforfun]

Talking of Toms, just got this email from our allotments:
Evening friends – a Plot Holder has found tomato blight on tomato plants. It is seen as brown or black marks on the tomato stems – do not put in your compost bins or dig into the ground but dispose in bags and take to the tip.

Bugger! Only composted half of mine last week.

Did yours have blight? If not, don't worry!

 

[Mottie]

Did yours have blight? If not, don't worry!

I didn’t notice. I suppose it better pull them out of the compost bin to check.