16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
This is about the 5 time this question has come up in the past couple of weeks so please don't be disappointed to hear that it takes time and lots of patience.
Depending on the weather, approximately 6 weeks is required between fruit set and ripening. No way to rush it. But it will happen.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Timeline
Hi,
I use led grow lights to ripen my toms they flower quickly and the fruits are much bigger and juicer than normal, i heard all the commercial growers were using them so i managed to get one from the Uk by these guys led-lightbulb.co.uk. It is very good and better than my sodium lights by far. I though i would let you know how i ripen my toms quicker than most.hope this helps.
Here is a link that might be useful: tomato ripening
Thanks bmoser - I used a spool (150ft) of jute from "lot" store and it sagged when it got wet (trying to "weave" plants next to fence), it's a mess. I needed it NOW so just went to TSC and bought baling twine - it's jute/sisal too but seems to not stretch quite as much, maybe I should have gotten the synthetic but I like just cutting it and letting it decompose over the winter.
Now to finish picking off the lower leaves, tie everything up again, and spray before more rain - so far have escaped LB, I haven't even really started my harvest yet!
Got some more used baling twine Sat and strung up my "leftover" tomatoes that were sprawling (they haven't gotten too bushy yet, planted those really late). Not all of them - ran out of twine. Gotta finish those today too.
gumby - you can come buy from me ;-)
This plant was labeled "San Marzano" and I bought it through our local community garden plant sale. It has been abnormally dry here, but my garden is irrigated and my other plants are just fine (as is this plant. It is growing beautifully). All the fruit are the same-hollow. The group that runs the community gardens says they get their seed from "local" growers. I think they got "stuffed!"
Please see the post linked below as they were unable to attach it to your question for some reason.
There can be a couple of potential causes for your problem but the most common is called Blossom Drop, a very common problem that is temperature related and discussed here in many discussions. There is also a FAQ about it.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: answer to your question
Do you find that you end up eating/freezing/canning them when they are still mostly orangish-red and still a bit firm?
No because just like any other variety they will ripen indoors if left undisturbed. So there is no need for under-ripe eating or canning.
Picking tomatoes at breaker stage and ripening inside rather than leaving them on vine and the many advantages to doing that is often discussed here.
Dave
Deer LOVE tomatoes. I have an electric fence around mine. They would come into my kitchen garden which is between two porches and only about 10 x 15 and eat the plants to the ground. Ah it was so nice when this place was in the country, but we have been suburbanized.
Easiest way to keep deer at bay is by using a "fear based" repellent like Shake-Away Coyote Urine Granules.
Simply sprinkle around the area you wish to protect. Can be purchased at many Ace Hardware stores or this Natural Deer Repellent can be purchased at Critter-Repellent.com. Good luck!
Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Deer Repellent
Knowing where you are located or at least your gardening zone would be a big help in answering your question. The possible causes are many and could simply be planting too late.
Over-fertilizing is another option given the info provided as it can lead to large plants with small/low fruit production.
Are your plants heavily mulched as they should be? Do you water deeply or are you one of the 20 mins. a day type water folks? Raised mounds dry out quickly and so need lots of deep watering and heavy mulching.
Have you ever had your soil tested to see what it lacks? Miracle Grow lacks many nutrients.
Need much more information.
Dave
Sorry for not providing my zone since it makes a big difference. The soil has been analyzed by the university and there were no recommended enhancements for growing tomatoes. The plants are mulched because of the problem with silt and absorption. Also I confess to being one of those 20 minute persons, but I am only tending 12 plants. The garden area is quite flat, so since I have never delt with a silt garden I probably miss judge the water volume requirements. I plan to bring in as much compost as possible to work in this fall, but I will try to find a way to get more water to these plants in the meantime.
Some manures and other organic matter are contaminated with clopyralid, picloram or aminopyralid.
Here's info about clopyralid contamination which persists for a year
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/clopyralid.htm
Here is a link that might be useful: contaminated manures, etc (WSU)
There are two kinds of Powdery Mildew that can affect tomatoes, but neither one of them are the same that causes powdery mildew of cucurbits such as squash, cukes, melons, etc.
Your plants look pretty good to me as well, just a few yellow leaves that always appear from time to time. I see no spots on the leaves that would suggest a foliage infection, nor do I see any evidence of a systemic disease either, at this point.
With the weekend rains we just had in our area no doubt youll see mroe yellow leaves and since reports if late Blight ( P. infestans) are in out area, do keep a look out for the symptoms of that disease since it's spread via wind and rain, and once infected the plants can be a pile of black mush within a week.
There are many many pictures of Late Blight if you do a Google search.
Blight is just a general word and doesn't refer to any specific disease although there are quite a few specific diseases that have the word blight as part of the name. For instance Early Blight ( A. solani) is a foliage disease and can be controlled, and Early Blight and Late Blight are caused by two different pathogens and either one can appear early OR late in the season. Southern Blight is a systemic disease and caused by another specific pathogen. Systemic diseases are those where the pathogen is found in the soil.
Hope that helps.
Carolyn
Seeds are not commercially available. It is an F1 hybrid. See link below for more info.
Carolyn's book is available from amazon.com and several other online book stores.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Source for Purple Haze seed discussion
I'll offer a bit of real life experience......
Lawn company used weed killer with 2-4D as an ingredient.
8 weeks later, after many mowings with removal of all clippings, I saved some grass clippings and allowed them to dry on driveway.
After drying, I used clippings as mulch on some potted plants
Shortly after, the plants began curling up as if they had Cucumber Mosaic Virus.
The lack of cucumber beetles and a little research later suggested possible herbicide damage.
I removed the grass clippings and flushed a ton of water through the potted plants.
Each recovered and produced a good supply of fruit.
Tomato plants are known to detect minute traces of 2-4D. They are able to detect levels that lab equipment can't.
Hope this helps,
Lee
Your problem is what you have in the containers already. Adding more junk to it will only make it worse.
Read here about BER and what causes it - and it isn't lack of calcium in the soil.
Then do some reading on what growing mixes belong in containers. They don't include garden soil or pea stone or compost or bone meal.
Container size is yet another problem.
Sorry but based on the information you have provided and this late in the season it is going to be really difficult to get any usable tomatoes out of your set-up no matter what you do now. Better luck next year.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: BER FAQ and discussions
I will answer the easy ones!
2. No. Once they are pretty much turning color, you can pick away. If you like the way they taste that way (with a little green inside) then eat them. If not, you could certainly just wait a couple days for them to turn orange on the counter.
And as an aside, if you let them go all the way to orange on the plant, and it rains a lot, they will split like mad on you.
4. They really don't last a super long time, but a few days will be fine. Don't put them in the fridge, as they'll lose all that sweetness.
1. I don't know exactly how long it takes to go from green to orange, but it's only something you'll notice for the first few. After a while, especially for Sungold, you'll have so many ripe ones every day that you won't be worrying about it anymore.
I'm sure that the weather and water also have an impact on the time from fruit to ripe.
5. All of the stuff like banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds aren't actually helping until they decompose. Check out this link:
Here is a link that might be useful: Here is discussion of adding egg shells, coffee grounds that might help