Tomato Growing 2024

The toms look a bit twisted but I'd wait a while before doing anything like ripping them out.

 

I also grow tomatoes in a greenhouse border.
Several of mine had contorted tops when the sudden warmth struck, but the same thing happens every year when it changes from chilly to warm.
After about a week, they get used to the warmth and the growth returns to normal.

See how they look in a week or two before doing anything drastic.

 

I'm not sure but if it is weedkiller, even if the plants grow out of it the fruit could be tainted and have a strange taste,
I hope not, but just saying.

 

Thanks @infradig , Yes the person who sprayed the field has the appropriate licences. What REALLy annoys me is I originally bought Grazon Pro for sorting the sycamore seedlings. Again a broadleaf killer stated to be good for Scyamore seedlings. On the label it states that any resulting manure from fields sprayed with Grazon Pro should not be used for growing vegetables. Fair enough. I took the product back to the agricultural merchants and bought Doxstar instead There is NO warning on Doxstar which I bet has very similar active ingredients. I have contacted the producers of Doxstar to A, complain, B ask if the affected plants do actually produce anything will the tomatoes and potatoes (also affected in a vegetable bed not in the greenhouse)be safe to eat. If not, hours of work down the toilet and C how long will the soil and manure be contaminated as if the contamination is long lasting it is going to be a huge job to change the soil in the greenhouse and vegetable bed plus get rid of a considerable amount of manure. I loath weedkillers and hardly ever use them for these very reasons in that they have far reaching effects. Wish I had refused to let the field be sprayed!

 

Thanks @Pete8, I would love to think it was heat related but I also have contorted growth on some of my potatoes growing outside in a vegetable bed again containing the same manure.

 

Hello hailbopp. That's really bad luck. I saw this article that you might find interesting.

Aminopyralid in Manure and Compost
I’ve been talking about aminopyralid contamination in manures and composts since 2008 when the problem started. Initially the manufacturer withdrew the product in response to complaints from gardeners, but they sneaked it back in after putting a warning on the bottle.

The problem seemed to fade away, but then it came back in 2016. Annoyingly, here we are 16 years after it first started and I’m still getting emails about it.

If they had kept aminopyralid off the market, it would have degraded in manure and by 2013 manure would be safe, but it’s a problem we’re never going to be free from now.

Read this article for more information - Aminopyralid is Back

 

Thanks @Fred Clarke yes raging and I don’t yet know the long term consequences. I have contacted the local to me ( Fife, Scotland) rep for Corteva who make Doxstar. No doubt will get absolutely nowhere but will do my best to splatter the warming around social media if I get zero joy. I am not an advocate for using strong chemicals in gardens or farmland for that matter. I see daily the damage done by haphazard spraying by the farmers who live around me and our council workers seem even worse. Whatever happens in the future I will never have my field sprayed again. Off to read the article, thanks.

 

I hope you get some positive reaction @hailbopp and maybe even some tomatoes and potatoes.

My tomatoes are all planted in soil in the polytunnel. They were slow to germinate, despite heat mats, slow to grow on when transfered to the PT and have only been planted out for a couple of weeks. Even the bought specials are slow. The beds were revitalised with several barrowloads of garden compost in early spring and then left for the hens to go over - they needed somewhere dry to fossick and dust bathe given all the rain. Just before planting I added manure and laid out the seep hose, all as usual.

Normally by now they'd be at the top of their twirly supports and being stopped but they are barely half way up and only just starting to flower. They look healthy enough but just lack vigour. I'm assuming that's down to lack of sunlight and warmth cos the squashes, still in pots but going out today, are also lacking vigour despite liquid feeds.

The basils I've planted between the tomatoes are doing fine and we harvested the garlic yesterday so I'll be buying pine kernels tomorrow for making pesto.

 

When need shading to be installed quickly, paper clips/clamps come handy. I ran out of day curtains (in use covering berry bushes), so came back to fleece. I know it will desintegrate soon on the sun.


Don't have many tomatoes yet in the greenhouse... Showing a pot on the patio:

 

Maybe get some net curtains or an old lacey tablecloth form a charity shop @Alisa - better for the environment than fleece.

 

Yes, I did, I bought net curtains' remhants at The Range and some pieces come from charity shop, but currently all in use in the garden in different places. Used fleece for now, by the time it starts falling apart I hope to have a free piece of curtains .

 

Hello all tomato aficionados on GC. A polite request, please. If posting any photo, if that picture has a tomato in view (even if the subject is not the tomato/es), please put the variety of the tomatoes on view. We see some posts with handsome tomatoes shown that others might want to grow, but their variety remains a complete mystery. This request is made courteously. Thanks.

 

I am beginning to wonder if I have made a BIG mistake in using a blue plastic tarpaulin as shading for the greenhouse.
None of the tomatoes or cucumbers etc. are growing very well. They are still really small plants whereas the same sown batch of plants for my daughter, which I moved into the conservatory are 3 times the size.

 

Sungold tomatoes ripening nicely outdoors. Any day now...