2015 Tomato Growing

The Gloden Sunrise are still cropping, despite the blight which has taken out most of the plum tomatoes.

 

I'm heading off shortly to remove the last of mine as it looks like being rather cold tonight.

Only grown those once and found them tasteless.

 

I cleaned one greenhouse out at the weekend and have set it up with quadgrows for next season. I will do the same in the other greenhouse next weekend.
I trailed one quadgrow in the conservatory this year and had a great crop of realy tasty tomatoes.
I did not use the supplied chemical feed but used organic feed as well as my own compost mix in the pots.
I had no problems with the usual deficiencies blossom end rot etc.
The roots growing in the water trough were enormous as I aerated the water
regards Alex

 

Here's a big ugly tomato to aspire to...


https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/ins...mate-d-europe-recoltee-en-dordogne-1446645981

 

I've picked my last from the allotment last weekend, some were unripe but are ripening well indoors now.
Strange thing is that I've not seen blight this year, it took hold last year in August.

 

I'm still convinced that its growing conditions that govern the taste rather than variety.

 

It wiped out all of my outdoor toms, even so called resistant varieties such as Ferlines, but all the polytunnel toms were unscathed.

 

I harvested all my tomatoes and pulled the plants up the moment I got something on a couple that could have been blight, as my neighbour opposite had definitely got blight. It left me with 20kg+ of upripe tomatoes. Was interesting to see which ones didn't keep...the Super Sioux ones were definitely the worst keepers. They did well, but they overripen quickly and turn to smelly mush inside their skins.

 

My climate here isn't practical for growing tomatoes outside but I wonder if they are more prone to blight because they are being grown to close together. I'm wondering if space and more air circulation would help? Or perhaps fewer plants grown together would help?

Although I grow mine in a greenhouse, there is good space between them and it's well ventilated. Luckily I've not experienced blight as yet.

 

We had a crop of green toms after we cleared the plants, my wife put bananas in with them to help ripen them and it seemed to work.

 

As my last polytunnel toms were getting covered with Botrytis that I didn't want spreading to my 400+ potted up strawberry runners, they've finally been removed together with the last dozen or so of not quite ripe toms, now, with the Tumblers still growing at home I still have around 5lbs of tomatoes, plus loads of earlier ones turned into pasta sauce.

So wont bother posting a polytunnel pic of no tomatoes!

 

Picked the last few Tumblers from my patio plants.



Oh dear, Pup's seen them, here he comes!



They didn't last long.