2014 Tomato Growing

I grow mine in buckets having a concrete base, unfortunately that's the only way I could bolt my greenhouse base down.....a necessity here.

I've grown various tomatoes the same way for many years and 'Shirley' is the first tomato (grown for the first time) that has blossom end rot. All my tomato plants are not doing well this year with a very low fruit yield and the two 'Shirley' plants have only about half a dozen toms left between them having picked off the bad ones. I'll chalk it up to experience and try something different next year.

 

Interesting. Your Toms are well pampered (compost-mix and feeding regime) compared to mine! Maybe Shirley better suits my poor style of husbandry of "Chuck in and more-or-less forget"?

Blimey! Is that a surprise? or is it just me? I've never tested mine, but I assume it would be somewhere-close-to-7 ??

Blight doesn't really manifest itself quite like that. Black on the stems is the thing to really worry about. I think more likely (from your description) that they have got dry in the sun and are old leaves anyway, so more prone to "shutting down and falling off"!

Not sure I agree John. Magnesium Deficiency would show up as loss of colour in the leaves, except for the veins, rather than "browning" - but maybe I haven't read the description carefully enough? What do you think?

Having said that, I think that using Epsom Salts prophetically after planting / at the start of fruiting is worth doing. Reacting to Magnesium deficiency (i.e. once the plant shows symptoms) can't be as efficient, for the plant, as preventing it, and adding Magnesium to the soil (if not required) isn't going to cause any problem (within reason of course ).

 

Ta. No wonder its suitable for ericaceous plants!

 

Yeah, carbon dioxide dissolves in it making it slightly acidic. pH is a logarithm scale i.e. pH7 to pH6 is a 10-fold increase in H+ ions, pH7 to pH5 is a 100-fold increase, to pH4 is x 1000 etc. So pH5.8 is only slightly acidic.

 

Hadn't thought of it like that, and had obviously forgotten my Skoolboy Chemistry!! thanks

 

Not sure what it is/was in the end. Threw the foliage away when I chopped quite a few weeks back & memory not good on what it looked like exactly ... The only thing I can report is whatever is was hasn't returned (yet ... Touch wood) & cherry toms beginning to ripen!! )))


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Wow - they are 2 shades blacker than a crow Woo. Amazing - will look stunning on a plate alternating with red and black slices...
Jenny

 

As promised, a few pics....









Ten plants in all. I planted them up to the first 'true' leaves. Just have to wait and see how fruitful these will become.

Cheers...Freddy

 

Woo, have you tried the Indigo Rose yet and what did you think of them please?

 

what variety/ies Freddy?