Tomato Growing 2024

Thanks guys, I'll take a look at the survey

 

I grow Sungold, and have done so for many years, and have never had a problem with blight - all undercover @salar . I also sometimes grow bog standard supermarket toms, just sowing seed from one, and they've always been fine, even the odd ones I have outside. I've grown a few different types, and not had blight on any, but do you have other people nearby growing toms though? It's certainly less common in a greenhouse, so perhaps it's come from a neighbouring site? No one round here grows any as far as I'm aware, so perhaps that's helped me.
Good ventilation is always needed though, even when temps aren't particularly high, so there's a chance that it's come from a nearby source.
If you can offer more info about how you're growing, that will also help with advice, but it's worth trying a different variety, as already suggested, to see if that makes a difference .

@Hanglow grows lots of types and is in central Scotland, so might be able to help too.

 

Just seen my first sign of blight on one of my outdoor potted plants.
Cut off a whole truss of fruit but assume the plant is on the slippery slope.

 

I live in the outskirts of Gloucester and thankfully not had any problems with blight so far including when I live in Oxfordshire. I grow mainly in an unheated greenhouse although the excess plant of whatever type go outside. I only plant into pots or growbags. I'm ok with choosing cherry and beefsteak varieties, it's the standard type in not sure about. Thanks for your reply

 

Not quite sure what you mean by the "standard" type but if you are growing in pots, the Tumbling Tom are usually pretty good - short bush types. Ripening about the same time as the other cherry types. I don't find the average Grow Bag has enough depth for most types without some adaptation.
So many varieities seem to have been altered to produce sweet fruit rather than a proper "tomatey" flavour but that is always a matter of personal taste.
Good luck with finding some that suit and do well for you. Nothing quite like picking a ripe tomato and poppingit in your mouth as you stand there

 

I'm picking them fast enough now that I'm going to have to make a pasta sauce today.

 

I'm assuming by 'standard' that you mean the medium sized toms you can slice for salads and sandwiches etc @mrboxpiff? I don't grow any of those, but I'm sure others will have recommendations for them. I grew some of the stripey ones some years ago, but they had been a gift from my daughters, along with a few other things. the small types suit the space I have better.
I'd agree about growbags - they often don't have the depth. Many people use them a different way, by cutting them in half across the width, and putting them 'on end' so that you basically have two large pots. Easier just to use pots really!

 

I've also grown sungold and Shirley for many years without any problems. I always really scrub and clean my 10 x 8 greenhouse every year before planting. As for ventilation I've two automatic vents and two manual ones as well. The manual ones are open all summer and the door is left ajar at night.

 

This will be the biggest of the year for me, sevryuga. 500g/18 oz

 

I have one tomato the size of a broad bean and a second the size of a pea!

 

Standard tomatos or called salad in some catalogues, are classically, varieties like Shirley, or Alisa Craig but neither of these are blight resistant. All the varieties with the prefix Crimson are blight resistant, so Crimson crush, C blush etc are salad types. There is another variety Mountain magic. With all of them though you will find they all have slightly thicker skins and personally I don't find the flavour quite as good as the classic but at least you get a harvest
Remember though blight resistant does NOT mean immune, so in a bad year even these will succumb eventually.

 

blight needs to have a day or two of wetness on a leaf or stem for it to germinate and penetrate the leaf. if its covered, no chance! the spores are everywhere though, they travel dozens of km. and usually from potato farms.

aaah but im so jealous of all yours, my toms are only just changing colour, still a week or so away

 

My understanding is that the spores are present in the soil @Adam I, hence my query about neighbouring sites for the poster that had blight.
Outdoor toms here regularly get wet, which is why most folk, especially in the west, grow undercover to get a reliable enough crop. Our climate here is too unpredictable for outdoor growing, especially during late June and through July, although that seems to be changing...a bit.