Tomato Growing Thread 2021

Just cut about a barrowload of lower leaves from my polytunnel cherry tomatoes. I'm now more worried about botrytus in there than blight.

Was going to pick loads, but brought 2 barrow loads of crops back home and still didn't have enough room for them.



And my beefsteaks are finally ripening!



Got more 'canning' jars coming next week for pasteurizing tomato sauce.

 

Worst incidence of blight I've ever experienced. On 8th August my outdoor cherry toms were looking great and we'd started picking a few, but 2 weeks later they'd been decimated. My plants in the polytunnel were also hit but not quite so badly.
In years gone by if I received a blight warning or spotted early signs I'd spray with bordeaux mixture (copper), but use of that is now banned for non-agricultural uses.

 

Picked a couple of trays today, one of Orange Paruche and another of Sungolds and Gardeners Delights for saucing.



There should be a massive pick of Suncherries tomorrow, but I'm leaving the Shirlies (about 6 plants) until more canning jars arrive, but may also have some stuffed.



Beefsteaks ripening fast and most should ripen before I have to cut and take indoors.

Lost 2 plants to botrytus, didn't see it until I removed lots of leaves, just wilting/yellowing leaves. Still no blight undercover or outdoors.

 

More homemade sweet pepper and tomato relish today ...

 

Not seen this before

 

I've seen that kind of thing before on marmande, but it's usually on the bottom not the side.

 

Probably BER. I suspect tomato moth caterpillar might have made a couple of holes in this one that have decayed to form those cavities, but I didn't see any sign of them or their frass.

A picking if Suncherries this morning. Left quite a few red ones on the plants as they'll last well where they are.



Weather forecast is promising for harvesting polytunnel tomatoes well into October.

 

Last harvest on it's way to become sauce. We didn't have any blight at all, perhaps we are too up north? We don't do warm and humid in Newcastle

Poor Teenager kindly cleaned the toms, sadly I had to crop her face out of the photo. Apparently cleaning Mum's toms is not what Teenagers prefer for a Saturday night fun.

 

I've known tomatoes to go like that, they end up just a bag of seeds and juice, the juice is usually very acidic.

So I think Johns suggestion of fermentation taking place inside the fruit sounds quite feasible.