Tomato Growing Thread 2022

Oh good point. I don't get put off by my failures. I've had a few since I started veg growing 3 years ago and my plot keeps getting bigger.

What is a good blight resistant cherry tomato?

 

Good to hear you dont get put off by failures, a failure is a lesson learnt.

I'm only really trying a couple of blight resistant varieties myself this year after a really bad blight year last year, there is a thread Blight Resistant Tomatoes Which might help.

 

Sowed another two varieties today, Black Cherry and Tigerella. I swear that is it for this year.

All my other tomatoes have been potted on and are looking well.

 

How long have they been in?
I sowed some at least two weeks ago, and after pricking out and potting some up I'm finding others are still surfacing, this is of the same variety.

 

Good point. I potted up the last of my tomato seedlings today. There are a few varieties that didn't germinate, so those pots have been put aside for afew more days in case of "late arrivals".

I planted Brandywine Cherry and Santorini in their permanent pot in the greenhouse today, as they were getting a bit tall. They'll have a bubblewrap duvet, alongside the peppers, on a night. Bloody Butcher will have to join them soon, although they are destined for outdoors, so will have to stay in one litre pots for now.

Haley's Winbox and Brandywine cherry both have open flowers.

 

I can certainly agree with you @pete as one year, about 10 years ago, I lost dozens of plants with the fruit almost ready to pick on my allotment! I could have cried as they had lots of beautiful fruits that I had just started to pick.

I think it was that same year I lost my toms on the balcony as well. That was the only year in the 20 I've grown them on the balcony that I've ever had blight.

One of the main reasons for not getting blight on the balcony is that the leaves never get wet. Blight spores need a moist surface to develop on.
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Main sowings are under lights and outside when it is warm enough.
Need to repot the last sowing of outside toms soon

 

First flower found on my Veranda Red tomato. This is a dwarf tomato intended for container growing so I thought I'd try an early sowing.

 

Congratulations on the first flower!

 

When you look at a vegetable catalogue these days you are amazed at the huge number of tomato varieties. Thus you should expect differences not just fruit colour, taste, etc but perhaps germination. In my experience F1 varieties often all germinate at the same time. This is great in terms of gardening, the seedlings are suddenly replaced by pots of pricked out seedlings all at the same stage. Other varieties behave more 'normally' and germinate at different speeds. ULTIMATELY they and all plants frankly catch each other up!
Regarding Blight, there are varieties better to grow than others. Thus if you are susceptible grow those considered better, like Crimson Crush (there are others!) At least they are LESS LIKELY to become blighted. Remember as well that potatoes are susceptible. Just read up the symptoms and be ready to SCRAP ALL YOUR PLANTS! You can't save them!

 

The only time I've grown F1 tomatoes was in the trail I took part in a couple of years ago. The plants were indeed quite uniform in growth & all the other processes a tomato plant goes through. However for a balcony gardener who only wants about 10 plants so many tomatoes ripening all at the same time is overwhelming!

I have sown about 15 seeds of 'Gardener's Delight' & I think I've had 100% germination! I'm not absolutely sure because though I was planting them in individual compartments of a rootrainer tray some of the compartments have two seedlings in them instead of one whereas others have none!

The 'Fi Rugby' seeds also germinated 100%! When they arrived in the middle of May 2020 I decided to plant only 3 seeds & save the rest for 2021 & sow them on March 21st which is when I normally sow my tomato seeds. All 3 seeds germinated & even produced 2 trusses of fruit! In 2021 I sowed the seeds left from the following year but no other variety as I had 9 plants. Every single seed germinated & all grew well & all produced a crop. None suffered from blight either.

The year I lost all my plants on the allotment due to blight only one plant of 'Gardener's Delight' survived even though it was affected as well as the others. It's a variety that I like the taste of a lot & consider it one of the most tomato flavoured of all varieties. I've never grown it on the balcony before so I hope it doesn't disappoint me!