Tomato Growing Thread 2022

@eatenbyweasels they look superb!

 

Shirley eh ? Thanks JWK I always thought the name was from SHIRLEY in the midlands! Much better that it was a person highly thought of by the firm!!! (I've also grown the digitalis shirley)
Growing from seeds is far more interesting for me than even taking cuttings, though I do buy new varieties of Salvias (my real plant obsession) As a child you could collect seeds, sometimes single ones! Curiously I NEVER furtelled out tomatoe seeds because they made me sick!! I'd buy seeds cos mam liked them so much, and the resulting plant is so brilliant with its surprising smell!!! I always encouraged children to look for seeds to plant. I still find 'dead-heading' a waste somehow although I totally see and understand the biological principle! However this year is producing masses of salvia seeds from varieties I've never collected from in ten years! Presumably you tomato obsessives are 'collecting' masses of seed from all these hybrids you are growing ??
Regarding ripening: I've also understood as SunnyGin says that it has to do with Ethylene, or the 'Overipe Banana syndrome' Removing dying lower leaves seems to have been standard procedure though to do it in order to let LIGHT on to them seems to be perhaps MAGIC GARDENING rather than science?? Whenever I talked about 'science' I usually prefaced anything with a verse fron Dylan Thomas about, "The force, that through the green fuse, drives the flower", obviously about Photosynthesis, this planet's driving force. The difficulty at present with understanding global warming is not appreciating the part played by CO2 in both forming an atmospheric blanket warming up the planet, and the huge part played by plants absorbing CO2 whilst making sugar!!! That's why gardeners are so important in the solving of the problem! Come on you lot GROW MORE TOMATOES!!!

 

When I worked on Reefer ships gasses including ethylene and co2 were the enemy, we used to have a minim of sixteen air changes per day and sometimes as many as two per hour that means the whole volume of air in the hold was changed every half hour. Pulp temps checked every four hours and we still had the odd banana, pineapple, citrus fruit etc ripening at 13.2 degrees C, tomatoes at 12 degrees C and still the odd one ripened and they are kept in darkness for several weeks
Regards Sandy

 

Always thought 'reefer' had to do with sailing, and not 're(e)frigerator' A real 'chemistry' ship!! Presumably 'reefer' jackets were provided to stop you freezing to death.,!?

 

Reefer in this instance refers to refrigerated vessel, sometimes when in the tropics it was a joy to go into the holds for a nice cool down especially when working in the engine room at 50 degrees C and above only when carrying fruit etc, not when carrying at minus 26 C

 

A few pics of toms ripening hidden by leaves and a pic for size comparison.
Pound coin

 

@sandymac some more delicious looking toms, they look very well formed, no frankentoms there :-)

 

The large ones are Honeymoon first time i have grown them, I decided
to try them after the write up by JWK. glad i did they are delicious. really juicy and sweet

 

Harvest in full swing now, having to freeze those that aren't eaten fresh.

 

@Garrett Same here, and freezer filling up fast. I chop into chunks and deseed and depending on varieties sometimes mix and match contents in each bag. What do others do ?

 

I just give my excess away, I have in the past made a kind of tomato and basil sauce, but the freezer still has some of that from 2 yrs ago.
Ive tried freezing them but can't say I was impressed.

 

I could just eat that with a nice piece of crusty bread

 

OH I'd need to put me teeth in.