tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388623297510187244.post689786081252546124..comments2024-02-23T03:26:11.779+00:00Comments on Growing Things and Making Things: Tomato reportRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16619866897155085499noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388623297510187244.post-83303441762965155932013-10-15T23:08:26.229+01:002013-10-15T23:08:26.229+01:00Hi Cat, nice to hear from you :-)
I didn't lab...Hi Cat, nice to hear from you :-)<br />I didn't label my photos very well (at all), so the pots may not be quite as tiny as you think. Where you can see the pots clearly, that's the small pots that the plants were outgrowing. They're not in their final containers (actually compost bags - two plants to a bag) until the next picture, but you can't really see the bags there.<br /><br />My greenhouse can get that hot, but I open the door to keep it cooler, so I don't think that was the problem. You might be right about the fertilizer, though. I did give them quite a lot of nitrogen, and got lots of green leafy growth for it. I probably should have given them more potassium, and earlier (I did at the end, but it was probably too late to make much difference).<br /><br />I did cut back on water for the last few days, when I'd decided to harvest the lot (and yes, they were going to die soon!). I think that might have pushed them past the 'completely green' stage, so they're ripening OK indoors. I'm not entirely sure how to spot when they've past the critical point, but I think it's when they change to a lighter green. <br /><br />Anyway, thanks for all the advice. I'll remember it's here, but I'm still going to try different varieties next year!Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16619866897155085499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388623297510187244.post-11900012097343755272013-10-14T21:49:09.357+01:002013-10-14T21:49:09.357+01:00Hmmm... well, our climates are completely differen...Hmmm... well, our climates are completely different, so my input might not translate well, but when has that ever stopped me!<br /><br />First of all, I've never had any luck growing tomatoes in pots - and the ones in your photos look kinda small to me. I wonder if that has any impact on the plants setting on fruit.<br /><br />How hot were the temps in your little greenhouse? In really hot years, I've had problems with tomatoes because above a certain temperature, they won't set on fruit. I think that once temps get consistently above 90F/32C or so, they start having problems.<br /><br />The other thing that can be problematic is giving them too much fertilizer. I don't completely understand this one, but for some reason if they get too much nitrogen the plants grow big and leafy, but they don't set on fruit. <br /><br />The other thing I've had problems with is getting them to ripen - especially if we get a lot of rain late in the season. If you have that problem, you can try cutting back on the water and letting the soil dry out for a day or two. I think this sends the plant into "I'm gonna die soon" mode so it figures it had better put all of its energy into ripening.<br /><br />And my last piece of tomato wisdom is that in my experience, if you pick them completely green, they don't get as sweet as they do when allowed to ripen at least a little bit on the vine. It might depend on the variety, but I generally use those ones for cooking rather than eating raw.<br /><br />OK... that's all I know! Hope something in that blathering is at least a little bit useful!EcoCatLadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com