Talkback: Growing tomatoes and tomato blight - Page 2 - Talkback

17/08/2009 at 13:55

This has got to have been my worse year ever for my Toms. I've grown 4 Moneymaker and 4 Sweet Millions and have so far yielded a whopping seven toms of the Sweet Millions and none off the Moneymaker. I've had problems with grey mould more than blight. The only time I suffered with blight was with last years potatoes. I've got about another 50 toms on that haven't ripened but it's been a bit depressing to be honest. Oh well, there's always next year!

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17/08/2009 at 16:41

Hi there, could somebody tell me why my tomato plants have flowers but are producing no tomatoes after flowering is over? is there a way to hand pollinate the flowers?

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17/08/2009 at 18:21

hello, can anyone tell me why my tomatoes are spltting, l water them at the same time every day and feed them once a week but some are splitting before fully ripened.

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19/08/2009 at 08:48

My tomatoes are rapidly succumbing to blight this week, despite hot sunshine now. I have three maxi growbags with three in each. Sungold are the worst, although since they began ripening first, we have eaten quite a few of them already. Progress is much slower for the my other two, Ailsa Craig, a huge crop this year, and a newish variety - Glacier - which is supposed to ripen earlier but didn't. Can I use the compost from the growbags for anything, or must I throw it away?

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19/08/2009 at 10:16

Question: Can I use the green tomatoes( to make green tomato chutney) from my plants affected by late tomato blight? I have looked and looked but cannot totally understand if the fruits are ok to eat green or matured if the plant is affected by this annoying blight! I thought that perhaps I could save some of my hard work by making green tomato chutney if I am not going to get any red tomatoes this year! I have picked all the green tomatoes which have not turned brown etc.

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20/08/2009 at 09:48

Well it is not looking good! I have picked my green tomatoes, all the best looking healthy ones of course! and whilst waiting for some advice just kept them on the side. Today some of them have turned brown, so not sure whether they are safe to eat! Does anyone know? Help please! I would so love to be able to save some of my hard work! I grew these from seed for the first time! Such an achievement for me! Can anyone let me know is green tomatoes are safe to eat if the plant has been affected by tomato blight? Thank you!

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20/08/2009 at 11:58

Bits of my garden have started to die off. It started with the runner beans and then the tomatoes, hydrangea, grape vine and bits of a hardy kiftsgate rambling rose. Leaves have wilted and turned yellow and brown. Even a lovely Acer is dying back. Any ideas/ remedies please?

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21/08/2009 at 12:41

Can any one tell me if the tomato that has been effected with blight is fit to eat.

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21/08/2009 at 18:38

We considered spraying our tomatoes against blight but have been unable to obtain any spray. We tried B & Q and our small local supplier, and were told that the EU has banned the copper-containing spray. Our tomatoes have got blight now. I have brought the bigger ones indoors to ripen - can anyone tell me what are the best conditions to ripen them inside? I seem to remember Monty Don once suggesting a dark drawer but I also seem to think a sunny window sill is the answer. Which is right?

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21/08/2009 at 19:57

We gardeners must be quite mad! About 12 years ago I had the most fantastic crop of tomatoes outside - Marmande the size of grapefruit and a crop of plum toms to set up Ketchup production .... but it seems that will never be repeated no matter how hard I try! Last week my outside toms were thriving,curled around wonderful metal spiral poles but with my Horticultural Society calling in for a peep at my garden, the blight was bound to strike and it did, just 3 days before the visit. I hoped it wouldn't show and as I was distracted by other jobs it wasn't until the visitors arrived that I noticed the spirals wrapped in black! My mini greenhouse grows all my mini toms:- yellow and red cherry, sungold, tumblers, sweet million and the tiny currant but although they are all doing spectacularly well, if I put them all in a soup it would only feed 2 people. I know the answer for next year. If I want massive tomatoes then I need a massive greenhouse!

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22/08/2009 at 09:05

Hi, First time i have grown toms this year. Some at the middle of the plant are ripening before the ones at the base. Once they turn red, they are going all soft & squidgy. Is there a reason for this. Thanks

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23/08/2009 at 09:15

Green Tomatoe chutney!!! is the answer to your tomato plants affected by blight, at least something will come out of all our hard work raising these plants!! I finally found out that you can use your tomatoes, they ok to eat and I guess as they'll be cooked even better. (needless to say only the healthy looking green tomatoes!) I had mistaken this for a forum where you get answers to your questions! Not quite what I was looking for however it is very helpful in other ways. So happy cooking!

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30/08/2009 at 22:15

Hope it works out, Belleandrose. I've just given up on my outdoor toms too and am going down the green chutney route - I've seen a recipe for green tomato cake that looks good though, however counterintuitive. It's worth a try!

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01/09/2009 at 21:02

Re concerns about green tomatoes from blighted plants: they are fine to use for chutney; also quite nice stir-fried with sliced onions and/or apples to serve with pork etc. I find that the blight is stopped in the fridge so as long as the toms are not too bad I just cut off the brown bits and put all the good parts in a bag or dish in the fridge until I can use them. Sad though. I too had a good crop starting to ripen, then suddenly blight hit and I had to remove the lot. My Sungold in another growbag is still OK though; what a wonderful plant that is, the first and last to fruit and so delicious straight off the plant and pretty in salads.

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03/09/2009 at 20:49

most of my toms were hit by captain blight so I,ve made jars of green tomato chutney some with courgette and some with apple lovely.

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04/09/2009 at 04:39

we can only persivere, so far I haven't got the blight shear luck I suppose, I only grew Alicante this year, slow to ripen though so I am thinking"green Tom chutney" but will ripen some on the widowsill,hope everyone manages some good fruit.

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10/09/2009 at 16:43

When I was in the Black Forest last summer I noticed that all the gardeners there grew their outdoor tomatoes under a sort of roof - just poles with plastic sheeting at the top and open sides. I wondered if it was to combat blight - the Black Forest is very rainy, so I imagine it must be a problem there. I tried the same thing this year, having lost the previous two years' crops to blight. I don't know if it was just that this year was a better year, but I had almost no blight at all on my toms this year, so I think it might work. It keeps the rain off the leaves, so stops the spores of blight spreading so easily, I suppose.

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13/09/2009 at 19:48

greeting all from usa we get blight in my area sometimes but since proactively spray with docyli (sp) the blight passes me by. As for copper do not waste you money blight has become immune to it's effect years ago so don't waste you money on it.

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14/09/2009 at 09:34

I ripen tomatoes once off the plant by popping them into a bowl with a slightly over-ripe banana (freckly stage!), the ethylene gas given off by the tomato does the trick !

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15/09/2009 at 11:57

I have grown tomatoes this year for the first time. They are outdoors, cherry, lots of them but they are not turning red just BLACK PLEASE CAN ANY ONE ADVISE ME WHATS WRONG.