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Talkback: Tasty tomatoes

I have grown tomatoes in large pots outdoors and there is plenty of fruit but when should they ripen?
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  • I have already ripped up and binned three tomoato plants (Sungold) which had become infected with grey mould. The leaves turned crinkly and were spotted and then they go black. Then the fruit showed the same black blotches. I think the disease came from my courgettes. Now my ten Gardeners Delight tomatoes are showing early signs of the same problem. Can I treat them with anything to save them - I have invested heavily in care (water, feed and plenty of air around them) but.......??
  • The tomatoes in my greenhouse have all died. I think it is blight and it even spread to some outside. Has anyone else had this problem and how can I stop it happening next year?
  • You're lucky you even got some fruit!! Mine went without a fruit in sight. Help!!
  • I should have said (06/08/07 above) mine are in bottomless pots outside in 3 grow bags with 1 litre upside down, bottomless tonic bottles in the bags to get the water down to the roots. I think we are suffering from too much wet earlier in the season and too little air round the plants. Grey mould/blight/botritis? Can I spray them and what with? There is now a definite slowing in growth both of plant and fruit.

    If Marybakers are outside perhaps 5 trusses would be enough and then reduce the size of each truss to 8-10 fruits to encourage ripening.
    Same for Terry and for Margaret J perhaps a winter wash down of the greenhouse with Jeyes fluid and then plenty of ventilation next season?

  • Ruffy:
    It sounds more like blight to me, only likely to be grey mould or botrytis if there is a distincy fuzzyness! If its blight then they need to be bagged up and binned or burned, if it is grey mould severe cutting out of dodgy bits and improved air circulation combined with never wetting the foliage/topgrowth when you water may do the trick!

    Terry:
    Outdoor romatoes will be ripe at varying times, depending on the weather, the variety and the stage of growth they are at, if mine hadn't got blight they would have been ready to produce their first crop a few weeks ago.

    Margaret and seaside Girl:
    You could try closing the vents on the side form which the prevailing wind comes as this will reduce the influx of blight spores.....once infected blight is nigh impossible to control, but you could spray preventatively with a copper based fungicide next time around!

  • Thanks for the advice Pippa - all plants now binned.

    Can the compost be spread on the flower beds or is it too contaminated?

    The next question is what to plant for a crop by Christmas? - I need something and I shall be lost without something to care for every day for an hour or two a day!!
  • Apologies for hogging the blog - having cleared and binned the toms I can see my runner bean plants and the lower stems look as though......

    Can runners catch the dreaded blight?
  • I am growing moneymaker tomatoes, but I have a problem in that a lot of the fruit has developed dark spots on their base (where the flower was) and now others have developed brown blotchy patches on their skin. I have removed all the tomatoes that are like this. As a first time tomato grower, what is going on and will I get any edible fruit at the end of this? P.S. they are all still decidedly green!
  • i have plenty of green tomatoes this year and not one single red one. think i will give it a miss next year and just stick to growing my vegs.
  • My tomatoes have been ok-ish, no blight (grown in a greenhouse, can't grow outdoor one's up here)And plenty of green one's. I was thinking about stripping the toms off now and bringing them into the house to ripen, would it be too soon to do this??
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