September is with us again and the warm/damp weather we’ve been having is encouraging disease in the greenhouses. Last year it was Bacterial Canker this year I seem to be having Botrytis (also known as Grey Mould). Its something I get every year but this year it seems even worse than usual. Its caused by…… Continue reading Tomato Problems – Botrytis
Category: Growing Tomatoes
At Last! – Tomatoes starting to Ripen & other things
Minibel (outside)Sandpoint (in greenhouse)Oleron YellowFirst harvest!!First Fruit showing colour About two weeks later than normal, our tomatoes are beginning to show signs of ripening. Although we normally get a few tomatoes starting around 11th July, this year they seem late. I think its a combination of not growing the cultivars that are reliably early (Bloody…… Continue reading At Last! – Tomatoes starting to Ripen & other things
Tomato Sowing – 2021 & Cleaning the Greenhouses
Spring has sprung, the clocks have gone forward and the weather is warming up, my tomatoes have been sown and are beginning to show themselves. As usual, I have sown a mixture of ones I like, ones I haven’t grown before, and some to refresh my seedbank. Selecting the seeds for this last group is…… Continue reading Tomato Sowing – 2021 & Cleaning the Greenhouses
Tomato Megablooms
Ananas Noire – MegabloomPantano (2014) MegabloomMortgage Lifter – MegabloomBlack Krim – MegabloomMany cultivars exhibit megablooms Megablooms are when two or more flowers fuse together to create a single bloom from which larger fruit can form. As they are independent flowers, they have to be individually pollinated and the resulting fruit will normally be misshapen and…… Continue reading Tomato Megablooms
Tomato Problems – Wilt
With September with us, I was hoping that the tomato season would be extended through this month and into (at least) next. I usually get tomatoes all the way through until mid-November with the late beefsteak varieties providing something all the way through. However, this year (2020) I don’t think its going to be like…… Continue reading Tomato Problems – Wilt
Tomato Problems – Bacterial Canker
This year (2020) as every year, my plants seem to wilt with the leaves dying back. This year it seems slightly worse than normal but I keep going through cutting off the affected leaves and hoping for the best. However, it seems to have infected some of the fruit as well and some of my…… Continue reading Tomato Problems – Bacterial Canker
Guttation – Droplets on the Leaf Edges
Sometimes, usually overnight or when the weather is cool and damp, droplets of liquid form along the edges of the leaves of plants. This is “Guttation”. Not to be confused with the early morning dew, guttation is caused by the “water potential” in the roots of the plants. Because transpiration doesn’t occur at night or…… Continue reading Guttation – Droplets on the Leaf Edges
Tomato Blight
Blight is one of the killers for anybody who wants to grow tomatoes. The problem is that many other problems (sunburn, windburn, magnesium deficiency) show similar symptoms to the early stages of blight so any grower has to make a decision whether to remove the infected plants to try and save the rest of the…… Continue reading Tomato Blight
Tomato Problems: Blossom End Rot
Blossom End Rot White Zebra with Blossom End Rot Orange Banana Kibits Ukranian If you’ve got tomatoes that look like the above pictures, you’ve got Blossom End Rot. Now, this isn’t a disease or insect damage or anything terrible like that but its to do with the way you’ve been treating your plants and is…… Continue reading Tomato Problems: Blossom End Rot
When should I sow my Tomato Seeds?
I ask myself this question every year. The seed packets say “sow in late winter” (when’s that?) or “late January to March” (more understandable) and, in different years, I’ve tried sowing from early January through until early April. I think the answer depends upon a lot of variables some of which you can control and…… Continue reading When should I sow my Tomato Seeds?