Tomato Growing 2025

Ok, that's good to know. Thank you.
Will see what the earliest fruiting varieties I have, and then hope for an extra Indian summer!

 

Hi THFC (fellow spurs fan by any chance? ) - so disheartening about your plants! I wonder if it'd be worth rooting some side shoots of the other remaining healthy plants once they're big enough. I've done that before but given them away before they've flowered and fruited so I'm not totally sure how they do but it would mean they'd be further on than sowing seeds now.

 

I bought Gartenperle from Premier Seeds this year; I was rather late getting them sown as my early sowing of Veranda Red only yielded two plants and I wanted more bush ones. Like you I was tempted by more and I bought the "Container Bundle" - Lizzano, Ola Polka and Orangeto. I have sown Gartenperle, Ola Polka and Lizzano; none of the Lizzano have come up yet but the others are doing OK and Gartenperle looking the best so far.

 

My tomatillo seems to be thriving in this weather whilst the toms are just sitting there waiting for warmer nights. Maybe a better crop for colder or blightyer areas, if they taste any good... its a purple variety, hoping it tastes good because I heard they produce a lot.

Black nightshade can be intensely savoury and/or sweet, maybe the other edible nightshades can be too!

 

Tomatillos are pretty sour or at least the ones I grew a few years ago were. can definitely add some extra sugar to recipes if needed though. I've been on a bit of a mexican kick the last year or so and have cooked a lot of rick bayless recipes. Can't wait to use homegrown tomatillos again, fingers crossed.

My toms have all been growing well, I've been sideshooting them the last day or two

 

My seeds came from Premier Seeds Direct too.

Will be interesting to grow tomatillos next year. I want to try them outside. Will they be ok with the greenhouse?

This year I have 1 plant of ph. peruviana Golden Berry - also interesting - growing first time.

 

I have 7 of my 8 greenhouse quadgrow pots filled.
2 each; black cherry, sun gold, tigerella and gardeners' delight.
The latter have finally caught up.
I have 2 Principe borghese to grow as bush toms on the bench.
First trusses to bloom are the tigerellas.
Oh for a better harvest than last year.

 

Maria.R - Had not thought of this at all - excellent idea. I would have expected no less from a fellow long suffering fan!

I'm still worried that some of the healthy ones won't remain healthy for long. I've now noticed some are in different compost, yet exhibiting the same weird growth - so will do both - re-sow and aim to get some sideshoots.

Thank you!

 

Yes, indeed! Last year, I bought a packet of Brandysweet Plum. So did another grower I know. Both packs were from the same company. Between us we got three distinctly different tomatoes - none of which were Brandysweet Plum.
My Lois' Baby Tiger is the wrong shape and devoid of stripes but the plant I gave to my friend is true to type. My Isis Candy was supposed to be a round cherry but turned out to be a small, paste plum. Meanwhile, my purchased packet of Bloody Butcher included the dwarf variant that I'm keeping going.

Possible reasons:
Cross pollination is always a small possibility unless the flowers are bagged before opening.

Some varieties are put on the market before being fully stable and throwbacks abound.

More rarely, there are genuine mutations.

Never underestimate good old human error in the seed saving/labelling/packaging process.

My Not Lois' Baby Tiger (aka "Lois' Plain,Fat Baby") is delicious, btw. I'm definitely saving seeds from it.

 

Oh no. It's really not good.
I can see that this issue started a number of years ago, but there seems to be an abundance of social media posts this last couple of weeks with people sharing photos of similar looking tomato plants. I wonder how widespread this is at the moment.

I've started to do the same with some of mine - trying to get the roots as compost free as possible and re-potting.

I'm starting to wonder whether it was the compost I sowed the seeds in - and this is a very delayed reaction. I have a Grushovka plant in a different compost to the one I suspect. It was growing very well and even has some tomatoes, but all the side shoots are now shrivelled and ill looking.

 

I'm growing tomatillos for the first time this year and they will be going outside. I've seen Charles Dowding growing them outside and they were supposed to be very productive.

I've grown physalis "in a berries" outside for a few years and they are surprisingly cold hardy. I overwinter them in an unheated, cold greenhouse, and they have taken a bit of frost. I only keep them as perennials because it's one less thing to find space for when I'm sowing in the spring but even after a hack back they are already 5ft tall and flowering, so need space.

 

The Tomatillos can definitely grow outside - in the South of England at least.
Very very productive on the two years i've grown them.

 

Yeah they did fine for me in Glasgow too