Tomato Growing 2025

I've seen plenty of tomatoes growing in laybye's where it's probably best to hope someone threw their sandwich away, rather than it was deposited with some fertiliser.

 

Sorry i'm gonna need an explanation on this one, or am i being dense,........dont answer that

 

Sorry @pete It was @LunarSea mentioning how tom seeds manage to survive the human gut and produce seedlings.
I used to keep and breed various Tortoise species years ago. Some ate tomatoes and their deposits went in their own little compost bin. The seeds survived and often produced decent plants when grown on. The same happens with the likes of Giant African Land Snails. I don't know about other species tho I can say Parrots aren't keen on them
Tomato seeds are very resilient tho aren't they ? Stored correctly they will germinate well past their "sow by" date without any help as such.

 

Thanks for the explanation.

 

A few nice Maskotka for lunch today. There were none ripening this time last week but this sudden warm spell (and a few banana skins) has really brought them on.

 

Purple Fairy. Looked fab, but tasted mealy and dull. Will reassess later in the summer, as first fruits are rarely the best.

 

Lovely looking tomatoes! I must try growing Maskotka again next year. Hope the taste of your Purple Fairies improve Eaten by weasels

I've had to pick off quite a few tomatoes with blossom end rot already :( . I gave them a dose of calcium last week, so I'm hoping a couple more doses along with their normal tomato feed will fix it as it usually does. As usual I'm massively regretting not giving them calcium as soon as they flowered!

 

Thanks, @Maria.R
Once I have a few more, I'll see how they they are fried up. I wasn't aware that it might be a cooker but that could be its forte.

 

I try to be consistent with the watering but it's difficult especially in this heat and with them being in pots!

I always mulch them all with strulch and have saucers underneath so the water and feed don't run away. I've picked more rotten ones off today. I should have loads of huge tomatoes growing by now but it's pretty much just tiny ones and flowers. Luckily I have quite a few cherry tomato plants. It's just so disheartening.

I'm wondering if it could be the compost. They're mostly in Westland The Gardener's multi purpose peat based. A few in a Westland peat based grow bag. But I'm wondering if the multi purpose doesn't have any/much calcium or nutrients for the fruit. I'll give them more calcium this week and see what happens.

 

I know I'm putting my head above the parapet, but here goes with my pennyworth on Blossom End Rot (BER). If nothing else, it might start a discussion.

Warning - people much more expert than I have different views about the following, but several acquaintances I have passed this tip on to swear by it.

My tomatoes have had BER several times over 50+ years. About 10 years ago (actually, I think it was the last great summer we had in 2018), my tomatoes had it bad, and I conducted extensive research about BER and found an old, old market gardening remedy. This remedy, which seems to be debunked these days, consistently works for me.

A handful of slaked lime (builders' lime) scattered under the plant and watered in cures BER overnight. Yes, you read that correctly - overnight. Of course, it cannot cure fruit already affected.

To be clear, this is not 'gardeners' lime' (ground limestone) but 'builders' lime', aka slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). I don't know how much it costs these days but I bought a 56lb bag for £8+ about 5 years ago. It's available from builders' merchants, B&Q and similar big DIY stores.

 

Wonder if anybody is growing Fireworks? I was given 3 plants to try. Not grown it before. The plants are healthy and have already produced huge first trusses. Not ripe yet but getting there. The odd thing is after the first truss none produced a leader? I thought I might have nipped out the leader by mistake, done that on a few occasions but discovered they were all the same. Yes I can be a plank but not on all the plants! I have had to let a side shoot turn into a leader. After the next truss appeared the same thing, no leader, very odd. They better taste good as this is a bit tedious. Maybe a batch of duff seed? I have not found out if the plants friend has are doing the same thing. All the other tomatoes ( I grow about 6 different varieties approx 40 tomato plants…..yes I like toms) I am growing are behaving normally.

 

Sounds similar to Red alert, they stop growing very early after setting fruit.

 

I did get BER last year on some of my beefsteak plants mainly on the first truss. It appeared to "cure" itself later in the season. Never had it on the smaller types.
Some of the Sungold are just beginning to turn now as are the Tumbling Tom - the Choc.cherries are always later for me.

 

Hi All. I would love to have BER but unfortunately it is looking like I will not have any tomato's this year. My plants are about 5ft tall and very healthy looking. out of
6 plants only 1 has a truss forming of 6 flowers. on the others there are no signs of any trusses forming. Any ideas ???