1 Big Tomato

Hello, I'm a first time gardener and I've recently bought a small greenhouse.

Amongst other things I've got a few different types of tomato plants which all seem to be doing well. One tomato plant (red alert) started to develop a tomato long before any of the other flowers even looked like turning - in fact the flowers just seemed to die and go dormant with no signs of any fruit appearing. In the meantime this single tomato has got bigger and bigger and I'm wondering if its sucking up all the nutrients meant for the other potential tomatos on the same plant, could this be the case? It's still green but looks a lot bigger than I think red alert tomatos usually end up.

As the plants gotten more mature there does seem to be other fruit appearing but should I take the big one off to give them a better chance or should I leave it ripen up? I know its only one tomato but I'm just curious if my theory is correct! TIA

 

Hi David and welcome to GC. enjoy your stay.
As far as your monster tom goes. I would suggest leave it.

There one thing I have learned in the few years I have been growing toms and that is to wait and see. Nature has a way of putting things right.

 

Good evening and welcome to the site,why the saint david username?:( Leave the tom alone and see what happens with it.:gnthb:

 

Thanks for the responses! I'll leave it grow and see what happens as advised

Dai, I'm from South Wales so it's a nod to the patron saint of where I live (although I'm not Welsh). With a name like Dai I'm guessing you're from Wales too??? :thumb:

 

Your forgiven then, Dewi. I am in Cwmbran.:gnthb:

 

Bore Da Saint David, Croeso y Gardeners corner. I'm from Somerset :lollol:

 

Cheers ziggy, all my family are from Somerset!

 

You need to come home from Cymru then, when i started work in a slate quarry in north wales/gogledd cymru they told me i would have to learn welsh if i wanted to stay working there. It turned out that they wanted someone that could spell in either language because they couldn't spell in Welsh or English.

Years later, I went to Newport to pick up my passport & went into a newsagents to buy some fags, i asked for them in welsh ( being in wales ) the little girl behind the counter didn't have a clue what i'd said. So it's one law for the English in north wales ( sais bastads) and another for the welsh in south wales.(they dont have to speak their own language there, but you do)

 

Hi saint david. It sounds like your toms aren't pollinating. A couple of things that might help are, make sure the g/house atmosphere isn't too dry and give the plants a little shake (around mid-day if possible) to aid pollination.

Cheers...freddy.

 

Welcome to the forum David (saint or not.)
I'm at odds with the others here. I think there is something in what you say about the big tomato and the others not growing.
Chillies certainly work that way. Sometimes you get a big King Chillie and the others don't grow until you remove the King.
I think seals are the same. You get a big beach master and the other males have no chance.
I would take that tomato off and see what happens to the rest - we are talking about 1 tomato !
Good luck and hope you get a great crop.

 

Thanks again for all the advice. Alice, would that also apply to pepper plants? As it happens I've got a pepper plant in the same greenhouse with only 1 large fruit on it while the flowers around it seem to be going nowhere.

Come to think of it I've got a chilli doing something similar too!!!

 

Yes David, I would take the chilli and the pepper off.

If your other chilli flowers are not setting fruit they might be too hot and the flowers are getting fried. You could try putting them in a bit of shade til the fruits are formed. And they do like a mist over with water.

 

Sorry to butt in, but would that go for Courgettes too ? I've got a yellow courgette with about 20 small courgettes on but they don't seem to be getting any bigger ! The first one appeared about 2 weeks ago and I've just been waiting for it to get big enough to eat but it's not ! Shall I nip it off do you think ?