Uneven Ripening

Hi chums. My toms have been cropping for a few weeks now, but over the last few days, I notice that some are now ripening unevenly. That is to say, one part of the tomato is red and it graduates to green. Any thoughts as to what could be causing this ?
Cheers...freddy.

 

Its called greenback freddy.

Due to too much hot sun, or maybe not enough potash.

 

Hi pete. I thought greenback was restricted to the top part of the fruit ?

 

Hi John, thanks for the reply. From the photo it looks like it's the top of the fruit that has been affected. Mine aren't quite like that. Mine are red/green around the circumference.
Cheers...freddy.

 

Alicante John....

 

How do the commercial growers prevent greenback? They don't shade their greenhouses (AFAIK)

Is it worth chucking some Sulphate of Potash down, as a variation to normal proprietary Tomato fertilizer? (I don't know of a liquid feed that is 100% Potash, but I expect there are some)

 

I think certain varieties are more prone to it than others, but I can't remember which ones. I mostly grow the cherry varieties which don't seem to suffer from that.

 

Hi folks. OK, so we're saying to try Seaweed Extract AND Phostrogen.
John, I'm currently using 'B&Q Tomato Feed' (or something like that). I saw Tomorite there but figured the B&Q stuff would be the same at a much lower cost.
Cheers...freddy.

 

"I saw Tomorite there but figured the B&Q stuff would be the same at a much lower cost"

If its got an N:P:K ratio on the packet see if the numbers are in the ratio 1-1-2 - e.g. 2-2-4 or 4-4-8 - or somewhere close to that ratio (Tomorite is 4 - 4.5 - 8). It should have some added trace elements too - particularly Magnesium. If the B&Q stuff matches that then it should be fine.

" I've noticed that the cherry types never seem to suffer with it."

My Gardeners Delight do :( although my greenhouse is unshaded

 

Freddy although green back seems mostly to affect the top of the fruit I dont think it exclusively is so.

I dont grow greenhouse toms any more, but I can remember having very similar problems, the green part is always hard.
It never happens outside even in growbags, as far as I know?

I think growbags are not a good idea, I 'm sure I will get it in the neck for saying that.:D

But they are difficult to water properly and the roots cook if the bag is in full sun.

Much better to grow in pots, I found, even if you buy grow bags and put the growing material in pots.
I'm sure you will be amazed at just how little compost each plant is expected to survive upon.

I think some shading and a good feed are in order

 

Hi folks. A few issues there
Firstly, I've just checked my feed and the ratio is 4:4:8. I also 'happened' upon some 'Chempak High Potash Feed' that was in my shed. It's ratio is 15:15:30, would that be of any use ?
As far as growbags are concerned, I reckon I'm using half decent ones. They probably have twice the capacity of some that I've seen, each one costing around £4.50. I'm also using greenhouse shading (the net type). I also (when planting) put quite large pots in the top of the growbags into which I added a mixture of J.I No3 and Multi-purpose. I left around 2 inches from the top of the pot for watering purposes. I feed them twice a week, so all in all I've done pretty much all I can.

Cheers...freddy.