Just been surfing and come across a few tomato tips........
In the planting hole put some fish heads!
Asprin (has been shown to increase disease resistant of tomatoes, in addition to increasing blossom production)
Crushed egg shell (I do this already for extra calcium, but not the above!)
Anyone else got any strange tomato tips?
Also peppers like a few matches (sulphur?)
To avoid being disappointed with Money Maker plant them upside down 12 inches deep ;D
This was mentioned few weeks back by steve partridge i think, i trying it.
Step 1:
Purchase regular strength aspirin. The brand does not matter, purchase the cheapest brand that is available.
Step 2:
Mix together one aspirin with one gallon of water. Combine the ingredients well, so that the aspirin is distributed evenly throughout the liquid.
Step 3:
Add a dash of mild liquid soap to the mixture. This is used as a way to help the aspirin water stick better to the tomato plants. Once the soap is added, attach a spray nozzle to the gallon jug and it is ready to use.
Step 4:
Spray the tomatoes when you first set them in the ground. This is going to help germinate the plants and stimulate the growing process. There is no need to soak the area. A light and gentle spray will suffice.
Step 5:
Continue to spray the aspirin mixture on the tomato plants every 2 to 3 weeks. You are going to notice that the plants stay healthier and attract fewer insects.
Another product that I have been told about and I have already obtained is called SB Plant Invigorator and if does what it says on the tin so to speak then it should prove very beneficial, I will obviously let you know during the season how it does.
i was told today to take of all the leaves except 3 from my plants!!!
What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah thats what i thought
anyway he says cut em all off, says he gets loads more fruit than anyone else because of it
I have heard of removing some leaves later on when you have green toms.This helps them to ripen quicker,but never anything that drastic. :)
well no doubt he will be there tomorrow, i'm sure he will tell me more if i ask
Quote from: betula on May 04, 2008, 00:20:47
I have heard of removing some leaves later on when you have green toms.This helps them to ripen quicker,but never anything that drastic. :)
Betula's answer is what I've heard. Sometimes I remove selected leaves to help the sun shine on the tomatoes. Can't believe stripping the plant would help it produce. Leaves have a purpose afterall.
Photosynthesis through the leaves.
i would be to worried i'd kill them
Yes its true just by leaving three little leaves on the plant improves your crop. its just a matter of knowing when to do it and what three leaves on.
Or so the yank chappie says who is selling the book
Sounds like "snakeoil" to me... :-X
I don't believe a word of it. I leave everything on the plants, except ripe fruit obviously.
A lot of reading without telling you anything
http://www.joyfultomato.com/index2.html?gclid=CJn9v8G6jJMCFQ0u1AodP3tzfw
didn't we have a thread on this last year? It all got very over-wrought. Sounds crackers to me, but why doesn't someone try it and put us out of our misery?
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
Quote from: Rhubarb Thrasher on May 04, 2008, 09:49:52
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
Very good! Similarly, "Know nowt, say nowt".
How about putting a banana skin in the planting hole? Apparently the potasium in the nana skin is good for the tom ... I tried this a couple of years ago but didn't notice any extra benefits.
how about- in a few weeks time take cuttings of th outdoor toms - use the sideshoots-keep them indoors, and if we have an attack of blight, then we've got healthy plants to put out for a second try later
At least that one might work RT!
in the past i have stripped leaves off my toms, i have always had massive plants with big leaves (don't know how i do it tho) and i strip leaves off at intervals once the fruit has set, my theory is to concentrate the plant on enlarging and ripening the fruits instead of it making the leaves bigger and the plants seem to do this better without as many leaves. obviously i leave a great many still on. I have seen on the tv commercial tomato growers and the plants with fruit on always seem to have very few leaves, i suspect that they do this aswell (more than me). eg, Jamie Oliver's gardener (the one with the beard) had his toms in lines in polytunnel and they were all pretty bare on the leaf aspect and had loads of fruits on them
The leaf stripping is something that I was told to do right at the end of the season so that the strength went into the final fruit. I did it and the plants were none the worse for it. In fact they started to flower again and I got even more fruit.
I have heard that bananas are supposed to help the picked green fruit ripen.
The newest thing I read was that you should grow basil (the herb) in pots near the tomatoes. Can't remember why though.
Quote from: PurpleHeather on May 04, 2008, 23:34:22
The newest thing I read was that you should grow basil (the herb) in pots near the tomatoes. Can't remember why though.
It's because there are very few things in the world that taste as good as a tomato and basil sandwich...