Allotments 4 All

I've tried plastic sheeting barrier tacked to poles and placed in front of my outdoor toms on the windward side, about 4 ft 6 ins high along the entire row, and it seemed to work: those toms didn't get blight until much much later than the others. I did curve it around at the sides too.

That 'much lighter tone' that John talks about.

Ooops!  :-[ After all the worrying about it i completely forgot to check today!

>:( :( >:( :(

No still stubbornly green today (getting lighter maybe but still very slow).

At this rate I will be looking for culinary ideas for green tomatoes, as thats all i'll have!

(sigh) lost track of the number of 'pep' talks they have had to encourage them to turn.

Mine are all green still as well. They've got plenty of time though, and if they stay green I'll be making chutney.

i have my first three or four toms almost bright red. more light skinned ones.
not long now, CD :)

I'm in the all green boat too. :(  In fact I've got many more flowers than toms so memo to self: sow earlier next year.

Tim,

Just out of professional interest (I'm a digital picture retoucher) have you artificially enhanced the red tomatoes in your pic?  ;)

Tony.

Would I?
Noooo!  But some of the folk on this board might like your help with theirs??

I have now picked fresh roma and tigerella from the allotment and my HUGE marmandes are redening!  Also, lots of yellow peacevine in the greenhouse and they are sugar sweet.  This year I am glad to say, blight seems to have been curtailed on the plot, and the greenhouse toms are ripening before September like last year!

I was wondering. I normaly leave my greenhouse door open during the day to keep it cool, regardless of the weather outside. Could this slow down ripening , or at least negate the advantage growing in a greenhouse under cover offers. Its just that at this rate both inside and outside toms are going to ripen all at once. 

Could keeping the door closed a bit more help on cooler days?

Any veiws/thoughts on this?

Thanks

It will becooler, but the amount of cooling will depend on the wind. Unless it's blowing a howling gale straight through the door, it'll still be warmer then outside.

I saw on another website when I first started to try to find out why my toms were not ripenening (Still not), this suggestion about too much heat preventing ripening, & some American wrote to say that if that was the case, half the states in the US would not be able to grow tomatoes!

Finally!! One of my tomatoes is ripening.  I'm growing organic Gardener's Delight on my sunny   ::) balcony in SE London and yesterday one tomato started to turn.  It's been a long wait, but all worth while for one tiny tom.  Just another 100 or so to go  :)

M.

;D Yes we too ;D have our first ever nearly red tomato :) I noticed one truss has snapped, it's still attached but I doubt if they will survive now. :(

We have 40 plants so hopefully we will get a small crop out of them. ;D

You mean like this?

Take heart - they've all been picked except this last one! Yes, they are small ones.

My Tomatoes:

'There aint no stoppin' them now!'

Excuse me, but that statement is perfectly true. Ripening like billy-o!

Isnt it strange how the fruits on a truss often weigh so much the truss cant take the strain and bends or snaps? I have had to 'shore up' a few of mine with string to stop them breaking off. That sais on one of my bush types, the weight of the fruit has actualy broken a main stem let alone a truss! I am expecting to have to pick these fruit green in case they dont ripen properly as a result.

Maddy   Me too - my very first ripe tomato of the year.  Just the one but I was so pleased to see it.  I notice a few more are on the turn too  :)

Save that pic for posterity!!

Why do the yellows and oranges ripen so much earlier than the reds?  Been picking 'other' colours for weeks and weeks now, but the reds have only been coming in abundance for the last couple.