How are your tomatoes doing ?

Davesnave

Ours are tailing-off now and we need a step ladder to get at the top ones. People have bought as many as I could produce, so we've not preserved or frozen any.

The old fashioned Harbinger variety from the 1950s that I had from a friend has only just begun to ripen. The fruit are large and quite tasty, but I find the skins tough and they're prone to splitting.

A few volunteer plants have grown on the compost heap. No idea what they were, but I've half a mind to bring them in and see what they might produce.

Primrose

I have been amazed at the size and yield of my Ferline cordon tomatoes this year. Several plants have had 8 good sized tomatoes on the first truss and subsequent trusses have cropped generously too. They're supposed to be blight resistant but thankfully haven't had any blight (yet) to test them out. If you want a good yield, would definitely recommend although with the caveat that this summer has probably been a good year for most tomatoes.


For cordon cherry (ie smaller type tomatoes) Prima Bella did extremely well and ripened early. My Gardeners Delight were very poor in yield by comparison and I'm going to drop them next year.
I will also drop Ildi (yellow cherry plum) because although prolific, they are very poor keepers and soften too early instead of staying firm.


Like Davesnave, I've also had a few self sown "volunteers" appear in my vegetable patch from earlier spread compost. I've replanted them all in a separate part of the veg patch and let them do their own thing. They seem to have much lighter green foliage than my other tomatoes but again, no idea what variety they are - I've just let them sprawl! The first tomatoes are starting to ripen now whereas my hand sown ones indoors started ripening early July, so that makes two months difference in cropping time if you let them grow "au naturel".

malebolge

Just a little update on my plants. As mentioned previously, I've grown way more than normal this year so will be selecting the best for next year, and perhaps adding a couple of new varieties.
Red Alert - Outdoors. very heavy cropping, early ripening - excellent taste. Some splitting now but the variations in temp haven't helped recently. Will definitely grow again.
Sungold - Greenhouse & outdoors. Reliable, very little splitting, good crop. Excellent taste. Never grown outdoors before - impressed with how good they are but unusual weather this year.
SunLemon - Greenhouse & outdoors. Thought plants were rather weak compared to Sungold at first but have surprised me - very tasty & good crop.
Suncherry. Greenhouse & outdoors - similar growing comments as Sungold but a little less tasty. Won't bother next year as Sungold are better.
Gardener's Delight - Outdoors. Good crop - medium sized fruits, disappointed with taste. Prone to splitting. Only grew for dad, won't bother again.
Sweet Aperitif - Greenhouse. Later ripening. Less fruits than Sungold, taste is ok but as they haven't produced as many, won't grow next year.
Tumbling Tom. Planted later so ripening later. Decent taste but won't grow again as no real places to put trailing toms.
Sweet Million - Greenhouse. Disappointing crop. Good taste. Some of the fruits are pea sized. Won't grow again.
Mountain Magic - Greenhouse. Planted later. Still have none ripe. Poor crop. Bought them on a whim at a silly price, so had tiny plants when I was already staking out other varieties. Note to self - don't do that again...
I also planted some random seeds dad gave me. Two have produced lovely fruits. No idea what they are but I'm going to keep seeds and try them next year to remind me of dad (he's not passed, but his dementia is so bad now he barely remembers me and when I took him some tomatoes last week he insisted they were grapes and frogs in a bag) If they do well next year, I'm calling them - James's frog.

savemoney

I grow sweet million and have excellent crop in GH I definitely grow them again. Also grow Shirely again decent crop I have best crop of Tomatoes this year and they both still got toms on


Wilkos also have seeds on offer see grabbit board for my post 10-30p per packet


This is one of the many seeds trays I have got these yesterday and have another seed tray full to get

tootallulah

I picked all the remaining ones yesterday as I suddenly got the urge to tidy up the greenhouse and the terrace - what a great year it has been. I have 30lbs of small toms open frozen and bagged up, 10 lots of tomato sauce, lots and lots of tomato soup...... Green tomato chutney will get done over the week-end. And I have eaten tomato something most days. Floridity is by far my favourite I grow it outdoors and indoors - both do well. Sun Gold, Tigerella also successful and even the Black Russians did well. I have now planted some perennial seeds in the greenhouse, happy, happy days.

Primrose

We still have a couple of weeks sunshine forecast for our part of the world so am leaving as many tomatoes on the plants to ripen naturally outdoors as possible. Maybe it's my imagination but I think the flavour tends to deteriorate once they're picked and ripened off the plant indoors.

Its certainly been a bumper year for tomatoes and my freezer is loaded with them in various processed forms. At the beginning of the cropping season I can't wait to pick and eat them but have to confess, much as I like them, the novelty is beginning to wear a little thin now.!

malebolge

Primrose wrote: »

We still have a couple of weeks sunshine forecast for our part of the world so am leaving as many tomatoes on the plants to ripen naturally outdoors as possible. Maybe it's my imagination action but I think the flavour tends to deteriorate once they're picked and ripened off the plant indoors.

Its certainly been a bumper year for tomatoes and my freezer is loaded with them in various processed forms. At the beginning of the cropping season I can't wait to pick and eat them but have to confess, much as I like them, the novelty is beginning to wear a little thin now.!

I'm doing the same as you - the weather's not forecast as brilliant here, but I've still got a good amount ripening outside so I'll leave them to see how it goes, then move the rest, if I can, into the conservatory (originally called an 'orangerie' by the pretentious architect who designed it for me, now called 'like bloody huge second greenhouse that you insist on filling with plants' by my daughter).

I totally get what you mean about the novelty wearing thin - specially as because of circumstances I have, instead of my usual 20ish plants, over 50 in my (proper) greenhouse and outdoors. Family & friends have certainly enjoyed them, but I reckon I've been tomatoed out this year.

tootallulah

We'll all be glad in January when the freezer spills out some lovely,forgotten, fresh tomato sauce!

Farway

Despite my crop of Gardeners' Delight not being as tasty as "promised", reasons for which Dave explained, I still bought another packet in the Wilko sale

A dog returning to it's vomit, or never learning from experience?:D

I'll let you know in 2019

Any

Hi all

I have just discovered this thread, I am tomatoes lover and had a greenhouse for the very first year this year.

My cerice cherry tomatoes are awesome, heavy cropping and very tasty.
Plum Rome tomato have still not ripened, not one!

Yellow sunny delight (I think it is the name, seeds arrived in Kitchen garden magazine) tomato, despite it saying it does not need to be pruned, went absolutely wild and took over half greenhouse and is ripening slowly. But produces very lovely tasting tomatoes.


My plum Rome tomatoes have still not ripened.
Also grew big, but only few fruits on it.

tootallulah wrote: »

I picked all the remaining ones yesterday as I suddenly got the urge to tidy up the greenhouse and the terrace - what a great year it has been. I have 30lbs of small toms open frozen and bagged up, 10 lots of tomato sauce, lots and lots of tomato soup...... Green tomato chutney will get done over the week-end. And I have eaten tomato something most days. Floridity is by far my favourite I grow it outdoors and indoors - both do well. Sun Gold, Tigerella also successful and even the Black Russians did well. I have now planted some perennial seeds in the greenhouse, happy, happy days.

When you say you grow Floridity inside, how big does it get? How do you care for it inside? Position?
I would love to try and grow some inside over winter.
Have nice sunny windowshelve in the bedroom, but will it block a lot of light?