29-07-2003, 08:32 PM
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Tomato Ripening Problem
In article ,
(EvelynMcH) wrote:
Besides diseasesbeing the cause, tomatoes can sometimes turn red without
ripeness when the fruit is on a blighted plant, in the presence of gases (like
the hothouse tomatoes in supermarkets) or in the case of excessive heat.
Amazingly, the plants with the least problem (the Romas) have minor leaf
curl and the others do not. We did have some BER but my DH thought it
was due to a hose leak that had flooded that part of the garden. The
tomatoes trying to ripen now, are not BERd. After an exceptionally cool
spring for this area (Missouri Z 5b), we have had some really blazingly
hot weather in the upper 90s over July. I thought the foliage looked a
bit chlorotic and we were just exploring how to get trace elements to
them when this happened. The previous owners did appear to have used a
lot of chemicals on the lawn; they had a contract with one of those
places. Both sprays and pellets were used according to receipts in the
house book. Given that we are not having this problem in the other
garden (which did not used to be lawn), perhaps that is also part of the
problem?
Are the tomatoes smaller than you'd expect for mature fruit? Do they taste
unripe?
The fruit is quite large--- MUCH larger than I would expect. I have
never grown San Marzanos before so I am unsure of their normal size.
Ours are like 4-5 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. They are huge! My
dad used to grow plum tomatoes and they were a LOT smaller. The Romas
seem to average a regular 3 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. They look
very ripe on the outside but when you cut into them, they are quite
green including the outer circle of the tomato. This is happening on
both the Romas and San Marzanos but to a much greater extent on the
Marzanos. They do not taste ripe at all either. The Opalkas, though
enormous, are still totally green. Letting them sit out to ripen does
not work either. They just mottle and spoil. 
Perfectly ripe Romas can sometimes have a lot of green in the central vein of
the fruit, too.
In this particular garden, we are successfully growing beans of all
kinds, corn, raspberries and blackberries, cucumbers, eggplant, peas
(done now), and we wintered over the plot with rye, tilling it in in the
spring. We also tilled in the peas when they were done (an they are
volunteering with the corn lol). Everything else has grown normally.
Are tomatoes the "canaries" of modern gardens?
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