Because of a cold wet spring, the tomatoes are just now coming in.

In many of them, the flesh around the stem is yellow/green and hard.
The online plant problem Web sites say this is due to too much sun and
that the remedy is to shade the plants.

However, our neighbor's maples have grown in to the point where we're
only getting 2 to 3 hours of direct sun per day, so I have a hard time
believing that's the problem.

On the other hand, the plants are in a corner formed by two exterior
walls of the house which is like a little solar oven; it gets pretty
warm in there during the period we do get sun.

Could the problem be heat, and not light?

Any other avenues to investigate?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

Bert Hyman said:

Because of a cold wet spring, the tomatoes are just now coming in.

In many of them, the flesh around the stem is yellow/green and hard.
The online plant problem Web sites say this is due to too much sun and
that the remedy is to shade the plants.

It's very much connected to *variety.* Some varieties are genetically
prone to green shoulders. Others are resistant.

As a specific example, two very early tomato varieties that other wise
looked and tasted remarkably the same (when I grew them side by side):
'Stupice' (an heirloom) developed green shoulders as the summer went
on when '4th of July' (a hybrid) did not.

Some of the old heirloom oxheart-types I've grown have had massively
green shoulders, while others have not. We've had an exceptional
amount of sunshine in the last month and a half. Of the varieties
I'm growing this summer only one of them 'Juliet' is showing any sign
of green shoulders (tiny ones). I'm growing 'Juliet' mainly for drying
so will just cut the green parts when I halve them.

However, our neighbor's maples have grown in to the point where we're
only getting 2 to 3 hours of direct sun per day, so I have a hard time
believing that's the problem.

On the other hand, the plants are in a corner formed by two exterior
walls of the house which is like a little solar oven; it gets pretty
warm in there during the period we do get sun.

Could the problem be heat, and not light?

Do they start getting sun only in mid-day (the very peak of insolation)?
It could be the timing of the sun exposure, though the heat is very likely
a part of it.

Any other avenues to investigate?

Low potassium can cause blotchy ripening.

Found this, from the Royal Horticultural Society:

"Disorders of fruit are common; greenback, where hard, green areas
develop on the shoulder of ripening fruit, is usually caused by heat
injury and insufficient potassium. Good ventilation, shading, use of
tomato fertilisers and choosing greenback-resistant cultivars will help
avoid this."

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...toproblems.asp

Well, there you go then...
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

After enlightenment, the laundry.

In article ,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Some of the old heirloom oxheart-types I've grown have had massively
green shoulders, while others have not. We've had an exceptional
amount of sunshine in the last month and a half. Of the varieties
I'm growing this summer only one of them 'Juliet' is showing any sign
of green shoulders (tiny ones). I'm growing 'Juliet' mainly for drying
so will just cut the green parts when I halve them.

Veering off the topic of green shoulders a bit. We also often plant
Juliet. I did not realize they dried well. Do you do them in a
dehydrator? Have you planted Sweet Baby Girl? That is my husband's
favorite. I have been slow roasting and freezing those all summer.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

Isabella Woodhouse said:


In article ,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Some of the old heirloom oxheart-types I've grown have had massively
green shoulders, while others have not. We've had an exceptional
amount of sunshine in the last month and a half. Of the varieties
I'm growing this summer only one of them 'Juliet' is showing any sign
of green shoulders (tiny ones). I'm growing 'Juliet' mainly for drying
so will just cut the green parts when I halve them.

Veering off the topic of green shoulders a bit. We also often plant
Juliet. I did not realize they dried well. Do you do them in a
dehydrator?

Yes, I use a dehydrator.

I'm trying Juliet to replace a variety I can't find anymore, 'Ruby.'
'Ruby' was grape-tomato size and I was able to dry it by cutting it
in half. Ruby dried to a sweet, rich flavor, good enough to snack on.
'Juliet' is less sweet when dried, but has a complex flavor that brings
to mind a dark, red wine. Not a substitute for 'Ruby' (certainly not for
snacking on, at least) but should be interesting to cook with.

Have you planted Sweet Baby Girl? That is my husband's
favorite. I have been slow roasting and freezing those all summer.

I've not tried that variety. I'll have to keep it in mind.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

After enlightenment, the laundry.

In article ,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Isabella Woodhouse said:

In article ,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Some of the old heirloom oxheart-types I've grown have had massively
green shoulders, while others have not. We've had an exceptional
amount of sunshine in the last month and a half. Of the varieties
I'm growing this summer only one of them 'Juliet' is showing any sign
of green shoulders (tiny ones). I'm growing 'Juliet' mainly for drying
so will just cut the green parts when I halve them.

Veering off the topic of green shoulders a bit. We also often plant
Juliet. I did not realize they dried well. Do you do them in a
dehydrator?

Yes, I use a dehydrator.

I'm trying Juliet to replace a variety I can't find anymore, 'Ruby.'
'Ruby' was grape-tomato size and I was able to dry it by cutting it
in half. Ruby dried to a sweet, rich flavor, good enough to snack on.
'Juliet' is less sweet when dried, but has a complex flavor that brings
to mind a dark, red wine. Not a substitute for 'Ruby' (certainly not for
snacking on, at least) but should be interesting to cook with.

Have you planted Sweet Baby Girl? That is my husband's
favorite. I have been slow roasting and freezing those all summer.

I've not tried that variety. I'll have to keep it in mind.

It's very flavorful, sweet and amazingly productive. I cut those in
half, too, when I roast them. We have more fun doing tomato taste tests
every year. We lay out a bunch of different tomatoes and then go
blindfolded one at a time of course. Usually we do the little tomatoes
first by themselves. We comment on sweetness, flavor complexity, skin
characteristics, texture, etc. We also rate things other than taste too.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

In Pat
Kiewicz wrote:

Bert Hyman said:

On the other hand, the plants are in a corner formed by two exterior
walls of the house which is like a little solar oven; it gets pretty
warm in there during the period we do get sun.

Could the problem be heat, and not light?

Do they start getting sun only in mid-day (the very peak of
insolation)? It could be the timing of the sun exposure, though the
heat is very likely a part of it.

Yes; they're along a wall that runs north-south, which coupled with the
neighbor's maple tree, means that they don't get any direct sun 'til a
little after local noon. The other neighbor's maple tree cuts off direct
sun by about 3PM local time.


Any other avenues to investigate?

Low potassium can cause blotchy ripening.

Found this, from the Royal Horticultural Society:

"Disorders of fruit are common; greenback, where hard, green areas
develop on the shoulder of ripening fruit, is usually caused by heat
injury and insufficient potassium....

Thanks. They're definitely getting a lot of heat in a short time; I'll
check into the potassium issue nex year too.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

On Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:06:10 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

I'm trying Juliet to replace a variety I can't find anymore, 'Ruby.'
'Ruby' was grape-tomato size and I was able to dry it by cutting it
in half. Ruby dried to a sweet, rich flavor, good enough to snack on.
'Juliet' is less sweet when dried, but has a complex flavor that brings
to mind a dark, red wine. Not a substitute for 'Ruby' (certainly not for
snacking on, at least) but should be interesting to cook with.


http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds...1.html?SA=1505
http://www.housecharm.co.uk/items/69...rid-Seeds.html

http://www.valueseeds.com/item-560.html

In article ,
se (JustTom) wrote:

On Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:06:10 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

I'm trying Juliet to replace a variety I can't find anymore, 'Ruby.'
'Ruby' was grape-tomato size and I was able to dry it by cutting it
in half. Ruby dried to a sweet, rich flavor, good enough to snack on.
'Juliet' is less sweet when dried, but has a complex flavor that brings
to mind a dark, red wine. Not a substitute for 'Ruby' (certainly not for
snacking on, at least) but should be interesting to cook with.


http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds...1.html?SA=1505
http://www.housecharm.co.uk/items/69...rid-Seeds.html

http://www.valueseeds.com/item-560.html

We get Thompson-Morgan seeds (mostly flower) on occasion and they've
always been excellent.
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

JustTom said:


On Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:06:10 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

I'm trying Juliet to replace a variety I can't find anymore, 'Ruby.'
'Ruby' was grape-tomato size and I was able to dry it by cutting it
in half. Ruby dried to a sweet, rich flavor, good enough to snack on.
'Juliet' is less sweet when dried, but has a complex flavor that brings
to mind a dark, red wine. Not a substitute for 'Ruby' (certainly not for
snacking on, at least) but should be interesting to cook with.


http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds...1.html?SA=1505
http://www.housecharm.co.uk/items/69...uby-F1-Hybrid-
Seeds.html

Thompson&Morgan I've heard of, but this is a link to the UK website.
I don't order from their US catalog and don't know if Ruby is in there.

Housecharm actually doesn't sell them, it's from gardencentre.co.uk which
doesn't look to be marketing to the USA.

http://www.valueseeds.com/item-560.html

Hmm...never heard of them. Apparently they re-market old T&M stock.
Recent reviews* have been negative. However, they may be worth a try
for this.

*at http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/

On a tangent, I may have finally found a mid-season slicing tomato that
both looks beautiful and tastes great, plus is highly disease resistant: a
European variety named Royesta (available from Tomato Grower's Supply).
It looks like an old heirloom type, what with the bumpy/ribbed shoulders,
but has out produced the heirlooms I'm growing, and tastes much, much
better than the other hybrid I'm growing. Royesta is State-Fair-exhibit
pretty.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

After enlightenment, the laundry.

In article ,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:
[...]
On a tangent, I may have finally found a mid-season slicing tomato that
both looks beautiful and tastes great, plus is highly disease resistant: a
European variety named Royesta (available from Tomato Grower's Supply).
It looks like an old heirloom type, what with the bumpy/ribbed shoulders,
but has out produced the heirlooms I'm growing, and tastes much, much
better than the other hybrid I'm growing. Royesta is State-Fair-exhibit
pretty.

I've passed this on to my DH who orders frequently from that supplier.
Mortgage Lifter has done extremely well for us this year. Very tasty
indeed.
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

"Bert Hyman" wrote in message
...
In Pat
Kiewicz wrote:

Bert Hyman said:

Any other avenues to investigate?

Low potassium can cause blotchy ripening.

Thanks. They're definitely getting a lot of heat in a short time; I'll
check into the potassium issue nex year too.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

to add to Pat's findings:
http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/toma...ordisorder.htm