Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill Litchfield wrote:
Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill



I just picked my first almost-ripe tomatoes today. They weren't really
quite red, but they smelled ripe and I didn't want the squirrels to get
them. These were "Stupice", which shoulda beed getting ripe a month ago.

The problem here (I think) is the unusually cold nights we've had all
summer long. Hot weather might prevent the flowers from pollinating,
but should not prevent ripening.

Bob

Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill

I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
Does that apply here? I don't know.

Good luck.

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...

Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last
year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly
hot out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that
affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill

I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
Does that apply here? I don't know.

Good luck.

If you have a bunch of plants, you can always do two or three of them as
a controlled experiment.


Ray

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...
|
| Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
| tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year
I
| had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot
out
| here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect
the
| ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?
|
| Thanks,
| Bill
|
| I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
| into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
| Does that apply here? I don't know.
|
| Good luck.

"I find the biggest mistake that home gardeners make is to over water and
over feed tomatoes, which results in lush foliage growth, cool and moist
soil, and just a few, slow ripening tomatoes."

Source...
http://www.humeseeds.com/sumtom.htm

(Vegetable expert Jon Traunfeld of the University of Maryland Cooperative
Extension Service) -- "...a cool, rainy spring and now hot, dry periods --
might be slowing things a bit.

"If they are slow, it could be attributed to a crazy spring," he says. "When
you put tomatoes in cool soil, roots don't get established quickly and the
little microorganisms are too cold to work in the organic matter and feed
the plant."

[...]

When fruits were forming late spring, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees
or less many nights."

Source...
http://www.bayweekly.com/year98/dock6_29.html


Any help?

--

TQ

"TQ" wrote in message
...

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...
|
| Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
| tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last
year
I
| had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly
hot
out
| here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect
the
| ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?
|
| Thanks,
| Bill
|
| I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
| into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
| Does that apply here? I don't know.
|
| Good luck.

"I find the biggest mistake that home gardeners make is to over water and
over feed tomatoes, which results in lush foliage growth, cool and moist
soil, and just a few, slow ripening tomatoes."

Source...
http://www.humeseeds.com/sumtom.htm

(Vegetable expert Jon Traunfeld of the University of Maryland Cooperative
Extension Service) -- "...a cool, rainy spring and now hot, dry periods --
might be slowing things a bit.

"If they are slow, it could be attributed to a crazy spring," he says.
"When
you put tomatoes in cool soil, roots don't get established quickly and the
little microorganisms are too cold to work in the organic matter and feed
the plant."

[...]

When fruits were forming late spring, the temperature dropped to 50
degrees
or less many nights."

Source...
http://www.bayweekly.com/year98/dock6_29.html


Any help?

--

TQ

Thanks for your help and the links. Looks like I've been doing a couple of
things wrong, and will do some corrections. At least I do have a ton of
tomatoes...fried green tomatoes, anyone?!

Thanks again,
Bill

Thanks for your help and the links. Looks like I've been doing a
couple of
things wrong, and will do some corrections. At least I do have a ton of
tomatoes...fried green tomatoes, anyone?!

Thanks again,
Bill






My Romas are turning quite well... I pull in a bowl full every few
days. The Celebrity type we have are just barely starting to turn... So
far, we've eaten two. There's two more that are going to be ready soon.
A little more patience, and you won't have to have fried green
tomatoes (if you don't want to ;-))

Puckdropper
--
www.uncreativelabs.net

Old computers are getting to be a lost art. Here at Uncreative Labs, we
still enjoy using the old computers. Sometimes we want to see how far a
particular system can go, other times we use a stock system to remind
ourselves of what we once had.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

"Bill Litchfield" wrote in message
...

At least I do have a ton of
tomatoes...fried green tomatoes, anyone?!

Green tomato chutney ? Yum !

My cherry varieties have started to ripen and have been a couple of weeks
now, but my full sized toms (I think the variety is Shirley, can't recall
cos I bought them as a small plants rather than from seed) are only just
starting to change from pale green to, well, yellowy pale green. I am in the
UK and we have had almost tropical weather - a long hot spell followed by
rain, hot spell, more rain, etc.



Rachael

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...

Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last
year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly
hot out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that
affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill

I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
Does that apply here? I don't know.

Good luck.

If you have a bunch of plants, you can always do two or three of them as
a controlled experiment.


Ray

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...
|
| Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
| tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year
I
| had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot
out
| here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect
the
| ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?
|
| Thanks,
| Bill
|
| I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
| into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
| Does that apply here? I don't know.
|
| Good luck.

"I find the biggest mistake that home gardeners make is to over water and
over feed tomatoes, which results in lush foliage growth, cool and moist
soil, and just a few, slow ripening tomatoes."

Source...
http://www.humeseeds.com/sumtom.htm

(Vegetable expert Jon Traunfeld of the University of Maryland Cooperative
Extension Service) -- "...a cool, rainy spring and now hot, dry periods --
might be slowing things a bit.

"If they are slow, it could be attributed to a crazy spring," he says. "When
you put tomatoes in cool soil, roots don't get established quickly and the
little microorganisms are too cold to work in the organic matter and feed
the plant."

[...]

When fruits were forming late spring, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees
or less many nights."

Source...
http://www.bayweekly.com/year98/dock6_29.html


Any help?

--

TQ

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...

Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last
year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly
hot out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that
affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill

I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
Does that apply here? I don't know.

Good luck.

If you have a bunch of plants, you can always do two or three of them as
a controlled experiment.


Ray

"Craig Watts" wrote in message
...
|
| Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
| tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year
I
| had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot
out
| here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect
the
| ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?
|
| Thanks,
| Bill
|
| I heard a folklore story years ago about a gardener putting a shovel
| into one side of the roots of half his plants to get them rippened.
| Does that apply here? I don't know.
|
| Good luck.

"I find the biggest mistake that home gardeners make is to over water and
over feed tomatoes, which results in lush foliage growth, cool and moist
soil, and just a few, slow ripening tomatoes."

Source...
http://www.humeseeds.com/sumtom.htm

(Vegetable expert Jon Traunfeld of the University of Maryland Cooperative
Extension Service) -- "...a cool, rainy spring and now hot, dry periods --
might be slowing things a bit.

"If they are slow, it could be attributed to a crazy spring," he says. "When
you put tomatoes in cool soil, roots don't get established quickly and the
little microorganisms are too cold to work in the organic matter and feed
the plant."

[...]

When fruits were forming late spring, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees
or less many nights."

Source...
http://www.bayweekly.com/year98/dock6_29.html


Any help?

--

TQ

Bill, I have never had to try this, but I read it in a book on growing
tomatoes. The book said when your problem occurred, to take a shovel (as
mentioned before) and cut straight down a foot away from the main stem. It
says to do it on two sides of the plant. It didnt say opposite sides, but
one side and then either front or back. That puts the plant under stress
and fools it into thinking it better hurry up and ripen its seeds. The book
says that it then devotes its energy into ripening the tomatoes.

Good luck and have fun.

Dwayne


"Bill Litchfield" wrote in message
...

here on michigan, zone 5, mine and many friend's gardens are experiencing
the same problem. sadly, we've rarely gotten above 80 during the day nor
getting above 60 at night. we've even had many nights in the 40's, setting
or tempting record lows.


"Bill Litchfield" wrote in message
...
Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot
out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill

"brickled" wrote in message
hlink.net...
here on michigan, zone 5, mine and many friend's gardens are experiencing
the same problem. sadly, we've rarely gotten above 80 during the day nor
getting above 60 at night. we've even had many nights in the 40's, setting
or tempting record lows.


"Bill Litchfield" wrote in message
...
Out here in the wilds of Washington State in zone 6, I have tons of
tomatoes. About 98% of them are as green as an Irish Shamrock. Last year I
had lots of ripe tomatoes by mid - July. Course, it has been ungodly hot
out
here this Summer. Currently at 100 degrees right now. Does that affect the
ripening process? Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Thanks,
Bill


And what's really tarting to worry me is that the tomato plants are starting
to turn brown. That's typical towards the end of the season, but I don't have
red tomatoes yet. I mean, they might finally turn red, but on dying plants.
Don't know how much that will affect quality.
Ken