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Tomatoes aren't ripening
I'm a beginner at growing tomatoes. I've a few plants growing outside
in 5 gallon pots - one plant per pot. It seems to me that they should have ripened already. The plant with the most tomatoes is the Patio one. I saw the first tomato on it about a month ago. I planted the plant about 7 weeks ago but I had bought it at a nursery after it already started growing. There are several tomatoes on it but they're all green still. Today, a little tomato fell off while I was trying to fix it after some vines started drooping after some heavy rains the other day. The other two plants are Big Boy and Better Boy. Neither of them are doing much. They each have about two small tomatoes on them. They're about the size of two cherry tomatoes (I think). I bought and planted them the same time as the Patio one. The weather around here has been a bit unsettled. First we were in a drought, now we've had a lot of rain and some areas have had flooding. The temp. has been mostly in the 80s and lower 90s. The past few nights have been cool though. One week, there was lots of rain and little sunshine. Somewhat unusual summer weather for around here. The plants are in pots that are sitting on wood blocks above the ground. They have holes in the bottom for drainage and have been mulched. The leaves develop yellowish spots on them and sometimes get dried out and crumble. They get some liquid plant food once a week. About 2 quarts between the three of them. It's hard for me to know when to water them with this weather. Maybe they've been getting too much water and not enough sunshine. Or maybe they've been getting too much nitrogen and not enough calcium. I don't know. I'm fairly certain they don't have any diseases or pests. Any ideas? |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
To put it simple, because I've had to tell my wife this several times, patience, they will ripen. It just isn't time. Suggestion: buy a few from the grocery store to hold you over and then when you get to eat your first tomato, you will enjoy it that much more. My wife and kids wear me out waiting for the first.........tomato, strawberry, watermelon, and most recently peaches. Your plants will ripen soon enough, just give them a little time.......I used chicken manure(high in amonia nitrate) on my beds one year....had the weirdest looking neon green tomatos I'd ever seen (these babies nearly glowed in the dark). It seemed like it took months for them to ripen, finally they did and we appreciated every bite. Good luck, JD |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
The first tomatoes every year *always* take a ridiculously long time to
ripen. Don't worry, it's normal. Later in the year they seem to ripen faster, although maybe they take just as long but you're not watching each and every one twice a day. HTH :-) Best regards, Bob |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
zxcvbob wrote:
The first tomatoes every year *always* take a ridiculously long time to ripen. Don't worry, it's normal. Later in the year they seem to ripen faster, although maybe they take just as long but you're not watching each and every one twice a day. HTH :-) Best regards, Bob Yes, that always seems to be the case. And latter in the season we always have so many tomatoes that we have to give them away. But the neighbors do appreciate getting them. -- Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A) Gardening for over 40 years To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen Digital Camera - Pentax *ist DL Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
"Mike S." wrote in message
oups.com... I'm a beginner at growing tomatoes. I've a few plants growing outside in 5 gallon pots - one plant per pot. It seems to me that they should have ripened already. The plant with the most tomatoes is the Patio one. I saw the first tomato on it about a month ago. I planted the plant about 7 weeks ago but I had bought it at a nursery after it already started growing. There are several tomatoes on it but they're all green still. Today, a little tomato fell off while I was trying to fix it after some vines started drooping after some heavy rains the other day. The other two plants are Big Boy and Better Boy. Neither of them are doing much. They each have about two small tomatoes on them. They're about the size of two cherry tomatoes (I think). I bought and planted them the same time as the Patio one. The weather around here has been a bit unsettled. First we were in a drought, now we've had a lot of rain and some areas have had flooding. The temp. has been mostly in the 80s and lower 90s. The past few nights have been cool though. One week, there was lots of rain and little sunshine. Somewhat unusual summer weather for around here. The plants are in pots that are sitting on wood blocks above the ground. They have holes in the bottom for drainage and have been mulched. The leaves develop yellowish spots on them and sometimes get dried out and crumble. They get some liquid plant food once a week. About 2 quarts between the three of them. It's hard for me to know when to water them with this weather. Maybe they've been getting too much water and not enough sunshine. Or maybe they've been getting too much nitrogen and not enough calcium. I don't know. I'm fairly certain they don't have any diseases or pests. Any ideas? Although it's probably not the cause, you may be feeding the plants too often. I feed mine (grown in the garden) twice per season. They're healthy and productive. Once a week feeding seems like a bit much, unless the plant food's very dilute. |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
I have a question about growing tomatoes. . .What do you guys use as
your favorite method for twarting tomato worms? It seems every year, I wait and wait for those first tomatoes to ripen, and voila about the same time they do, here comes those pesky tomato worms.. Myrl |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
I have a question about growing tomatoes. . .What do you guys use as
your favorite method for twarting tomato worms? It seems every year, I wait and wait for those first tomatoes to ripen, and voila about the same time they do, here comes those pesky tomato worms.. Myrl |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
"Myrl Jeffcoat" wrote in message
oups.com... I have a question about growing tomatoes. . .What do you guys use as your favorite method for twarting tomato worms? It seems every year, I wait and wait for those first tomatoes to ripen, and voila about the same time they do, here comes those pesky tomato worms.. Myrl Do you mean hornworms - the green monsters with the single pointy thing on their heads? The best method is picking them off by hand. |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
Joe - They are so ugly, I won't touch 'em. The best solution I've come
up with thus far is to fill a two cup measuring cup with water, put it in the microwave for 2 minutes, and then go out and scald the little devils while they're on the vine. The yellow jackets, love to come and eat them after! Myrl JoeSpareBedroom wrote: Do you mean hornworms - the green monsters with the single pointy thing on their heads? The best method is picking them off by hand. |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
Well, that's your solution, then. There's probably some sort of chemical
that would kill them, but that would defeat the purpose of growing your own food. "Myrl Jeffcoat" wrote in message ups.com... Joe - They are so ugly, I won't touch 'em. The best solution I've come up with thus far is to fill a two cup measuring cup with water, put it in the microwave for 2 minutes, and then go out and scald the little devils while they're on the vine. The yellow jackets, love to come and eat them after! Myrl JoeSpareBedroom wrote: Do you mean hornworms - the green monsters with the single pointy thing on their heads? The best method is picking them off by hand. |
Tomatoes aren't ripening
"Myrl Jeffcoat" wrote in message oups.com... I have a question about growing tomatoes. . .What do you guys use as your favorite method for twarting tomato worms? It seems every year, I wait and wait for those first tomatoes to ripen, and voila about the same time they do, here comes those pesky tomato worms.. Favorite method: vigilance and BT Watch for the Sphinx moth and/or Five-spotted Hawk Moth. These mo'fos lay the eggs for green horn 'filled with disgusting slime' worms. See the moths, spray the BT once a week. http://images.google.com/images?q=Sphinx+moth+&hl=en http://images.google.com/images?svnu...tted+Hawk+Moth |
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