Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Problem with tomato Gardeners Delight
I grow these outdoors in well composted soil and a black plastic mulch.
The fruits ripen and are absolutely delicious. 12 hours later, they split :-( As I can't harvest more than once a day, can anyone suggest: - What I can do to stop this problem? - An alternative variety that tastes as good but doesn't split. Thanks! Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"Steve Harris" wrote in message
... I grow these outdoors in well composted soil and a black plastic mulch. The fruits ripen and are absolutely delicious. 12 hours later, they split :-( As I can't harvest more than once a day, can anyone suggest: - What I can do to stop this problem? - An alternative variety that tastes as good but doesn't split. Thanks! Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ With secateurs, cut them off the truss witha bit of stalk rather than pulling/twisting the tomato off. Then pull the little bit of stalk off when you want to use them. -- Martin & Anna Sykes ( Remove x's when replying ) http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
|
#5
|
|||
|
|||
The message
from (Steve Harris) contains these words: In article , (Martin Sykes) wrote: With secateurs, cut them off the truss witha bit of stalk rather than pulling/twisting the tomato off. Then pull the little bit of stalk off when you want to use them. Sorry, I wasn't clear. The tomatoes split on the plant about 12 hours after becoming fully ripe. Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ I believe splitting is usually considered to be connected with watering, especially irregular watering, i.e. plants drying out a bit and then getting a real drenching. Can you just pick them slightly before fully ripe and eat them the next day when they've finished ripening - or do they still split off the plant? I find Sungold is quite prone to splitting but haven't experienced much on my Gardeners' Delight. (My watering is very hit-and-miss). Janet G |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 01:13:03 +0100, Janet Galpin
wrote: Can you just pick them slightly before fully ripe and eat them the next day when they've finished ripening - or do they still split off the plant? I find Sungold is quite prone to splitting but haven't experienced much on my Gardeners' Delight. (My watering is very hit-and-miss). Janet, you are right on two counts. My Sungold are splitting more than GD, and I am also finding they are splitting after picking. Shortage of water causes the skins to harden slightly, and then when they get water the skins split rather than stretching. Pam in Bristol |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 11:29:09 +0000, Pam Moore wrote:
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 01:13:03 +0100, Janet Galpin wrote: Can you just pick them slightly before fully ripe and eat them the next day when they've finished ripening - or do they still split off the plant? I find Sungold is quite prone to splitting but haven't experienced much on my Gardeners' Delight. (My watering is very hit-and-miss). Janet, you are right on two counts. My Sungold are splitting more than GD, and I am also finding they are splitting after picking. Shortage of water causes the skins to harden slightly, and then when they get water the skins split rather than stretching. Pam in Bristol However Sod's law states that if you drench the pot in the morning, by the time you are back from work on a hot day the plants are starting to droop. There seems no way to avoid irregular watering in really hot weather. Picking the fruit with the stalk - there is generally a node on the stalk that will part if pressured (much like picking an apple); this will reduce the chance of the fruit splitting just after picking. Pick early, pick often? As long as you use them quickly, you can still eat/cook split fruit. Another option is to pick all ripe and nearly ripe fruit before you water. Whatever you do, home grown cherry tomatoes taste so much better than shop bought. I am maxing out on tomatoes and burpless tasty green cucumbers at the moment, although I nearly lost the cucumber plant today due to lack of water. HTH Dave R P.S. [to the OP] the logical part of me thinks that you should pick all you tomatoes about 11 hours after they ripen ;-) |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
(Janet Galpin) wrote: I believe splitting is usually considered to be connected with watering, especially irregular watering, i.e. plants drying out a bit and then getting a real drenching. I know the theory. I have carefully watered them little and often. The only way anyone can make the soil more evenly moist would be with some sort of sensor and feedback loop. Can you just pick them slightly before fully ripe and eat them the next day when they've finished ripening I suppose so. Don't know what the taste will be like. I find Sungold is quite prone to splitting but haven't experienced much on my Gardeners' Delight. (My watering is very hit-and-miss). What sort of soil do you have? Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
|
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Gardeners Delight | United Kingdom | |||
Tomato Gardener's Delight | United Kingdom | |||
Gardeners delight toms | United Kingdom | |||
Gardeners Delight cherry toms | United Kingdom | |||
Can anyone recommend a good source of 'Gardeners delight' tomato seeds | United Kingdom |