Tomato - Medium or Large

redser7 · 02-07-2014 12:18am #1

Any number will do. And any colour for that matter. Show us all the variety that the supermarket shelf never does. Give us Red, Orange, Blue, Black, Green and Yellow. Striped, Plum, Beefsteak and Heart-shaped. Showcase this summer fruit that stands in a league all of its own.

redser7 · 24-07-2014 11:48pm

San Marzano. Large plum type tomato that is supposed to be great for sauces. First time with this one. Plants are a bit of a madman so the crop better be good or I won't be bothering with this one again.

Shemale · 02-06-2015 11:17pm

redser7 wrote: »

San Marzano. Large plum type tomato that is supposed to be great for sauces. First time with this one. Plants are a bit of a madman so the crop better be good or I won't be bothering with this one again.

How did they go for you Redser?

I planted the seeds mid March and the weather has been awful, repotted into 30cm pots last week and only have three trusses so far.

Need to get some heat into this bloody country...

nokiatom · 09-06-2015 10:15am

ive grown many varieties of tomatoes with success but all were grown under glass. I used to sow the seeds in march but april can be a cold month and many did not survive or were in poor health. now I sow the seeds in late april and may as the last few autumns have been very good and I have picked my last tomatoes into early november

Shemale · 09-06-2015 9:26pm

nokiatom wrote: »

ive grown many varieties of tomatoes with success but all were grown under glass. I used to sow the seeds in march but april can be a cold month and many did not survive or were in poor health. now I sow the seeds in late april and may as the last few autumns have been very good and I have picked my last tomatoes into early november

Thanks, seeded mine mid March, only got a greenhouse a few weeks ago and have them out there in 30cm pots and they are starting to thrive, fingers crossed.

nokiatom · 10-06-2015 12:45pm

some of the tomatoes I have grown

Shemale · 10-06-2015 11:58pm

Great stuff Nokia, hope they go well for you this year.

It's funny looking at the pictures, I forgot what tomato plants looked like and couldn't imagine it.

nokiatom · 11-06-2015 12:15pm

no experimenting this year...just two varities

ncur · 11-06-2015 9:32pm

nokiatom wrote: »

no experimenting this year...just two varities

What two nokiatom? I'm growing Gardeners' Delight, my favourite, and 3 others, Super Marmande, Black Cherry and Sungold.

nokiatom · 12-06-2015 2:36pm

actually I have 3 varieties, a friend of mine gave me a few seeds that he got from tomatoes when he was in Malta last year. only two seeds germinated and I don't know if they are the bush type or must I nip out the side shoots. he said they were big tomatoes. im only growing moneymaker and cerise this year. last year I had holly rose, aurora, gardeners delight, roma, moneymaker and cerise. this year I don't have as much times hence im growing less

nokiatom · 26-07-2015 4:50pm

how are the tomatoes doing ?

ncur · 26-07-2015 4:59pm

Not great, they were late going out into the greenhouse (my bad) and of course, not sure about anyone else, but where we are, July has been cold and wet, so it's slow going. Won't be getting any tomatoes until mid August at the earliest.

nokiatom · 26-07-2015 6:10pm

my plants are doing well and look very healthy. lots of flowers now with some small green tomatoes. another two weeks I reckon before I will have any pickings

Shemale · 31-07-2015 11:32pm

Mine are doing well, first year growing and have only used tomato fertiliser, trying to keep them organic.

Any ideas about the black spot on a couple of them, I am hoping it's not blossom end rot, if it is any idea.

I have a good few spare plants at various stages if anyone is interested, I am just off Blanchardstown Village.

ncur · 31-07-2015 11:38pm

Hmm the brown spot is on the side in the first picture, and your plants are indoors? Blossom end rot will be on the bottom of a tomato. Shouldn't be blight if the tomato plants are indoors, but it could be that.

nokiatom · 31-07-2015 11:46pm

water them regularly and don't over feed them. too much nitrogen is not good either. make sure they have ventilation too

Shemale · 31-07-2015 11:50pm

ncur wrote: »

Hmm the brown spot is on the side in the first picture, and your plants are indoors? Blossom end rot will be on the bottom of a tomato. Shouldn't be blight if the tomato plants are indoors, but it could be that.

They are in a crappy plastic greenhouse (€58 Argos), the ones with the spot are near the front, they all have more than three trusses so I am using tomato feed twice a week (20ml per 10 litre) and not using water at all.

They are in pots with compost and I only fertilise when the top of the compost is light brown/ dry for two days

Shemale · 31-07-2015 11:52pm

nokiatom wrote: »

water them regularly and don't over feed them. too much nitrogen is not good either. make sure they have ventilation too

Cheers, the greenhouse is very crowded so I am going to need to thin it out, the greenhouse is about 6ft by 3ft and I have 15 large plants (over 4 feet) and then about 6 smaller ones on shelves, I tend to leave the front open but the greenhouse is so **** if it's anyway windy it is getting battered by the wind.

I also have about 8 outside which have been getting too much water lately.

ncur · 31-07-2015 11:52pm

Twice a week feeding might be too much? I would have thought once a week would be plenty. I have my plants in open ended pots, so I water at the bottom and feed at the top, if you get what I mean.

ncur · 31-07-2015 11:56pm

Shemale wrote: »

Cheers, the greenhouse is very crowded so I am going to need to thin it out, the greenhouse is about 6ft by 3ft and I have 15 large plants (over 4 feet) and then about 6 smaller ones on shelves, I also have about 8 outside which have been getting too much water lately.

That is quite a few alright. But you might be ok if you have louvres, open door and ceiling windows open. Open first thing in the morning, to keep cool and ventilated and close at night to maintain overnight temperatures.

Sorry just reread post, it's a plastic greenhouse? So actual floor space is probably only 3ft by 1.5ft?

Shemale · 31-07-2015 11:57pm

ncur wrote: »

Twice a week feeding might be too much? I would have thought once a week would be plenty. I have my plants in open ended pots, so I water at the bottom and feed at the top, if you get what I mean.

Might be, I will feed once a week and water once, the fertiliser says to feed twice a week once it is past the third truss and flowering so I had been. Would be sick to run into problems when the only thing stopping me having nice ripe tomatoes is the crap weather.

Shemale · 31-07-2015 11:59pm

This is the greenhouse I have, had to fix coat hooks to the cobble lock and wall as it was been blown around the garden.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7201998/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CGarden+and+DIY%7C14418702/c_2/3%7C19285823%7CSheds%2C+greenhouses+and+storage%7C14418827/c_3/4%7Ccat_14418827%7CGreenhouses%7C14418830.htm

ncur · 01-08-2015 12:00am

Fair enough, if that's what the feed says, I guess. You could always run your own trial and feed some plants twice a week, and some plants once a week and see how they get on!

Shemale · 01-08-2015 12:01am

ncur wrote: »

Fair enough, if that's what the feed says, I guess. You could always run your own trial and feed some plants twice a week, and some plants once a week and see how they get on!

I will reign it back on them all for a week or so, like I say first time doing this so I am relying on the packets to lead me.

ncur · 01-08-2015 12:03am

Shemale wrote: »

This is the greenhouse I have, had to fix coat hooks to the cobble lock and wall as it was been blown around the garden.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7201998/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CGarden+and+DIY%7C14418702/c_2/3%7C19285823%7CSheds%2C+greenhouses+and+storage%7C14418827/c_3/4%7Ccat_14418827%7CGreenhouses%7C14418830.htm

Might get away with 12 big plants in there maybe. 15 is probably a bit of squeeze, if they're all cordon varieties? If they're a mix of varieties (cordon, bush) then you might be ok.

ncur · 01-08-2015 12:10am

Shemale wrote: »

I will reign it back on them all for a week or so, like I say first time doing this so I am relying on the packets to lead me.

Well rhs.org.uk says twice a week so who am I to argue! Maybe my feed is more concentrated because I've found once a week to be sufficient.

nokiatom · 01-08-2015 1:05am

Shemale wrote: »

Cheers, the greenhouse is very crowded so I am going to need to thin it out, the greenhouse is about 6ft by 3ft and I have 15 large plants (over 4 feet) and then about 6 smaller ones on shelves, I tend to leave the front open but the greenhouse is so **** if it's anyway windy it is getting battered by the wind.

I also have about 8 outside which have been getting too much water lately
15 plants is too many in such a small space ....your open to all sort of problems there. my greenhouse is similar to yours but slightly bigger and I think its slightly overcrowded with 10 plants ! I usually leave the door way slightly open at the bottom. I then cut out an opening on top to let the air out.

Shemale · 01-08-2015 7:32am

nokiatom wrote: »

I also have about 8 outside which have been getting too much water lately
15 plants is too many in such a small space ....your open to all sort of problems there. my greenhouse is similar to yours but slightly bigger and I think its slightly overcrowded with 10 plants ! I usually leave the door way slightly open at the bottom. I then cut out an opening on top to let the air out.

Thanks, thought so the plants are starting to mingle and I have to take the middle ones out to get in with the watering can.

Do tomato plants flower more than once in a season?

ncur · 01-08-2015 11:19am

They flower all through the growing season, as the plants get taller. Lower (older) first to higher (newer) last. Once a section flowers, it doesn't flower again, unless you don't pinch out the side shoots, which may flower in their own right!

nokiatom · 02-08-2015 5:51pm

ncur wrote: »

Well rhs.org.uk says twice a week so who am I to argue! Maybe my feed is more concentrated because I've found once a week to be sufficient.

what size pots have you ?

ncur · 02-08-2015 7:30pm

I use a system similar to this https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=437, probably 9" bottomless pots in my case, homemade compost used in the pot. It's been a winning system for about 10 years now, always happy with it. It's the blinking weather that's beyond my control.

Shemale · 06-08-2015 12:03am

Lads, I went ballistic with a scissors aka extreme pruning, much more space in the greenhouse and hoping for a better yield.

Added some epsom salts to the water today and next watering I will put in calcium as two tomatoes had black specks.

nokiatom · 10-08-2015 10:13am

Shemale wrote: »

Lads, I went ballistic with a scissors aka extreme pruning, much more space in the greenhouse and hoping for a better yield.

Added some epsom salts to the water today and next watering I will put in calcium as two tomatoes had black specks.

I wouldn't prune any further. looking at your photo next year I would only use 2 pots across but bigger pots...you probably would get a better yield and they would have more space. try and have only one stem per plant as any additional stems take from the plant and its growth which will reduce the amount of flowers on each truss

nokiatom · 10-08-2015 1:49pm

the side of my greenhouse is 5ft long and I have four pots there. in my opinion this is the minimum space they need. the inner diameter of the pots are 12 and 14 inches.

nokiatom · 15-08-2015 5:21pm

mine are getting there very slowly...it hasn't been a good summer

Shemale · 15-08-2015 9:30pm

nokiatom wrote: »

mine are getting there very slowly...it hasn't been a good summer

Looking good, like that I have some tomatoes doing very well and need the sun to come out and play.

Gave my dad a few plants about 3 weeks, he has a south facing garden and no greenhouse and his ones are further on than mine.

nokiatom · 11-09-2015 8:41am

Lots of tomatoes but no red ones

Shemale · 14-09-2015 11:21pm

nokiatom wrote: »

Lots of tomatoes but no red ones

There is a nice light red hue off one of them.

I got my new greenhouse up, the plants were out side in the rain for one week as it took that long to get the new greenhouse built. Saw some red on one tomato end of last week, yesterday there were about 6 going red and the rest will be coming along.

Did more extreme pruning on Sunday and only left a couple of leaves at the top of the plant, I figured the leaves are blocking out the little bit of light and heat so want the small tomatoes to get bigger and improve the chances of ripening.

I will post a picture tomorrow.

Shemale · 15-09-2015 8:02am

Here they are:

It was early and couldnt find anything for scale to show how big they are so grabbed a football, doesnt help any!!

nokiatom · 21-09-2015 4:34pm

Shemale wrote: »

Here they are:

It was early and couldnt find anything for scale to show how big they are so grabbed a football, doesnt help any!!

you really went to town on the leaves !!:)

Shemale · 21-09-2015 5:58pm

nokiatom wrote: »

you really went to town on the leaves !!:)

Yeah, they dont need shade given the lack of light and temperature, trying to give the tomatoes every chance

Mauser 308 · 26-02-2016 10:26pm

Guys I am new to the poly tunnel game. This will be my first year sowing tomatos from seed. Can I ask your opinions on the most flavoursome varaties?

Shemale · 11-05-2016 1:46pm

Mauser 308 wrote: »

Guys I am new to the poly tunnel game. This will be my first year sowing tomatos from seed. Can I ask your opinions on the most flavoursome varaties?

Only seeing this now but Gardeners Delight are nice and Piccolo are my favourite.

Don't bother with San Marzano they are huge and I only got about 60 last year, they took ages to mature and then ripen, the ones in Tesco are cherry size but the F1 seeds I got gave huge fruits.

tin lizzie · 20-07-2016 7:32pm

i love gardening it is a lot of hard work but it is well worth it. you have a lot of beautiful flowers in winter, spring and summer.

Tomato - Medium or Large

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