NEEPS

pete_inthehills · Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:43 am Post subject:

yeah, you don't need to worry about the colour of your toms just now. I had one turn red about a month ago and only now are they starting to show colour.

You can ripen a few by picking them and putting them in a paper bag with a banana as suggested earlier.

All I can suggest is that you keep the door shut to keep the temperature up and wait.

they'll turn eventually.

pete
inthehills
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Smooth Hound · Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:44 am Post subject:

great

Smooth Hound · Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

3 this morning

little red ones

think i was over enthusiastic and picked them early

they were a bit acid

though

Forget-me-Not · Neepster Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 1031 Location: Insch

Mine started turning in the last week.

Beth
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pete_inthehills · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:22 pm Post subject:

I'm making tomato and pasta soup with mine tonight...but the plants did get a head start down south in my Mum's greenhouses

pete
inthehills
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Smooth Hound · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:35 pm Post subject:

peppercat · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:09 pm Post subject:

Mine are still as green as green, however I've just picked 3lbs of broad beans (weight after podding) and similar quantity of redcurrants so rather glad I don't have the tomatoes to pick just yet!
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pete_inthehills · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 4:13 pm Post subject:

I've even got some new fancy varieties. The one called black cherry does not look very nice. Its the colour of a bad bruise...a dark purple-red. Not very appetising.

If I get can the photo upload thing to work, I'll post a picture.

pete
inthehills
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www.beggshillbothy.co.uk

annepan001 · Neepster Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 125 Location: Midmar

Top tip, just in case you're not doing this already ... if your tomato varieties are of the indeterminate type make sure you nip out the side shoots so there's just one main stem, and take off all the leaves under the trusses which have reached a decent size.

This will do a couple of things ... removing the leaves will give the plant a bit of a shock, so they'll be more keen to get the fruit ripened, and nipping out the side shoots will prevent the plant from diverting nutrients into producing lots of leaves, so they'll go to the fruits instead. And removing the leaves also means the fruits will get more sun, so they'll ripen faster.

Last year we tried the 'lazy' approach - minimal side shooting, minimal leaf removal, and got some very green, very leafy, very lush and healthy looking plants, and not much fruit. This year we've tried the opposite approach and have had several kilos of ripe fruit already and lots more on the way.

BUT, we also harvested the last of the green tomatoes (Sophie's Choice and Blondkopfchen) at the beginning of December, last year, which we put in the fruit bowl with the bananas, and they all ripened by the end of December, so we had 6 months of fresh tomatoes.

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Smooth Hound · Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:38 pm Post subject:

im getting a couple a day now, of the little ones,

the big ones are all still green, and also got tiny peppers developing