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Post by balc2 on Jul 25, 2023 16:36:13 GMT
I spent a while this afternoon checking over the tomato plants, looking for side-shoots. I found & removed a few. The self-sown plant is still ahead of the others but 2 are catching it up!  I have noticed lately that this plant has darker leaves than the others so it may not be 'Gardeners Delight' after all! Time will tell! Though the tomatoes are about the same size I'd expect of 'Gardeners Delight'. Several plants now have tiny toms so I should get some tomatoes this year!
In a couple of weeks time I will start to feed them. I haven't started yet because they have only been about a month in the growbags so still have some the fertilizer that is put in the growbags when they bag them up, which is generally about 6-8 weeks
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Post by grindle on Jul 26, 2023 2:35:48 GMT
got a few tips on tomato growing from the veg judge on Saturday, now I know I'm growing mine in completely the wrong place as it's too shady  |
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Post by seaburn on Jul 26, 2023 6:54:38 GMT
the self sown one can be anything Balc. The genetics from its parents will have been nicely mixed up and if you grew more than one variety last year you increase the genetic mix. A couple of years back I grew a cherry tom a mini plum and a salad. I grew seeds from one of the cherry ones and I got full sized plums and salads. So you are in for a fun time trying them.
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Post by balc2 on Jul 26, 2023 19:49:54 GMT
grindle, I'm a little surprised you didn't know about that! Even though they should be grown in full sun while they get a few hours of sun they will grow equally as well! I've been growing them on the balcony for about 20 of the 22 years we have lived here & they have always been grown at the back of the balcony where they only get sunshine from about 1pm till the sun goes down. Every year I get plenty of ripe toms from them. Even last year when wilt struck them down every time they reached around the 1m (3ft) mark or less I still managed to get a few ripe toms. In fact most of the 9 plants I have at present have at least a couple of toms on them.
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Post by balc2 on Jul 26, 2023 19:56:50 GMT
seaburn, Last year I only grew 'Gardeners Delight' & because I bought so many seeds last year I sowed some more of them this year. As you say the self-sown tom could be any variety as I've grown many different varieties over the 20 years I've grown them on the balcony. It does seem to have darker foliage than any of the others but the 4 trusses with fruit are probably about the size I would expect to see on 'Gardeners Delight'. I will only really know once I get a few ripe toms from it.
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Post by grindle on Jul 27, 2023 3:00:54 GMT
yes balc2 I did move their position this year in the greenhouse which is brighter, but still not enough, I think I'm going to have to move them to nearer the house next year, it's getting far too shady at the top now, looks like I might have to cull a lot of trees this year  |
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Post by balc2 on Jul 28, 2023 19:53:32 GMT
The self-sown plant does seem to have darker foliage than any of the others & I took a photo yesterday of it with another plant's leaves overlapping it's leaves but it's difficult to see any difference. I had thought of uploading it but I don't think anybody will be able to distinguish which plant is which! I realised also that at least one of the other plants is fast catching up to the self-sown one! But it hasn't many flowers on it yet whereas the self-sown one has 4 trusses with fruit & a 5th forming. None of the other plants are anywhere near it! The day I planted the tomato plants in the growbags I accidentally broke one off very close to the base. Still I went ahead & planted it anyway, hoping it would grow from the the piece of stem left - but it hasn't shown any signs of growth.  The top part I cut up & treated it as a cutting. I put the cutting in the same hole as the the rooted stem part. I've never taken tomato cuttings before & I was sure it had died as well but looking closer today I see that it must have rooted as there is now a growing tip after I removed it from the cutting at the time of planting! If it does grow I hope it will produce a truss or two before October puts an end to the tomato growing season. |
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Post by balc2 on Aug 6, 2023 20:56:43 GMT
I looked a little closer at the earliest trusses to set on the self-sown tom, &, while they still need a little time to ripen, they were looking very good. That particular plant is practically as tall (or short, as the case may be!) as me! (1.64m). Yet there are 2 others that are fast catching up to it - but they don't have to feed fruit as they have practically none! The self-sown plant has about 5 trusses with fruit. No other plant has more than 2 or 3 at present.
The cutting I put in is still alive but hardly making any growth so I doubt I will even get one truss from it as I had hoped. Maybe a few days of warmer weather will help it perk up a bit!
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Post by Eli on Aug 8, 2023 14:17:27 GMT
Rapunzel tomatoes - small cherry ones in rows
 A few of them have split open.
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Post by balc2 on Aug 8, 2023 20:03:12 GMT
Your cherry tomatoes are looking fantastic, Eli ! Shame about the leaves getting eaten though! You will have toms to last you as long as it took you to grow them! Do you have any more plants of this variety? I believe you planted a couple of different varieties, didn't you? My 'Gardeners Delight' are growing well but due to the late start with the cold spring, they are well behind where they should be in August! I was looking at a few photos from previous years of other varieties I've grow & they were ahead of this year's! I'm not sure I will bother next year. I may give them up & concentrate only on flowers. We'll see next spring! |
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Post by Eli on Aug 10, 2023 17:31:01 GMT
I'm debating whether or not to bother next year too, it's a lot of work and they take up a lot of room.
I've got one of each variety balc2 - Alicante, Moneymaker, Shirley, and Rapunzel
Here are some I picked today. I can't remember the varieties but the little ones are Rapunzel.
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Post by daitheplant on Aug 10, 2023 19:53:43 GMT
For some reason, my tomatoes in the greenhouse are still green.  |
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Post by balc2 on Aug 11, 2023 20:29:48 GMT
For some reason, my tomatoes in the greenhouse are still green. They may not have had enough light/heat. They will ripen - eventually!
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Post by balc2 on Aug 14, 2023 5:08:49 GMT
Like others I have a horizontal wire to which I tie some brown string (a year or two ago it was green string) from £land. Don't know what it's made from but is soft & doesn't hurt the tomato stems. I wind the stems around the string as they grow. I've done this way for many years now. I suits me on the balcony &, except for one year when we had some rather violent storms, I've never had problems with this method.
When I first started I used canes & grew them in pots but like others have found the plants get too big & heavy for canes & the pots never really hold the canes up very well anyway. Now I grow them in growbags &, except for wilt from them last year, have never had problems. I've used growbags for 15 years or more on the balcony!
I notice from photos from previous years that I had been harvesting toms as well at this time of year but, due to the cold weather in May & then again in July, they are well behind other years. Though they grew very well during the period of hot weather we had in June this year the cold July has caused them to slow down again. It seems we may have a warmer 2nd half of August this year & I hope that will be enough to ripen the tomatoes that are already a nice size (but they are 'Gardeners Delight' so will never get very big!) as well as help the smaller ones to get to their usual size.
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Post by balc2 on Aug 15, 2023 20:35:59 GMT
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I have noticed lately that this plant has darker leaves than the others so it may not be 'Gardeners Delight' after all! Time will tell! Though the tomatoes are about the same size I'd expect of 'Gardeners Delight'. Several plants now have tiny toms so I should get some tomatoes this year! 
The top part I cut up & treated it as a cutting. I put the cutting in the same hole as the the rooted stem part. I've never taken tomato cuttings before & I was sure it had died as well but looking closer today I see that it must have rooted as there is now a growing tip after I removed it from the cutting at the time of planting! 
