Tomato trouble

Gilly21 Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:41 am

I am getting frustrated with my supersweet 100's. I have over a dozen loaded branches with tomatos in various stages of ripeness. I understand they wont all ripen at the same time. My problem is that when I leave them on the vine to make the final transition fomr orange to red, they either split, or something is eating a hole right in them. Whatever it is gets every single one that is just about perfect to pull off the vine. I look and look for anythign that I can find causing the damage. But I cant find anything. I even took the leap to use Seven to try and deter any bugs. so either the bugs doing the damage think seven is just a dressing, or it is something else. Can someone please offer some suggestions as to what I might be able to do, or what might be causing the tiny damage. I would rather the whole thing be eaten off then just a couple tiny bites if it an animal of some sorts.....

**camprn** Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:44 am

Splitting is usually caused by watering fluctuations. The critter damage... well, these things happen. If you want perfect fruit and they are almost ripe, pull them off the vine and let them ripen the last few days in the house. They wont get bigger, but they will ripen.

quiltbea Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:01 pm

I agree with camprn. If they are nearly ripe and lookin' good, just harvest them and set them on the kitchen counter (not in the fridge) to fully ripen. It'll only take a few days and they'll be perfect. You don't keep toms in the fridge. They'll have better flavor if kept in a bowl on the counter.

Gilly21 Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:20 pm

Thanks! I knew not to put toms in the fridge before cutting them. I was assuming that the sweetness of the fruit would increase the longer they were on the vine. (Saw it on God Eats a few years ago) I will begin to pull once mostly orange. I will say it has been tough to not water the plants today. Feel like I am neglecting if I dont water once a day. But I can see from reading on line I am doing too much.

**camprn** Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:12 pm

quiltbea wrote: You don't keep toms in the fridge. They'll have better flavor if kept in a bowl on the counter.

+1

**walshevak** Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:59 pm

The local mockingbirds were pecking at my ripening tomatos. I put some tulle over the one's going up the cantalevered trellises.

Kay

GWN Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:11 pm

I always have a few tomatoes on the counter ripening.
WHen I lived in ORegon they never ripened and so I had a series of little boxes where I put all the tomatoes and let them ripen together.... it was my ripening box

Sponsored content

Tomato trouble

Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble

Re: Tomato trouble


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.