Keep the faith...your tomatoes will ripen!

[ChicagoLaura]

I must have gone out and looked longingly at my growing, green early girls 100 times (purchased on a bush already 3 feet tall...with 3 little green tomatoes already hanging on it...a guarantee that ther would be *some* yield, no matter what...). Well, I am happy to report that we have eaten three lovely, red tomatoes in the past two days!

So don't repair! And pat yourselves on the back, while you're at it. You all surely grew yours from babies, whereas some of us are more like foster parents of nearly-ready-to-harvest plants!

(thanks to all for this blog, by the way, from a first-time SFGer who has lots to learn from you ! )

LJKP

[BackyardBirdGardner]

I can tell you from eons (Gramma's term) of growing tomatoes and watching them grow, they take TONS of time to turn red once they get big. I have had several at fist size for two weeks now and still no signs. But, they will......................eventually. The bigger the tomato, it seems the longer it takes to ripen.

But, I will add that once your cherries start turning, you won't be able to stop them....or keep up if you aren't on top of things. Now that I think of it, it's kind of the same way will all indeterminates.

[nancy]

Welcome ChicagoLaura! Great to have you here! Yes, all of my babies have grown from the tiniest of seeds. My first time with successful seeds! I am fairly certain I learned here that tomato growth / production slows when it gets "super hot". And since we've reached nearly 110* (heat index) the past two days, I think that's what we've been experiencing. We're going to get back there over the weekend, too. But today and tomorrow are supposed to be great. I haven't had any turn red or yellow yet, but I have faith that they will. =)

[stripesmom]

I just snapped a few pictures of my tomatoes. I wondered if anybody has any idea when Cherokee Purple tomatoes are ripe? I thought they'd be purple, but it's looking kind of purple/red and still green at the top. Should it be all the same color?
[url=https://servimg.com/view/16536563/27]

[Kelejan]

ChicagoLaura. I love this forum, lots of help and I have learned a lot.

[Squat_Johnson]

This is my third year with Cherokee Purples and Black Krim, they rarely get that purple or black color on the bottom. They almost always have green shoulders. That one looks ready.

[stripesmom]

Thank you!

[herblover]

I have tomatoes on all my plants but none ripe yet.

[shocks20]

I have tomatoes on all my plants but none ripe yet.

Ditto!!! I can't wait for them to ripen!! I think my grape tomatoes will be the first, but we'll see!

[Goosegirl]

I have blooms on almost all of my plants but no 'maters yet. I gave all of the blooms a light thunk with a finger to help with pollination. I also saw crawling all over my cilantro blooms: a few lacewings, a ladybug, and all kinds of tiny flies that are bee mimics. So far I have seen NO bad bugs. I know there are a few out there because I do have a few holes in some bean leaves, but they are so few that I am surprised when I see one. I am sure something is going to go wrong, because other than the weather (110 heat index @ 8:15 pm) and the wabbits I have had no major garden problems.

GG

[unmadecastle]

Tomatoes are growing good! Have had one batch of cherry tomatoes. Yummy! Beefsteak tomaotes are growing bigger and my better boys are finally producing. I didn't take any pictures today because I wasn't staying outside any longer then I had to today.

[MarcyG]

Lots of green toms Can't wait to eat my first one this year

Fourth of Julys in the front
Chocolate Cherries in the back

[stripesmom]

We finally ate that Purple Cherokee tomato. I wondered what it would taste like. It tastes like a tomato! What a thrill. Some yellow tomatoes don't taste like a tomato to me, since some have reduced acid.
I have picked a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes. The other tomatoes are for the most part, green. I have one Jet Star that is turning a little orange though. All the tomato plants are loaded with tomatoes and blooms, dispite the extreme heat.

Welcome to the jungle, lol.

[BackyardBirdGardner]

Welcome to the jungle, lol.

Response:

Welcome to the jungle
We got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want
Honey we know the names
We are the people that can find
Whatever you may need
If you got the money honey
We got your disease


I thought about putting the youtube vid in here just for fun. Carry on, peeps.

As for forum related news.....we harvested our first cuke. Waiting on tomatoes to turn color. Getting beans by the bushel. And, the peppers are alive! Don't know if they will reflower, but they survived the dog attack and since it's too late to start fresh, I'll see what they can't muster. However, I'd consider it a miracle if I get a pepper this year.

[stripesmom]

Your silly BBG, lol. Now I have that stuck in my head.

[FarmerValerie]

When I hear that song I think of the movie "Lean On Me" about that principal crazy Joe who carried a basball bat, BUT got things done!!!! LOVE THAT MOVIE.

[Goosegirl]

Now that the heat wave has broken here and 103 just feels like 103, I got out and did my first trim jobs. I call it 'Tomato Love, Acara Style' (cue Love American Style theme music - am I dating myself?)! I have 2 more trellises to put up this weekend and once I get those last 'maters woven into the mesh I can finish the Bob Job! I have never pruned my tomatoes before and I was a little nervous, but once I got started it was very liberating! Snip, slash, hack!!!

GG

I also ended up with a nice bunch of suckers to root, so they are now a bouquet on my dining room table.

[BackyardBirdGardner]

Honestly, our portion of the heat wave has been bad. But, it hasn't been as bad as was advertised. We haven't had any 115 heat indecies yet, and we haven't had anything over 100°. We were supposed to hit 100 on Tuesday, and weren't supposed to have a low under 80 all week. Our lows have dipped below 80 every night so far.

I'm not complaining, but I just wanted it mentioned it was over-hyped....as usual with the media.

[Goosegirl]

I'm not complaining, but I just wanted it mentioned it was over-hyped....as usual with the media.

It was actually worse here than what was on our forecast. We were never forecast to be in the 80's for overnight lows, but we hit them - for the first time in the 13 years that we have been here. We were also not forecast to be over 98 degrees, and we hit 104 a few times. Add 60+% (sometimes much higher) humidity and you don't want to look at the Heat Index chart.....BUT, the upside is that the edge of the cold front pushed the winds here a bit sooner than predicted, so even tho' today was 103, it was sooooo much better than when it was 95 and literally FOGGY!

GG

[stripesmom]

Our heat index got to 131 here. So many words come to mind to describe that, but I can't post them here, lol.

GG, I've never removed my suckers on my tomato plants before either. I can't believe how much healthier and thicker the stalks are though. They almost look like they could stand up by themselves without any support. And, the ones you remove can be replanted. I did only one, because I'd have ended up with a hundred new plants otherwise. That one is doing great in a pot now and has blooms.

[Goosegirl]

Stripesmom - I have a bouquet of 6 absolutely gorgeous suckers in a pint jar on my table. I have no idea what I am going to do with them because our season is too short to be able to plant them now, but I just had to try it! Maybe I will start an indoor tomato garden to keep them alive long enough to remove suckers, then root those, then keep the cycle going until time to plant next spring! Idiotic plan, but could be a fun winter project. I think Hubby would kill me.

It is a glorious 63 degrees (with 78% humidity, but at 63 WHO CARES!) and I am looking forward to a weekend which will allow me to get out and build those last 2 trellises.

GG

[CindiLou]

It is 82° at 10 am but heat index is already 86° Shouldn't get much worse today, wind is up!

It is forecast to up to 91° but with the wind it won't feel that hot. The humidity is sooo much better!

I think the rain is going to go north of us this time So I will be watering again this evening.

[westie42]

GG plant them in a wicking bucket in MM, let them develop all they can and bring inside so that what fruit is there will ripen just jot get more or bigger. That works for my 94 year old neighbor and he also does it for the oxygen generation and I think for companionship. I have several outside toms, peppers and carrots growing that way they all look great so far and will be coming inside to finish up, I hope.

[Goosegirl]

GG plant them in a wicking bucket in MM, let them develop all they can and bring inside so that what fruit is there will ripen just jot get more or bigger. That works for my 94 year old neighbor and he also does it for the oxygen generation and I think for companionship. I have several outside toms, peppers and carrots growing that way they all look great so far and will be coming inside to finish up, I hope.

One of the stores here in town carries 3-liter soda bottles (yes, THREE LITER), so I may buy a few and dump the soda just so I can have the bottles to make some of Josh's self-watering planters. Then I can put the suckers in those and they will be easy to bring inside the house and will have plenty of MM for the plants.

GG

[MasonGarden]

:scratch: The tomatoes that I have on the vine are still green, but I noticed to day that some of my tomatoes that were about 2" in diameter are just simply "missing"! I don't see any evidence of any animals in the beds, nothing really looks disturbed at all, but some tomatoes are just gone. Could be a squirrel? I many string some bells around the outer plants to the boxes to see if that would be enough to scare whatever it is away - unless of course it is the 2-legged variety. Any thoughts?

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