Tomatoes ripening

[veggiewomble]

Our tomato plants have become so unruly, the two plants now look like a jungle. There are loads of small green tomatoes on the vines now, but they are shaded almost completely from the sun by the leaves. Do tomatoes need direct sunlight to ripen?

vw

[Grovsey]

I have the same problem....my tom plants have gomne loopy this year, like small trees!

[Flummery]

If they are cordon varieties (it'll let you know on the packet) then picking off side shoots should result in less of a jungle, but it can still get a bit overwhelming at this time of year. I usually snap off the lower leaves, just up to the first truss. This lets in more light/air and also allows me to grub up the weeds that have inevitably carpeted the greenhouse borders when I was too pre-occupied with side-shooting to notice! I believe some people are even more ruthless with leaves but you have to decide how many trusses you want before you start chopping more off. Once you have the number you want (most people go for about 5 or 6 in a greenhouse) you can nip out the growing tip. It then won't get taller but you still need to be on guard for side-shoots. At this stage I think you probably could nip out more leaves as you want the plant to put energy into ripening the fruits. However, I still leave plenty on because I reckon Nature put them there for a reason!

[Paulottie]

No, I don't think ripening tomatoes need direct sunlight but a banana skin or two at the base of the plant helps to get things moving. Only remove diseased leaves now (although, it can be helpful at the very end of the season to increase the airflow etc.)

A butch plant is good, rather than a spindly tall one, and really that is a combination of genetics and the amount of nitrogen at the beginning. You should then using a balanced food to encourage it to put its energies into fruiting.

[veggiewomble]

I used organic bone meal fertiliser.... I tried pinching out all the sideshoots vigilantly when the plants were smaller, but then one of them started developing TWO main growing shoots and I decided to let it be, and the result is an uncontrollable mess...!! There are really only two plants but now it looks like a tomato jungle with at least 50 small green tomatoes developing. But they are taking very long to get beyond the size of marbles... not sure if I'll have to wait until August to taste my first tomato? The leaves are very dense so I have been tempted to prune just to increase airflow.

vw

[rustylady]

No, they don't need direct sunshine to ripen, but they're breaking all the rules this year. My greenhouse is usually full of tomatoes by now, but the plants are just making leaves, large spaces between leaves which I'm putting down to lack of good light (i.e. too much dark skies and rain and not enough sunshine). I do have a few tomato fruits developing, but I don't think it's going to be a good year for them.

[Grovsey]

I dont usually get to eat any tomatoes before mid august...

[moggssue]

My toms have lots of leaves, lots of flowers and lots of little green marbles but no signs of any ripening yet - I think it may be a long wait. I'm worried that the bees won't be able to get to the flowers in the middle of the 'forest' - and also worried that I havent actually seen any bees for a couple of weeks despite having hundreds earlier in the year. They obviously dont like this weather either. Do I need to hand pollinate do you think? I feed every ten days or so with tomorite and have restaked and retied since they've really grown huge, pinched out side shoots (which seem to have stopped forming?) but not removed any leaves.

[Cutecumber]

Tomatoes can try your patience even in the best years - it does take a long time from setting to full ripeness, unfortunately. The bigger they are, the longer it takes, so if you are really impatient, stick to the little ones!

[Cutecumber]

Oh, and Moggssue - you don't need insects, the flowers can self-fertilise.

[moggssue]

I think I'm being really impatient, want everything NOW!! And I'm relieved they self fertilise Cutecumber, thanks for that! VW - hope yours are lovely and tasty and worth the wait

[Flummery]

I think the earliest I've had toms in my greenhouse (ripe, that is!) is mid July. Patience me-dear!

[queen of the cobs]

watering should be enough to pollinate them - I find even the gentlest knock is enough. If you are worried you can give then a little bit of a shake - if they are that bushy, they should be pretty sturdy, eh?

I've got some whopping tomatoes on my plants, but all green.

[bramble]

I've had my first three homegrown toms this week. I have to say I started them at the end of January. I am also getting quite a lot of cherry toms from my Mexico Midget. However, I have loads of green toms in the greenhouse and also outdoors. They look like a lot of leaves and not so many fruits so far.
Oh for some good sunshiney days.

[dexterdoglancashire]

I'm not worried if mine don't ripen, in fact, I'd be happy if they didnt! I'm growing at least 8 tomato plants this year (50p for them, half dead from B&Q) and I want my green toms for Earthbabe's green tomato chutney! Bernie