Tomatoes - are you pulling off all the lower leave

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dibble35, Jan 25, 4:44pm
Mine have only started colouring up in the last 2 weeks, and i'm up north so if your further south they might take a little longer. I too have lots of big green ones, some of varieties that I havnt tried yet, so i'm really looking forward to them ripening
pheebs1, Jan 25, 5:33pm
i have been growing my laterals, such a waste to pull them off and throw them.
take them off at an inch or so height straight into potting mix or seed raising if you have it( i dont) water them a littleoften and hey presto new plants
i have just planted out new tomato plants that are a foot high that i grew from laterals they are flowering already
so from this years crop alone i have planted 4 in the garden given 6 away that have been planted out and have 8 more on the go as we have very warm autumns im hoping for a long season

this is my first year growing and mine are mostly in pots and going great guns! got 20 fruit off them yesterday and 18 today
yum!
ella42, Jan 25, 7:09pm
The biggest problem for everyone is that the amount of rain has also meant the bees which are needed to pollinate just about everything above have not been able to fo their jobs; flowers have been munted by the rain and not available for pollinating. Everyone is having the same problem and tomatoes are rife with early blight. If you haven't got it yet, keeping the leaves removed away from the lower part of the plant is a good idea, as is a fortnightly spray with copper oxychloride, or if you like organic, leave an inch of milk in the bottom of a two litre container, fill with water and shake then sprinkle over tomatoes.
budgel, Jan 27, 8:20am
Tomatoes are actually perennials.

I suggest that all you keen growers prune your best plant backto about 150mm when it is finished and keep watering it , see how it goes by nursing through the winter. It will be very hardy (if it survives) and up and running before all next year's plants.

I saw this recommended on an English gardeningprogramme on Choice TV and have ended up with the best crop of cherry tomatoes i have ever had.
A bit of fun worth trying!

I will try it with a larger variety this season.
matthews4, Jan 27, 7:04pm
Great to see so many comments and information - have been too busy to check on here for a few days.Envy Tauranga its rain - we live near Karangahake Gorge, and very hot and dry over here.Watering vege garden every night, some from rain buts, some from hose.Some toms have started to colour, and are in kitchen to finish ripening.others doing well.Beans very prolific still, corn and pumpkin doing well, as are other vege.Also, heaps of lemons - must take some to my Car Boot Sale next weekend - lemons, beans, and rhubarb to spare.Helps others, with frext picked produce, cheap.
kaylin, Jan 28, 7:52pm
What great information for tomato growers. I'm adding this comment so I can find the thread later.
nauru, Jan 28, 8:42pm
Mine have just started to ripen over the last few days, everything else is growing well. Beetroot all finished now, waiting of new seedlings to be ready for transplanting.My butter beans are also doing well so should havea good crop for freezing.

Has anyone tried growing snake beans!I have sown 2 lots of seeds this year and they have both done very poorly.I would be grateful for any tips.
edenrose, Jan 28, 11:19pm
Are the Borlotti beans climbers!I'm sure they were dwarf last year, but have climbed this year.Odd!
pestri, Jan 30, 3:53pm
insecticide, carbaryl, pyrethroids etc. or just dish wash water.
2young1, Feb 1, 10:30am
same re my beans. eekk
southerngurl, Feb 1, 1:28pm
My tomato has gone nuts, it was a grafted and its just gone crazy with big thick shoots going everywhere, I've given up breaking and cutting stems off. Theres about 8-10 bunches of 4-6 tomatos though all green and about thumb size, so its finally doing what its meant to. Apple Cucumbers on the other hand have gone nuts have had 4 off it and theres about another 20 of different sizes. Same with my strawberries! Hubby got some Rootblast, it actually works; I think thats what helped my tomatos
nauru, Feb 18, 9:41am
Yes, it does work well.I used it again this year and my tomatoes have gone wild, grown to the roof of my greenhouse with lots of tomatoes. My butter beans are doing well too.Also used it on my petunias in my deck pots, 1small plant in each big pot, they have just filled the pot and cascaded over.I used it a few years ago when it first came out on TV and results were good then too, it used to come in a jar.