Anyone growing tomatoes? (The Gardening thread)

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ShaunWhite
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Derek27 wrote:
Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:14 pm
Like last year, my tomato plant has collapsed under the weight of tomatoes (48 at last count). I realise you're supposed to cut the top of the plant when the plant starts bearing fruit, but I never heard anyone say, even if the top shoot has tomatoes on it, sacrifice them!
Too late now maybe but tie a string from each truss up to somewhere higher up the main stem. The weight of fruit is too much for it as you've seen. Sacrificing is so hard when it's taken so long to get there, gardening is half wanting things to grow and half stopping them!
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:55 pm
Derek27 wrote:
Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:14 pm
Like last year, my tomato plant has collapsed under the weight of tomatoes (48 at last count). I realise you're supposed to cut the top of the plant when the plant starts bearing fruit, but I never heard anyone say, even if the top shoot has tomatoes on it, sacrifice them!
Too late now maybe but tie a string from each truss up to somewhere higher up the main stem. The weight of fruit is too much for it as you've seen. Sacrificing is so hard when it's taken so long to get there, gardening is half wanting things to grow and half stopping them!
The main problem is the size of the bamboo sticks. They seem adequate when you first plant out but by now the plant dwarfs the stick. Next year I'll get longer sticks and use 3 in a tripod, but the amount of time and money I've invested in the last 3 years just to obtain that elusive tomato is ridiculous. :lol:
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ShaunWhite
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Have you got anywhere above the plants you could tie a string? I've got a couple of nails in the facia above them. Then tuck the other end under the root ball. As the plant grows you can wind the plant around the string. You don't even need to tie it and the weight of the plant keeps the string tight. Works a treat and it's what they do in the big greenhouses.
Screenshot_20220811-012342_Google.jpg
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ShaunWhite
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The property shortage means I've got someone viewing before I've even trimmed the liner :)
Screenshot_20220811-013347_Gallery.jpg

But what I time to make a pond :roll:, it's going down by 2+cm a day which I think is about 250-300L! Definately no leak, there's loads of padding under the liner and a similar pond at the front is the same. When I filled it I timed how long it took to fill a big tub, estimated the flow at about 780l an hour and it took over 11 hrs... 9000L ish. Our water is about £2.80 per 1000L so not bad really. I'm extending the house guttering so it gets topped up .... if it ever rains... No fish so the roof water is fine. For now I'm just letting it go down but until the edges get matted with roots the risk is the bank collapsing if you walk near it. Next step is filling hessian bags with soil to hang over the edges to plant marginals into.

But WTH does pond life come from? It's been there about 4 weeks and got all sorts of bugs and at least two Water Boatmen..... now named Ross and Barney Boatman after the poker playing brothers :)
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:30 am
Have you got anywhere above the plants you could tie a string? I've got a couple of nails in the facia above them. Then tuck the other end under the root ball. As the plant grows you can wind the plant around the string. You don't even need to tie it and the weight of the plant keeps the string tight. Works a treat and it's what they do in the big greenhouses.
Screenshot_20220811-012342_Google.jpg
My tomato plant is near a fence. I tied one piece of string from the fence to the bamboo stick when it started tilting. I tied another from the fence to one of the main branches, but that's now cutting through the branch. It's a bit late now but I heard a strip of fabric would have been better.
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:58 am
The property shortage means I've got someone viewing before I've even trimmed the liner :)
Screenshot_20220811-013347_Gallery.jpg
But what I time to make a pond :roll:, it's going down by 2+cm a day which I think is about 250-300L! Definately no leak, there's loads of padding under the liner and a similar pond at the front is the same. When I filled it I timed how long it took to fill a big tub, estimated the flow at about 780l an hour and it took over 11 hrs... 9000L ish. Our water is about £2.80 per 1000L so not bad really. I'm extending the house guttering so it gets topped up .... if it ever rains... No fish so the roof water is fine. For now I'm just letting it go down but until the edges get matted with roots the risk is the bank collapsing if you walk near it. Next step is filling hessian bags with soil to hang over the edges to plant marginals into.

But WTH does pond life come from? It's been there about 4 weeks and got all sorts of bugs and at least two Water Boatmen..... now named Ross and Barney Boatman after the poker playing brothers :)
I've had a few drinks tonight and I'm struggling to absorb that picture. How did you get a duck in the pond you're constructing and why does it appear yellow/orange in the photo?
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ShaunWhite
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Derek27 wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:11 am
I'm struggling to absorb that picture. How did you get a duck in the pond you're constructing and why does it appear yellow/orange in the photo?
The duck just spotted it when it flew over I guess :) The colour is the reflection in the water of a treated timber fence in the background. It's a still from a zoomed-in video near sunset so it's all a bit orangey.
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ShaunWhite
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Derek27 wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:02 am
My tomato plant is near a fence. I tied one piece of string from the fence to the bamboo stick when it started tilting. I tied another from the fence to one of the main branches, but that's now cutting through the branch. It's a bit late now but I heard a strip of fabric would have been better.
It's hard when you can't secure the top of the cane, It's not ideal for air circulation but if you could fix some netting to the fence somehow you could tie it into that. Like the string idea, the plant hangs from it rather than trying to hold it up with a stick. They test your patience though, 3 yrs for a cheese and tomato sandwich is stretching things.
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Derek27
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ShaunWhite wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:58 am
Derek27 wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:02 am
My tomato plant is near a fence. I tied one piece of string from the fence to the bamboo stick when it started tilting. I tied another from the fence to one of the main branches, but that's now cutting through the branch. It's a bit late now but I heard a strip of fabric would have been better.
It's hard when you can't secure the top of the cane, It's not ideal for air circulation but if you could fix some netting to the fence somehow you could tie it into that. Like the string idea, the plant hangs from it rather than trying to hold it up with a stick. They test your patience though, 3 yrs for a cheese and tomato sandwich is stretching things.
It really is a wonder how tomatoes are created. I often have fried tomato with my breakfast, they're in my burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, I use tinned tomatoes when I cook curries, but it's only when you try to grow them yourself that you can fully appreciate the genius of the professional tomato growers that get those red things onto our plates. They don't get the recognition they deserve. :)
RoyJay
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Derek27 wrote:
Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:21 pm
but the amount of time and money I've invested in the last 3 years just to obtain that elusive tomato is ridiculous. :lol:

It can seem a bit expensive to start, though with time, it becomes cost efficient.

All the pots, canes, watering cans, seed trays etc you buy, should last and can be reused many times for many years.

Then what you need to do is grow proper seeds, heirloom varieties. This is so you can save your seeds for the next year, and then you don’t have to buy seeds again. If you type “Real Seeds” into a search engine you will find a brilliant website that not only sells these seeds, but provides excellent advice on how to germinate, grow, care for, harvest, and most importantly, how to save your seeds.

Then your only cost is your compost and water. Though with a compost bin in the kitchen collecting food scraps and peelings, shredded cardboard boxes from deliveries, and various other green and brown waste, you can start making your own. Water butts are needed to collect the water which can be fairly expensive, though you can also improvise and catch rain water in other ways.

Then, once you complete your first few cycles of growing, collecting seed, and making compost, after that, it’s FREE food.

As somebody who I believe used to love nothing better than getting stuck into a big fat juicy bookmakers ARB, I’m sure you will also love getting stuck into a big fat juicy FREE TOMATO!
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Derek27
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I wish the patience I've acquired through years of trading would extend to gardening. I just want one of these bastards to turn red!

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Derek27
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Apparently, rain doesn't soak into dry, rock-hard ground but just runs off it. Dig your garden fork into your lawn a few centimetres and give it a shake, spread plenty of holes to aerate the soil. :)
Jukebox
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Derek27 wrote:
Fri Aug 12, 2022 8:51 pm
I wish the patience I've acquired through years of trading would extend to gardening. I just want one of these bastards to turn red!
Oh the irony of a trader staring at green but hoping for red
sniffer66
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My Sungold's are ripening nicely. Best tomato I've ever grown - sweet as anything. Cherry sized.

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RoyJay
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Derek27 wrote:
Fri Aug 12, 2022 8:51 pm
I wish the patience I've acquired through years of trading would extend to gardening. I just want one of these bastards to turn red!
Just like trading, it takes time, patience and effort, and even then you still need a small slice of luck on your side too. Though it looks like you are getting there, Derek27, they look nice and healthy. Those sungolds pictured above look really good too.


As you well know, in the cut throat world of sports trading, there are NO FREE LUNCHES.

When trying to grow your own free lunch, there are also, NO FREE LUNCHES!
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