There are some left on the plant which seem ok – so let’s hope. It’s disappointing not to get any of a variety to ripeness !

In the spirit of scientific discovery I also cut them open to see what BER looks like on the inside. Ignoring the disappointment of the ruined fruit, it’s quite a fetching colour combination. Reminiscent of those Chocolate Lime sweets which along with Chocolate Eclairs and Raspberry Ruffles would be in my favourite ‘quarter of’ stripy bags….It’s important to remember the sweet things when things have turned a bit sour…

PS – Just after writing this post I came across this article on Blossom End Rot. Interestingly amongst other things it recommends watering at night as this is when calcium uptake is at its optimum. This very question of timing re watering came up last week in the post on Belriccio and Blossom End Rot.

I’m surprised it was this variety. It’s one of the Sutton’s grafted, a beefsteak but it’s been consistently watered.  The ones I thought would be more likely to be the problem are the San Marzano, the determinate plums. They tend to wilt more readily so I clearly haven’t got their watering correct. They’ve also been attracting the blackfly. A ruffle through their green fruit however and I can see they too have signs of Blossom End Rot.

Last year it was Roma and Cream Sausage which suffered. Both plums. But it would seem now, flat bottomed beefsteak  maybe prone as well.

I also found it to be the early fruit which got this disorder and then it seemed to self correct – let’s hope that pattern repeats this year.  No more tomatoes which thought they were conkers please !?

20th July – BER update. For details on how the timing of watering does make a difference ( see comments section) with watering at night recommended to prevent blossom end rot- the reason – calcium uptake is greater at night.

What is humidity?
Water vapour held in the air. Given we can feel but not see it vapour in the air is measured by hygrometers and calculated by hygrometric tables.

The quantity of water vapour that air can hold depends on the temperature of that air.

• The lower the temperature of the air – the less water vapour it can hold
• The higher the temperature of the air – the more water it can hold

When the maximum amount of water vapour for a given air temperature is reached then that air has reached its Saturation Point.

If air reaches Saturation Point and then the air temperature subsequently drops, the ‘excess’ water vapour it can no longer accomodate has to be dumped. This is achieved by condensing it into water – the liquid version !

In an interior situation this creates that irritating phenomenon – condensation. In micro, on the inside lid of a propagator – or on a larger domestic scale, on the inside window panes.

Outdoors; clouds, fog and mist are the result of water vapour ‘converting’ to liquid.

And Relative Humidity – well it’s all relative, see……relative to the air temperature……
Relative humidity is the % of water vapour that the air can hold at a certain temperature. The water vapour in the air is measure by grams of water vapour per kilograms of air. But then it expressed as a % of what the maximum amount of water vapour air of that particular temperature can hold. With warm air being able to hold a greater maximum amount of water vapour than cold.

And to go back to blight and its relationship to humidity – it would seem it doesn’t get out of bed for anything less than 10C and 90% humidity over the period of two consecutive days. So when us tomato lovers feel sticky and out of sorts for a couple of days on the trot - it’s because we sense something nasty is stirring and coming to life……

This evening – after a day of no rain – and checking on the updated forecast, seemingly none in the next 5 days, I may have been better putting the kettle on and having that 2nd cuppa instead.

Bordeaux Mix is very blue ! With no rain to wash it off my plants now look as if they have a dose of artic measles. I don’t know if this is supposed to be how it looks when applied but it adds a very odd tinge to the garden. It’s not on every leaf and not every part of the leaf received a spraying. I don’t know how this affects protection levels.  

So a couple of things I learnt ( for which read mistakes made !). I hadn’t used the spray pump before. I’d recommend just putting water in the first time to see how it works. I’d several false starts; all the more frustrating with the solution already in. To begin with it wouldn’t spray at all, then it did with an erratic pattern. Then when that was fixed it was more high pressure car wash….

Then with the mix itself I mixed 1.15 litres ( powder and water) which was the max volume for the spray. Which was probably too much. A little goes a long, blue way.

So next time I’d test drive the sprayer with water to get the pressure and nozzle setting correct and then I’d mix a smaller amount of the solution.

Will there be any scary outcomes ? How will the plants cope with blue leaves ? I don’t know … I only hope the consequences aren’t as scary as the colour …..

Last year I allowed for room between pots, using spacing guidelines of 45cm to 60 cm where possible. But then a degree of confusion set in – were those recommendations more relevant for plants sharing open ground; where spacing is practiced to control the competition between plants for nutrients, water and root space ?

In pots, whilst space maybe more limited, sharing is not required. So is spacing ? I decided not.

Taking a more back to back  pot approach has resulted in a more orderly layout. This makes for quicker watering and with a more sequential layout, pots don’t get missed or watered twice.

But now this article by Alys Fowler has sown the seed of doubt. The reason – poor air circulation. Her recommendation for pots is to give them plenty of space. And if in the ground, planting distance should be 1-1.5 m apart. All to do with blight. Her take on growing tomatoes outside - ’ a big gamble‘……. HELP !!

Last year I bought Bordeaux Mixture but didn’t use it. Feeling like I might’ve had my year of beginner’s luck I’ve now got it out to read the instructions.  For potato blight, spray before blight appears, usually late June to mid July. For tomato blight, spray before the disease becomes active, late July to early August. Then every 3 weeks.

But Alys’ article states tomato blight appears from late June onwards.

I’ve been told a good way to know if blight’s arrived is to listen to the Archers. Apparently it gets woven into scripts once it starts making its presence felt in ‘real’ life. But with apologies to devotees its something I can’t do. I’ve tried. I drunk tea out of an ‘Easy Tiger’ mug as its Archer’s significance  is explained to me. I’ve tuned in and tried…..and whilst the dimpty, dunkty tune doesn’t have me reaching for the off switch anywhere near as quickly as the musical misery claxon of East Enders, I still can’t go over to the Ambridge side.

So instead I’ve signed myself up to Blight Watch… where Clear and Present Danger takes the form of a Smith Period. Two consecutive days where the temperature is over 10C and the relative humidity 90% plus for a period of 11 hours in each day. These conditions are right for blight.

It’s organised by postcode and it would seem no Smith Periods have occured in my area during the past 14 days. Out of interest I looked back to 2009. The earliest near miss was 9th June. And then actual Smith Period direct hits were 12, 17, and 27th July; 2,7,27 and 31st August. And then 16th September.

I’m also cross referencing to the BBC 5 day forecast which gives humidity readings. For example although heavy rain is forecast tomorrow – the humidity reading is 54%. So would that mean no Smith Period ?

I’ve no idea if I’ve understood any of this correctly but I’m going to keep checking and seeing what correlations there are – and meanwhile thinking what approach I should take re using Bordeaux Mix.

And if Archers fans glean blight news from their listening please share.  Or if you’ve successfully beaten blight using Smith Periods in the past it would be great to know more.

And for anyone who hasn’t come across Blight Watch but would like to know more go to blight watch co uk.

All is not well. Hardening off began on Monday – outside in the day and florist shop style – all back in at night.

However there’s fading and flagging going on. The top picture is of 3 Ferline. Not good advocates for the outdoor life – they’re getting paler and waner. And a word of warning – if you’re of a sensitive disposition – do not scroll down. It’s a Lemon Tree massacre.

And it’s only the outdoor day trippers. The 10 or so I kept back ( including the grafted) are fine.

My thoughts:

• Is the compost too wet/too compacted through watering ( albeit gently) from above from a spout as opposed to a rose and with the plants transpiring more as they adjust to outside conditions and not replacing lost water quickly enough …. but that would mean wilting and this seems different from wilting.
• Is the compost too wet/compacted and the roots can’t get air – might be. So I took a skewer to the compost from above to aerate it and loosen it  up. And whilst at it inserted the skewer through the base drainage holes to do the same. (There was a lesson waiting to be learnt: non-perforated drainage holes -one pot had only 3 of 8 pre perforated- so check before using !) Ever since being subjected to a matinee of Ring of Bright Water at a tender age I’ve had a dread of sharp, glinty objects being plunged into the earth without being able to see what you might be about to kill off and so in undertaking this skewering I tried hard not to bring grief to delicate young roots – but we shall see.
• Scorched by the sun….. ha, ha, ha, ha……Chance/Fine Thing…..
• And then a random element – there’s noisy and dusty demolition of hard core and foundations happening feet away from the bottom of my garden – is the dust coating the leaves and causing photosynthesis to stop….?

I don’t know the answer. Trouble is this ER is staffed not by Dr. Clooney but by Nurse Clueless…I think life has dealt The Lemon Trees a hand whereby it’s not now even possible to make lemonade but I’m hoping the others pull through.

I’d decided on Ferline and Legend for this year but suffered a little brain miswiring and instead bought and sowed 2 lots of Ferline and no Legend.  

I checked the Simpson Seeds website (in their red/pink,small fruit selection) to find out more about Matt’s Wild Cherry. It’s described as a cordon with tiny, red, very sweet fruit and hails from Mexico. I’d thought Koralik originated in Eastern Europe but here’s it’s described as having tiny sweet fruit and the bush version of Matt’s Wild Cherry which surprised me although I suppose there’s nothing to say it shouldn’t have such a far flung cousin !

Behind on my TV gardening viewing, I treat them as a glut and watch them back to back on iplayer. I’ve now caught up with Alys Fowler and The Edible Garden. Sombre viewing!

Not hopeful of escaping blight, a couple of tomato plants were sited outdoors. One however was held back, a special greenhouse constructed for it, with the hope this would keep blight spores from landing on the plants’ leaves.

However something about the design of this bespoke protector did not bode well. Constructed out of individual panes of 1930’s stained glass, it crossed an advent calendar, gorged on its own chocolate gifts and a memorial chapel for the deceased, who didn’t intend to take death lying down. A gloomy, doomy place of incarceration.  And as it turned out, no match for blight. Which took the treasured plant ( having already claimed the outdoor ones) and left its vexed owner swearing off growing tomatoes for good.

It did make me wonder if you are going to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse or tunnel would you do best to do only that ? – So there are no outdoor plants in quite such close proximity for the blight to first alight on? Or if it’s blowing your way are you going to get it regardless, no matter how clever your tomato hidey place ?

Photo by stevendepolo

Today’s disorder duo relate to mineral deficiencies but as previously seen, other factors can play a part.

1st up – Blotchy Ripening. Yesterday we looked at Greenback – where the tomato doesn’t ripen in a specific area, at the top, around the stalk area.

This is the same effect; yellow or green hard patches where the fruit has not ripened but instead of being restricted to specific location, these patches appear randomly on the fully grown fruit.

The likely cause is insufficient potassium but too little water to and around the plant as well as overly high greenhouse temperatures may also play a part.

So in addition to addressing water and temperature levels, meeting potassium requirements in the form of a high potash feed, should be part of the routine for the fruiting period.

Magnesium deficiency

This deficiency shows up as discoloured leaves.  The remedy a dose of salts; Epsom Salts.

The link is magnesium sulphate. Insufficient magnesium causes a leaf to lose green pigment; the effect of which is whilst the veins of the leaf remain green, the ‘leafy’ bit turns yellow.

Nature (being keen on a contingency plan) will on detecting a lack of magnesium, take from the old to give to the young, meaning the yellow will be most noticeable on older leaves lower down the plant.

The deficiency can result from magnesium being removed from the soil, washed out as a result of heavy rain or watering.

But, in a neat lesson about the importance of getting the balance right (part of Nature’s core curriculum), magnesium can be in the soil but if there along with overly high levels of potassium (high potash feed anyone?) then this overload of one nutrient (potassium) can leave another (magnesium) locked up in the soil and not available for take up by the plant.

Which is why ( I guess) that the recommended remedy is a foliar feed of Espom salts solution. A foliar feeds bypass the soil and root system and delivers what’s needed straight to the leaf.

So I think that brings us to the end of disorders. Being prepared is good, so hopefully diligence will be rewarded by it all remaining text book only stuff!

But unlike BER which can affect indoor and outdoor plants Greenback is a disorder which manifests itself in greenhouse grown tomatoes.

The symptoms are that whilst the rest of the tomato ripens, the area around the stalk does not. It remains resolutely green or yellow and tougher in texture.

A combination of factors including too little potassium and phosphorous and too much direct sunlight and high heat are to blame.

The solution lies in addressing the plant’s feeding regime and greenhouse set up. Shade can be provided by external blinds or the application of a product such as Cool Glass and vents and doors opened to bring in cooler air and lower the temperature.

Or approaching from a different angle there are tomato varieties bred not to succumb to this disorder including Shirley, one of the UK’s top 10 classic tomatoes varieties.