Comments on: Review of Alicante

By: Sally

Sally — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:34:09 +0000

Hello,
Thank you for getting in touch – and I am so sorry that your tomato growing has taken a turn for the worst after you have given it such loving care and its rewarded you with lots of green tomatoes.
It sounds very much to me as if your plant is suffering from Blossom End Rot. That turns the bottoms of the tomato fruits black/brown and a bit leathery looking. It is related to calcium. When the tomato fruit is developing the cell walls inside the tomato need calcium to form – and if suffer any shortage at that time then the cell walls don’t fully form – and the result is what you see.
It is very frustrating and some varieties of tomato are more prone to it than others. How calcium is distributed to the plant is through water travellling through it. So you will often read that it is caused by irregular watering. That may be true – but in my experience you can have the exact same watering routine for all your plants and some get it and some don’t.
The bad news is that those fruits that have it won’t come good so you will have to take them off and discard them. The good news – or at least I have found – is that the later fruits don’t seem to get it even if they are on the same plant. So you should hopefully still get some good fruit – but it will be the later ones.
I hope that helps even if it’s not very good news.
Sally

By: marilyn

marilyn — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 23:15:14 +0000

I bought a single plant in April from a shop in Ripon and transferred into a topsey turvey grow bag in my conservatory. I now have a very large plant( which I water and feed daily), with lots of green tomatoes but to my disappointment they are all turning black on the underside. Help I have no idea what is happening and if there is anything I can do to save them. I was so looking forward to eating my first home grown tomato!

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:48:45 +0000

Hello,
It’s lovely to hear from you – and I am glad that all is going well. I am not quite sure what you mean by spread? But from the point of view of just getting on with growing Alicante will do that just fine! Have you got any sideshoots to pinch out yet – that will prevent the plant from getting to have too many new shoots that are then difficult to tie up and support.
It’s always a very exciting moment when you get… and even better pick… your first home-grown tomato! I think you are about to become a fan all over again.
Good Luck – and I looked forward to hearing more as your plants grow!
Sally

By: Mim

Mim — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:39:29 +0000

Hello!
Thank you for the reply!! That is very exciting – so do they spread on their own or do I have to do something to make that happen? I do want 9 plants next year!! I have planted my 3 plants outside in my raised beds and they seem to be going strong although growing slowly at the moment. I am considering getting some tomato feed.
Will let you know when I get my first tomato!!
Home grown tomatoes completely converted me about 10 years ago – I hated tomatoes but was persuaded to try one that my mum’s friend had grown. She picked it from the plant and I tried it (raw – a very brave moment!) and it was a revelation! I have been a tomato fan ever since.

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:26:47 +0000

Hello,
Thank you for stopping by and joining the tomato lovers! But I warn you – it might only be 3 plants this year … but next year you’ll be on to 6 or maybe 9…!!! Suddenly you will get your own home grown tomatoes – compare their taste and price to what you can find in the shops – and start thinking about all the different kinds you might like to grow!
But back to this year’s Alicante – put them outside – they should be fine. Unless you have a greenhouse – in which case they would like that as well – but indoors I wouldn’t … Alicante will grow into strapping plants in no time and I think you will get along much better if they are outdoors and not invading your indoor space!
Do keep in touch and let us know how it works out!

By: Mim

Mim — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:59:15 +0000

I LOVE how much you love tomatoes!!!

I just bought 3 alicante tomato plants from a stall outside someones house! Do you think they will grow ok outside, or should they be kept indoors?

By: Sally

Sally — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:12:08 +0000

How frustrating ! My Alicante have been slow to ripen as well and have just done so in the past week or so and I still have a lot of green fruit on that variety . So fingers crossed yours will start to turn this week. It’s been a nice sunny weekend so that should help.

By: J Caruana

J Caruana — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:48:53 +0000

Live in SE England nd still green, When will they be ripe?

By: Sally

Sally — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:24:58 +0000

Hello Anne,
Thank you for getting in touch and for letting me know about your tomato growing experience! 120 , that’s amazing.
What a fantastic result. I too had no confidence that I would be able to grow anything from seed. And in fact when I talked to some very experienced tomato growers and they said they bought plants – I had just assumed that they would grow them from seed – I wondered if I’d done the right thing ! But I too have found it so rewarding to grow something from scratch – well seed !
I’d love to know how the plants progress and what recipes turn out to be your favourite. Thank you for stopping by .

Sally

By: Anne Wing

Anne Wing — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:49:16 +0000

Stumbled on your web site looking for extra tips on growing tomatoes. I decided this year to try growing some veg from seed (never grown veg ever before), included in this was tomatoes. I chose the Alicante variety as I like going to Spain. Without thinking I planted the whole packet in a large seed tray on the 23 February and nurtured them in my conservatory. Hey presto a couple of weeks later, or thereabouts, they ALL popped their heads out of the compost. I potted them on as it said on the packet and placed them all on the shelves of a plastic grow-house. Now (4th June) I have 6 large plants in the grow-house, one is 4′ tall already with 4 trusses, 10 in 9″ pots dotted throughout the garden and roughly 15 – 20 in a purpose dug sunny corner of my garden and I still have 25 in 3″ pots which I don’t have the heart to throw away. ALL of my friends, family and even friends of friends have been given tomato plants from me. I know for the future to think ahead. I didn’t think for 1 minute that I would end up with 120 tomato plants. However, I am extremely pleased with the results and will be using extensive recipes (fingers crossed) to use up all of my tomatoes as they ripen. Keep looking on the bright side!!