This weather is just the best. Sun and breeze. Doors and windows open. Warm but not too hot. Bees buzzing in the flowers, tomatoes swelling, leaves tangoeing as warm air moves through them.
Today I seized the sunny start and did the rounds – sideshoot pinch out and tieing in. I must have missed a week ( or two ?) as some were sizeable.
I also took the opportunity to do a truss drill – number per plant; flowers or fruit. Gardeners Delight and Tigerella are the fruiting stars. Up to 5 trusses, 3 in fruit. Followed by Black Cherry. The grafteds aren’t far behind; impressive uniform trusses, heavy with fruit (photos tomorrow).
So after washing my hands, post pinch out, (does anyone else wonder at the dayglo yellow lather which is part of the big tomato clean off?) I grabbed paper, pen, calendar, 10 clean fingers and did some counting. With the sun on their backs ( well… all over really) it takes 8 weeks or so before a flower becomes kitchen ready tomato. 8 weeks before food for the bees becomes lunch for the gardener.
8 weeks from today whizzes the calendar forward to the last weekend in August. 12 weeks; the last weekend in September. And whilst I’ve no desire to wish a single one of these wonderful days away; decisions have to made -when to ‘stop’ – i.e when to pinch out growing tips. Being greedy, both for tomatoes and for summer, main and Indian, I’ve decided to hold off until July 19th, another 2 weeks, to see what happens.
For some plants, this may mean a couple of trusses at most this year - the knock on effect of starting late.
This applies only to indeterminates; determinate tomatoes work to some inner clock which sees them deliver as and when they deem the time is right. My determinates are the ones in the middle of the garden; Yellow Balconi, Mini Belle and San Marzano.
A quick gravel weed and then I was done for the day – but not before coming across this little chap hiding out under the table…..
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Yes, the weather’s been fantastic – I wish i could bottle the summer! Your plants are really living up to their promises, and looking great too. Mid to late August sounds about right for harvesting those flavoursome fruits, and hopefully into October.
The Clone had a surprise for me last week, in the shape of two glowing orange globes. I’m impressed!
How are your chilli plants doing – do you have any flowers yet? I have three ripe fruits on the overwintered plants. My new plants aren’t anywhere near mature enough to flower!
And yay for another interloper – I like your picture of its struggle for life.
Two orange fruits – that’s a great result ! Tomato plants grow so quickly that if I look back over the past few months and what they’ve grown from, to I can’t help but be impressed but on the other hand this wait when the fruit is starting to form – but has no colour requires nerves of steel and patience ! So it’s great to hear some are coming through in terms of colour .
Talk about patience – my chill plants have done very little ! I’m sure not counting on them for much in the way of heat this summer ! I would love to see a chilli flower but they are still just tiddlers – way too little to get round to the grown up business of flowering ! But I’d like to get a mature chilli – so may think of buying a plant to speed things up !
My largest chilli plants are around six inches high, but I didn’t plant until late April – too late really. Yes, buying a chilli plant is a good plan. Buy the most mature you can – if they have flowers so much the better. Last year I didn’t get any fruit set until September, and they didn’t ripen until October. The same plants in their second year are now proving much more productive, so don’t give up just yet! Good luck
Mission accomplished.
I now have in my possession a Maclusa chilli plant, flowers and tiny chilli just forming.
I got it at Hampton Court from Cookoo Box Chillies who always have such a good display at the shows they do.
Their advice was to stress it ! They had a sample to show which looked to me like it was half way to the great chilli pot in the sky …. but no… that’s why they’d got it … to illustrate that its good to go for the ‘wilted’ look before watering and then water half a little cupful.
In fact when looking for their website to link to I found this piece from Rachel De Thame from a few years ago talking to the same people abut treating them mean !
So I’m going to keep going with my others and hope that as with yours, it all kicks off in year 2 and in the mean while I’ll perfect my ‘being mean to the chillies’ routine on this one !
Thanks for the links, the advice to ‘stress’ the plant is logical; the plant thinks it’s about to die and wants to ensure it has offspring in the form of seeds. I hope you’ll keep us updated with your progress; it’ll be interesting to see if the stressed plants outperform the chilled-out chilies. Hopefully you’ll have some lovely ripe chilies to go with your tomato harvest this year.