Do we think it’s all over? Is that it?
The rain is ok – it keeps everything green and vibrant, it’s the lack of sun in between the showers which seems uncricket like.
Last week weather’s was such that the entries for the Hampton Court Flower Show ‘Make a Scarecrow’ competition could have been mistaken for Guy Fawkes fashioning in the build up to Bonfire night.
Week 17 Summary.
Plants: Growth upwards and outwards seems to have slowed.
Watering: It may be raining and at times (Tuesday) doing so with an old fashioned excess, to test even Gene Kelly’s exuberance but apart from that one exception, I’ve watered daily. That’s the difference between growing in pots and growing in the ground.
Flowers: I don’t think there are as many flowers on the plants as previously. And certainly not as many bees. Which is either due to the weather; having found an expired bumble at the base of a plant I’m not ruling out drowning . Or given Hampton Court is just a few miles away perhaps they took off there for the week and will be back, a buzz with silver-gilt glory.
Fruit: All the fruit is increasing in size. I love the glossy trusses of Tumbler and Sungold. And the more singular but spectacular Carbon. And then my new favourite, the Cream Sausage which has turned out to be a very messy plant. Foliage here, there and everywhere. But rootle around, pull a few leaves aside and it’s a veritable bran tub of delights and surprises. Fruit hanging and hidden everywhere.
Feeding: Tomato feed once a week.
Pruning: Pinching out and more pinching out. I pride myself on having got them all and then the next time I look there is one, a couple of inches in length, seemingly appeared from nowhere. Do you think I am witnessing the next stage in tomato evolution ? The retractable side shoot ?
So how are other tomato growers doing ?
How far from home could this be: ‘Tomatoes progressing nicely, despite the cooler weather this week’.
In fact it’s down in the Loire Valley, back to Living the Life in St Aignan where the tomatoes look to be doing very nicely indeed. For which read turning RED !
Also lots of recent posts and photos on the Loire and its beautiful châteaux . So if you’re not going away this year ( yes I know there’s a new 10 letter word which I could use instead of that phrase but whenever I hear it, it makes me want to leave the country ) you could pour yourself a glass of Vouvray and spend an evening sipping and clicking on an armchair tour.
Year in the Veg Patch is growing Tomatillos in the green house and a few pictures of them in situ. ( Friday 10th July)
The problem with holidaying at home is the nagging thought that it’s an ideal opportunity to get all those niggly DIY jobs done. To help resist this temptation Doug Green has an alternative use for your ladder, to keep it nicely out of action until at least the end of September.
So what weather will this week send the tomato lovers way ?
Skipping Morecambe and Wise bringing sunshine or more of the twirling brollying Gene?
