Well, I have been having one or two completely self-inflicted tomato growing problems lately. I suspect I’m not the only onto be encountering these problems either.
Firstly, I have quite a few tomatoes that are splitting. I thought this might happen as a few weeks back I completely neglected the poor plants and they got very thirsty and wilted a lot. I tried to remedy the situation by giving them a good drink and some tomato feed, but I was too late. Poor things. Their skins are splitting as a result, but it is a lesson learnt for next year – I will definitely not be planting them in pots (way too small for big upright varieties) and will instead put a raised bed into the greenhouse, so they’ll be able to find more water, and I will definitely be adding a mulch to try and keep some of the water in for them.
Secondly, I had a curious black bottomed tomato. Further investigation tells me that this is Blossom End Rot. This is apparently due to a lack of calcium caused by, erm, too much water at the start of fruiting followed by a very dry spell. I guess it’s the old inconsistent watering thing again. Must try harder.
Thirdly, one or two plants seem to have a bit of blight. I’ve picked off the offending leaves and I’m hoping that the tomatoes themselves will ripen before they get hit.
Fourthly and finally, they are all falling over and are completely unruly. I am determined next year to keep them tied to canes properly, to pinch them out regularly so they don’t get carried away and generally look after them better.
It’s not all bad though, I’ve got some lovely cherry tomatoes ripening at the moment, and the Tigerella Tomatoes that haven’t split are beautiful!