Now is definitely the time to give tomatoes a little extra attention. Before long, as the temperature drops, they will struggle to ripen so it’s best to give them a good headstart, particularly if you’re growing them outside.
- Give them a trim…. pinch the tops off tomatoes now (simply cut the growing tip off with secateurs or bare hands) and thin back leaves by removing some of the leafy branches that are not bearing fruit/flowers. This’ll help to concentrate their energy on developing and ripening the fruits rather than on producing leaves and growing upwards.
- Give them a liquid feed…this will give them a boost of nutrients to feed those juicy fruits. It’s a good idea to do this as soon as the plant starts flowering, and then again every week until you’ve finished harvesting them.
Don’t forget that if you’re growing tomatoes under cover you’ll have a bit more time as they’ll be that much warmer. Also, you can always cut unripened vines off the plant to ripen them on a sunny windowsill if needs be.