[Kleftiwallah]

Having a break from the shed, modifying fake rattan garden furniture into shelving! 

So which variety of tomato turns out to have the best fruit to foliage ratio with emphasis on fruit?  Cheers,  Tony.

[Growster...]

I reckon 'Shirley' have beaten all the others this year, the 'Sungold' have been just about alright, the 'San Marzano' are stil trying their best, and the 'Tiger Stripe' are very disapointing, so it's gonna be 'Shirley' next year as a staple, with some 'San Marzano' ready for freezing.

Anyone got an alternative for an early tom to replace 'Sungold'?

[cc]

I reckon 'Shirley' have beaten all the others this year, the 'Sungold' have been just about alright, the 'San Marzano' are stil trying their best, and the 'Tiger Stripe' are very disapointing, so it's gonna be 'Shirley' next year as a staple, with some 'San Marzano' ready for freezing.

Anyone got an alternative for an early tom to replace 'Sungold'?

Stupice but not in the greenhouse as it takes up to much room.
I have spare seeds.

[Growster...]

That's a new one on me, CC, any good?

I use the GH to get toms by my birthday in mid July, this year was a failure, but last year I jumped the gun by two weeks!

Our best crops grow outside on a very sunny, white-painted conservatory wall, so get as much as they need - well, even this year..;0)

[Potty Plotty Lotty]

Anyone got an alternative for an early tom to replace 'Sungold'?

Honeycomb have been pretty good-a variant of Sungold but less prone to split fruit and still tasty

Galina are a very early yellow option too but not as flavoursome as either of these.

I grow Stupice too but again not as good a flavour. They are golf ball size normally.

It's not been a good year for tomatoes for lots of people so maybe give sungold another chance.

Can't comment on foilage to fruit ratio of these varieties

[jambop]

I reckon 'Shirley' have beaten all the others this year, the 'Sungold' have been just about alright, the 'San Marzano' are stil trying their best, and the 'Tiger Stripe' are very disapointing, so it's gonna be 'Shirley' next year as a staple, with some 'San Marzano' ready for freezing.

Anyone got an alternative for an early tom to replace 'Sungold'?

The most common problem anybody will have growing San Marzano is the climate. These are a tomato grown on the foothills of Vesuvius where they thrive in the hot and dry conditions. They also require a long growing season which for anybody living in the UK is difficult if not impossible to achieve . I have not had a great season for tomatoes this year but still have faired better than I thought I would in late June. I still have a few to come but today I collected about 25kg properly ripe tomatoes off six plants. The size of some of the tomatoes was amazing certainly 200g plus. I am thinking about stopping growing San Marzano however because it does need longer to grow and ripen and it needs a lot of looking after ... Now Roma on the other hand which is not quite as tasty is very easy to grow requires virtually no looking after at all produces early and is a very heavy cropper. I have had over 25kg from 8 plants and have about the same to pick again next week. I made 12 L of Roma Passata last week and it needed no reduction at all I just cut in half removed the seeds and centre of each tomato and simmer softened them prior to sieving and Sterilising in the 100 C water bath perfect. The rest are going to be used for soup and Ratatouille

[Growster...]

Actually trying to answer your question about fruit to foliage, I always keep a few leaf stems going as I believe they still collect the rays of sunshine, and therefore help the ripening process, so I've chopped off about half the numbers, and made sure the fruit is pulled to the front of the vine for what sun they can get.

The 'Shirley' are bounding ahead now, with the 'San Marzano' coming along nicely, after being persuaded to show themselves in front of the leaves...

As we've had two great days of very warm, sunny weather (whooooopeee!), there's been a huge surge in ripening!

[jambop]

Actually trying to answer your question about fruit to foliage, I always keep a few leaf stems going as I believe they still collect the rays of sunshine, and therefore help the ripening process, so I've chopped off about half the numbers, and made sure the fruit is pulled to the front of the vine for what sun they can get.

The 'Shirley' are bounding ahead now, with the 'San Marzano' coming along nicely, after being persuaded to show themselves in front of the leaves...


As we've had two great days of very warm, sunny weather (whooooopeee!), there's been a huge surge in ripening!

This is going to sound controversial to say the least but tomato fruits do not need to be exposed to the sun to ripen. The plants do need warmth and sunshine to grow well but the tomatoes themselves do not need direct sunlight to ripen, in fact direct sunlight on tomatoes can actually be bad for the fruit causing them to be scalded and bleached as evidenced by quite a number of my tomatoes that were not clustered in the leaves of the plant. Tomatoes are not ripened by the sun, although they need warmth, they are ripened by the presence of a chemical and being in a cluster of leaves is actually more likely to promote ripening than being out in the open... strange but very true.


edit to clarify quote