[Twood]

Hi
Is anyone having a disaster with their tomatoes??. Mine seem to be rotting on the vine. I'm picking off the ones that are starting to rot in the hopes that I can save the others but the way the weather has been hardly any of the have ripened. I had to really reduce them a couple of weeks ago as they had grown so much there was leaf everywhere and I thought then that there was no point in encouraging more flowers as the current Toms weren't doing anything.
I doubt I can do anything about this. I presume its due to to warm and very wet weather we have had here in the North West
Twood

[New shoot]

It sounds like botrytis, which is a furry mould that can attack tomato stalks and fruits and is encouraged by warm humid conditions.

I don't know any other things to control it, other than the ones you are already doing - reduce the leaves, make sure there is good air flow round the plants and remove any signs of it you see,  If you are watering, make sure you aren't splashing water about, as that can help the mould spores travel.

Hope you do get some fruit after all this    Tomatoes will ripen inside if they are light rather than dark green. I've picked the lot to save them from blight before now.  It might be worth considering.

[Goosegirl]

I'm growing two bushy plum toms in my g-house next to a climbing French bean and so far they're ok, but I leave the door open all the time.

[Twood]

Thanks for the replies. I guessed as much and have done everything. Reduced leaves etc. Water the ground and not the leaves. Looks like I'll be picking green toms and hope they ripen otherwise it's Delias green tomato chutney!!!

[Twood]

I wasn't going to compost this lot. I wonder if the Botrytis hangs around in the compost or not?
Anyone have any thoughts on this??
Thanks
Twood

[jaydig]

This year I'm growing Crimson Crush again, as it seems to be almost 100% blight resistant, and a new one from the same stable, Crimson Blush, which is a beefsteak tomato.  The Crimson Crush has romped away, bearing heavy crops and ripening nicely in succession which is giving me a really good picking two or three times a week.  The Crimson Blush however, is another story.  The plants are healthy, the fruits are enormous but..........a lot of them have just rotted, and even more have blossom end rot.  It's possible that they will settle down and produce some useable tomatoes, but at the moment it's not looking promising. I know the temperatures have varied wildly and the variation of heavy rainfall and hot sun can't have helped, but the Crimson Crush have just sailed through it all.  I'll probably just stick to this one next year.

[Dr_Pepper]

I wasn't going to compost this lot. I wonder if the Botrytis hangs around in the compost or not?
Anyone have any thoughts on this??
Thanks
Twood

Botrytis is pretty ubiquitous. Composting well i.e. high temperatures, will kill the spores on infected material though. It is a very opportunistic pathogen that will take advantage of wounds and other weak points on plants and fruit if you give it a chance. As with all fungi, Botrytis requires moisture to infect its host. My advice to growers is always to ensure that you do anything that weakens or wounds the plant tissues at the start of a dry day so cracks or wounds dry out and start to callous over as rapidly as possible.
Also, don't water too much at the end of the day as this often causes guttation, where the leaf expels tiny droplets of water at the tips due to the upward pressure from the roots. You often see Botrytis start at leaf margins when this is happening.