[robinahood]

I have tomatoes outside, they have only just got the first small fruit on them. Is there any chance that some will ripen given reasonable weather? Is there anything I can do to encourage that, or is it just down to a longish season?

[m1ckz]

im sure they will ripen ok  early days yet i think

[mumofstig]

Even the tomatoes in the greenhouse don't start to ripen until this month, so outdoors they will always later.

[robinahood]

Thanks, I feel reassured!

[BARNACLE BILL]

Even the tomatoes in the greenhouse don't start to ripen until this month, so outdoors they will always later.

My greenhouse tomatoes haven't set fruit yet. Is there that much of difference between the South Coast and the North West ?

BB



Edit to clarify quote

[JayG]

My greenhouse tomatoes haven't set fruit yet. Is there that much of difference between the South Coast and the North West ?

So many variables - day length (longer in North in summer), strength of sunlight (weaker in North) local effects of GH siting, actual weather, when you planted yours, and how you are growing them.

My GH toms are all setting fruit nicely, but are far from ripe - as always the Red Alert in the open-topped cold frame will almost certainly be the first to be ready despite being the last to be planted out.

[Headgardener22]

This year seems late to me. I normally get the first ripe tomatoes in my GH about the 13th July but this year, whilst there are lots set and more setting, there's no sign of them. I still expect to get enough and I'm hoping that its a long summer. The latest I have picked ripe tomatoes from the GH is the 20th November.

[Growster...]

I thought at first, that this year was going to be a slower start for toms, but the recent warm weather here seems to be allowing them to get going faster.

I may even beat last year's date of July 19th, but I've not been out to see yet...

[DD.]

As posted previously, my first one was on 12th July this year - 26th June last year. The odd thing was that is was from a variety sown in late March (Clear Pink Early), not the Shirleys sown in February. It was also from the plant in the unheated greenhouse, not the same variety in the heated one. (It's not heated now, I refer to earlier in the year!).

Since that one ripened, others have followed suit and I've self-sufficiency in tomatoes now, albeit a couple of weeks later than last year.

This is one of my outdoor Shirleys. It was the runt of the February sowings that was surplus to the greenhouse planting requirements, but it was kept in there in quite a large pot until it was warm enough to go outside. It's now has flowers on truss no. 7. The bottom two trusses are behind the lower leaves.

[snowdrops]

I've got 2 ripening in my hanging basket experiment in the greenhouse, seed donated by Surbie, 100s & 1000s.