[BabbyAnn]

As been mentioned, how outdoor toms do is linked to the weather, or rather, blight from wet humid summers.  The first time I grew outdoor toms in my garden, the yield was amazing.  So the following year I went to town and grew loads - all were doing well, lovely big plum toms just about to ripen when we had 3 solid weeks of heavy rains in August and blight struck    A few years later when I took on my plot, I grew outdoor toms and again, an amazing yield but the following 3 years were disaster after disaster.  That's when I decided to invest in a large greenhouse for home - now I split the toms between the greenhouse and outdoors on the plot so I'll be able to salvage something should the worst happen.  This year the outdoor ones are doing very well and I am now feeling a little twitchy ... will this good weather keep going for just a few more weeks? 

[Fairy Plotmother]

  So far so good. They look OK at the moment now I have sorted the BER problem Keeping the finger crossed.

[seaside]

For years, I grew blight free tomatoes in my garden no problem, but the last 3 years have been a disaster for outdoor tomatoes up on the allotment.
My friend who also has a plot on our site, however, gets a very good annual crop of outdoor plum toms, but he ensures he sprays with Bordeaux mixture before the wrong sort of weather arrives. That gives him that essential extra 5 weeks or so to get the crop through to the ripening stage.

[brianbishop]

BabyAnn, don't want to ruin your day ,but the last 3yrs. I've had tomatoe blight on my greenhouse toms.
Bish

[mumofstig]

I've often had Botrytis on my greenhouse tomatoes in the past - but never blight.

[JayG]

Can't speak with too much authority because I've only had my greenhouse for 3 growing seasons, but last year I did have blight starting on one of the tom plants but managed to rescue it with a bit of surgery. Significantly, it was the plant nearest the opening light!
The plants did finish up engulfed with botrytis, but that was after they'd finished fruiting and entirely my fault for not removing them sooner!

I've been growing Red Alert outdoors (in an open cold frame, actually) for several years - last year needed some increasingly drastic surgery to hold back the blight and most of the crop had to be ripened indoors. It's a good variety inasmuch it lives up to its name and grows and flowers extremely rapidly which can make the difference between a crop and no crop.

[BabbyAnn]

BabyAnn, don't want to ruin your day ,but the last 3yrs. I've had tomatoe blight on my greenhouse toms.
Bish

sorry to hear that Bish  - it's not totally without risk, but compared to the open outdoors and especially at the allotment where some plotholders don't deal with their blight infected crops, the greenhouse at home has (touch wood, cross eyes and anything else to ward off evil spirits) been blight free so far.

[shokkyy]

I always do a dozen or so bush tomato plants in an outdoor bed and put the cordons in my tunnel plus some cherries in hanging baskets. Fingers crossed, it's looking like a fabulous crop this year, but even in the sunny south west I think you need a decent summer to get a big crop from outdoor plants, and that obviously won't happen every year. I've always found the Italian varieties to be very good tough plants. This year I've done Roma, Rio Grande and Principe Borghese, all of which I've grown successfully outdoors before. The Principe are a smaller tomato so they're the only ones I'm actually picking right now. I always find the bigger toms just take longer to ripen, but all three varieties are absolutely laden with fruit. And that's in a bed with just 6 inches of soil depth

[mumofstig]

This year I have the strongest outside plants I've ever had and they're Blacksea Man.
The bushes are really strong and healthy (so far  :blink: )

[taffe]

touch wood its looking good,jens tangerine & oregon spring (cherry vine/early bush respectively).tangerine ripening as i type and oregon good size but still greenish.both seed types came from realseeds.co.uk.well impressed!

[A Reyt Tayty]

From nearest; moneymaker, tigrella, san marzano.