[DD.]

I don't see your problem! 

[LilacSandy]

OH DD, meeaw, meeaw, meeaw 

[DD.]

These are from some scrawny, leggy, pot bound Alicante seedlings given to me by a neighbour in May, otherwise destined for her compost bin.

[chrissie B]

mine were from a friend and i got oblong toms on one and striped on anpther all very pretty but not very encouraging and the chrry toms 1 red tom and its the size of a pea .lol 
is the dark patches on the stems blight then .
chrissie b

[madcat]

DD - one could go off you, you know!   

[carlrmj]

I grew gardeners delight,6 in tom greenhouse 6in greenhouse and 15 outside,had loads off all of them.Only problem was that some had split,otherwise no trouble.
I wish i had grown some larger toms aswell,even though they had a lovelly sweet taste.
There are still a lot on that are green,but hopefully will ripen before it gets to cold.

[bigben]

This has been my first year with access to a greenhouse and I grew a load of sungold and golden cherry. They have been fantastic and I have been eating them for ages. Next year I plan on growing some other types as well because while other peoples are just starting to ripen, mine are nearly finished, so a range of types should provide us with toms over a longer period.
Give them a go they seem to do ok - even those I grew outside have given us good fruit.

[viettaclark]

I have vines dripping with green toms too! I've had plenty of the cherry types already (yum) but I'm waiting for the top trusses to swell.
I decided to cut off the bottom heavy vines that are just turning and have hung them on butcher's hooks from the kitchen shelves and they are ripening nicely. I shall do more tomorrow, hanging them from curtain poles round the house, then cut off the remaining leaves and see if the top trusses swell and ripen on the plants in the warm spell we're expecting. If not, there's space on window sills!
I've got an amazing crop this year (13 types, 60 plants) with very full trusses but the skins are tough on some and texture is woolly on some. Some are fantastic.  Don't know if this is seed quality or weather but it's given me an idea of what I should grow next year (which was the point of doing so many)
I thought I had blight but I think now it was just too much rain in one hanging basket with poor drainage. I'm still expecting it but this way I save most of my crop!!
Tomatoes are going to be dried, frozen and pickled and will hopefully last til next year!!

[Benandbill]

Glad it's not just us then.  All these stories seem very familiar, ours seemed really promising but then as soon as the fruit came, within a few weeks the stalks were going black and the brown patches were on the tomatoes.  We managed to rescue a few to make green tomato chutney though.

[oldcow]

DD, that's just plain mean.
Mine were a disaster too. Plenty of fruit, but hardly any got to ripen before the blight struck. I think I got about 3 salads out of 5 plants.

[lacewing]

Well, I had a bumper crop in the greenhouse, did not fare so well outside though, took two black sacks of lovely beefsteak toms to the dump yeaterday and made a vow, never to grow outside toms again....a lot of work for no return.   I count myself lucky to have a greenhouse.

[shokkyy]

Last year I had a fabulous crop from outdoor tomatoes, but this year has been a bit disastrous. The ones I planted in a bed are pathetic, but the ones I did in pots and baskets on my suntrap patio have done considerably better and are ripening quite well.

But I know what you mean. I've started eyeing up polytunnels for next year, and my tomatoes and peppers will definitely go in there. Though I do like to grow some Italian cooking tomatoes, which are bush, and I really think they need to be outside just because of their size. I always seem to get a much bigger crop from bush toms than I do from cordon.

[tosca100]

My tomatoes took forever to start ripening, but the ones outside are going at the same rate as the ones in the greenhouse. So far there is no sign of blight, but it came late last year so there is still time. Now they are going great guns, just hope they are still healthy when I get back from Kent on friday.

Left to right. Tamina, sungold, costoluto genovese and incas


The only ones not ripening yet are the yellow stuffers, though one is looking hopeful.

[Growster...]

I have had one cherry tomato - and it was pretty pants to be honest. Have written this year off as a bad year and will try again next year. 

I've given up on cherry toms - they're too fickle for me, and although they taste great when they work right, if they don't, you get hugely disappointed.

We just pretend that the huge Alicante from the plot (which have knocked socks off everything we've ever grown before) are just overgrown cherries...

And we think of England...;0)

[New shoot]

I lost my plot outside toms a couple of weeks ago but managed to salvage most of the outdoor crop at home before blight hit.  Stripped the greenhouse plants today as saw a couple of dodgy patches on the leaves nearest the door.  Now got a house full of toms to ripen.

Exhibit A



Exhibit B - the redder ones at the back are the outside crop from home and the greener ones at the front are the greenhouse ones from today



I've had a few blightly ones emerge indoors but have managed to make a fair bit of tomato sauce to freeze so far.  I washed the toms as they came in - tip Sunshine gave me