Since the plants are expanding, I have spaced them out as much as possible along the wall of the house. Good air circulation around the plants is a factor in disease-prevention. It also makes maintenance (watering, side-shooting and tying-in) easier. There are 9 big plants here:
And at the other end of the house, beyond the water-butt, there are 4 more. The one right at the far end (not in a self-watering pot) is the late addition "Supersweet 100".
The bush tomatoes are along the side of the raised bed which has carrots in. I have resigned myself to the fact that the tomato plants will block some light from the carrots!
With bush tomatoes (otherwise known as "determinate") you don't remove the sideshoots, so you finish up with very dense tangled growth. These ones are looking pretty bushy! The two at the left are my "Maskotkas", and then there is one "Montello" and at the far end of the line (currently the smallest of the 4 plants) is "Grushkova".
A week ago I was writing "none of the tomatoes have set any fruit yet", but now several of them have. This one is "Stupice". But just look at the puckering on that leaf - almost certainly caused by the weedkiller problem, because "Stupice" seems to have been the one most badly affected.
This is the first fruit I have spotted on one of the "Maskotka" plants:
Fortunately the bush tomatoes seem to be unaffected by the weedkiller thing, which seems to confirm my suspicions about the contaminant being harboured in the canes.
Wow, just the tiniest amount of weedkiller can have such an adverse affect. I'm glad you were able to figure out where the contamination came from. Your tomato plants are looking stupendously and lush.
ReplyDeleteMine have been suffering from constant heat and the lack of rain, even with watering on a daily basis they haven't put on tons of leafy growth. Which will definitely affect their fruiting ability in the end.
Your tomatoes are really coming on well. Mine are starting to flower, but no tomatoes have set yet - but I'm keeping a close eye on them! Could you move your pots 30cm or so away from the carrot bed so that they cast a bit less shade on them or would that block your pathway?
ReplyDeleteOnce they start to take off there is no stopping them is there?
ReplyDeleteThey are coming on well.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes are gone except for one but it's a treat to see your collection. I never thought tomatoes could do so well in pots...looks like you'll be getting a good crop.
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