So this is the first garden I had in a bit, when is the best time to pick tomatoes. Do they need to be very red, firm? We planted Roma and patio tomatoes. Thanks, Nick
Hi AC. I pick mine when they're red, firm and come away from the plant with ease. If you have to tug on them then they're not quite ready. Hope this helps. :-D
Thanks. Also how often do you water? We are doing it just once a night at sunset, but we are giving them plenty of water.
That should be fine AC but remember when the fruits form it's also good to give them a liquid feed every few days as it encourages the plant to produce bigger and better tomatoes. I use an organic feed that's actually made from tomatoes but Tomorite or something similar is fine. Most garden centres have feed and it's not too expensive either.
I have tomatoes planted at different times so they don't all make at once.I will pull tomatoes early if I have bug are grasshopper problems .Just put them in a sunny window and they will ripen nicely.You are watering right just feed them as they start produceing and you will get lots of yield from them.
Pick a Peck of Tomatoes I just read that at first if you leave a couple ripe tomatoes on the plant it encourages the others one to ripen also. Some type of super magic tomato gas drifts off the ripe ones.
I have 4 tomatoe plants growing good in our garden, how long do they live for and produce fruit? Our Roma plant is aobut 5 feet tall and only has 2 tomatoes so far on it, but the patio tomatoes are about 2 feet tall and have over 20 tomatoes.
Once your plants have finished fruiting they tend to die back naturally Avidcat. I always plant new seeds every year - sometimes from the fruits of the previous years plants if they did well. I have three yellow tomato plants at the moment and they are weighed down with fruit. It shouldn't be long now until I can pick them.
Wow, a 5 ft tall Roma. Again, I'm jealous (derned short Wisconsin summers :-? ). Have you been feeding with a fertilizer prior to blossoming? If so, that will lead to a monster plant with smaller or fewer fruit. I fertilize right when planted, then leave them be until the fruits are set, then I really give the fertilizer to them.