we had some early on turn red and there were delicious, but have a ton of green ones and no signs they are going to ripen. what's the scoop? we have had weather into the 90's all week still watering them but not to excess. peppers are great this year cucumbers are ok but not as good as last year, green beans are doing great. any ideas?

What kind of tomatos? A few neighbors here have had similar issues. I did not but grew mostly heirlooms.

I give my tomatoes a diet high in nitrogen when the plant is growing and in its vegetation stage. When they get fruit on the vine, I lay off the nitrogen and make sure they have plenty of phosphorus. (Keep the nitrogen flowing too).

Keeping the plants pruned and not too leafy also helps as the nutrients are going toward the fruit, and not into unnecessary suckers or vegetation.

As a new gardener myself, is it Nitrogen for greenery & growth, Phosphorus for flowering & fruiting?

I've let the weeds take mine but there are varieties that are late, typically heirloom varieties. Hit em with some miracle grow, would not hurt to mix mg about 1/3rd strength and apply every couple days. Suckering is important and being diligent is an effort that I usually fall short. Start strong and by August say screw it.

I streamlined this year and only planted Better Boy's and Early Girls, 8 each. Had tomatoes by the 4th and still getting small/mediums. If the blossom end is showing a dab of pink it will color up so I'll pick them when I clean things up next week or so.

well I'm not positive on the variety, I do think the wife picked up some heirlooms but they are kind of medium sized. probably have 50 of them that look like this.

Maybe time for some fried green tomatoes!!!. ..................... drill sgt.

Old joke, the punchline:

The dumb blonde says to the guys hey my tomatoes aren't turning red. What do I do?

The guys: All you have to do is lift up your shirt and flash your titties at the tomatoes. They'll get embarrassed and turn red. No problem.

A few days later the guys asked the dumb blonde if she had flashed her titties at the tomatoes and if they had turned red.

The dumb blonde (not that dumb at all, decided to play along).

"I did flash my titties at the tomatoes, but they did not turn red.

However, my zucchinis are growing like crazy!".

Don't think all blondes are dumb. You might get outsmarted and your own face turn red.

Try placing one or two in a paper bag with an apple. The apple gives off ethylene oxide which should turn the tomatoes red.

Of the things NJ is most famous for it would be tomatoes. Take all your green tomatoes and put them in a brown paper bag and place them in a cool dark space. they will all ripen a perfect red.
You're welcome.

This...

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
Take all your green tomatoes and put them in a brown paper bag and place them in a cool dark space. they will all ripen a perfect red.
You're welcome.

And then next year, this...

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Keeping the plants pruned and not too leafy also helps as the nutrients are going toward the fruit, and not into unnecessary suckers or vegetation.

those mature greens are going to color up nicely - couple weeks away.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
well I'm not positive on the variety, I do think the wife picked up some heirlooms but they are kind of medium sized. probably have 50 of them that look like this.

It'd help if you said which part of the country you live. The reason I say that is:

My Dad lives in Upper Midwest and he's trying to finish his tomatoes before frost

I live in Texas and most years I'm pruning the cherry tomatoes that survived summer and replanting sauce/slicer tomatoes. This year, I replanted both cherry and sauce tomatoes last Saturday.

If you live in the north like my Dad then a hard prune will help focus the plants energy into finishing tomatoes rather than growing vines and leaves. I had to do the hard prune this time of year when I grew tomatoes in Calgary, Canada (ie very short growing season). This article is really good description of what I mean by hard prune.

If you live in the south like me, a lighter prune would be in order.

Regardless of where you live:

You want to get some color (ie red or orange) on a tomato before harvesting or the paper bag trick will result in tomatoes that are bland like super market tomatoes.

Based on your picture, I'd guess that you're using a high nitrogen fertilizer (ie first number on label is higher than other 2 such as 24-8-16). The article I linked suggests 0-10-10, and both Dad and I use a water soluble 4-18-38. The reason is you want to be growing roots and fruit not vines and leaves.

The green ones are for green salsa

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
The green ones are for green salsa

False. Tomatillos are for green salsa.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
The green ones are for green salsa

False. Tomatillos are for green salsa.

Correct. My favorite salsa ever… but tomatillos make my stomach very upset. It’s like the tomatillo cleanse. I could have a colonoscopy after some. Hence I don’t get to enjoy tomatillos anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
It'd help if you said which part of the country you live.

If I remember correctly, XLT is in Oregon.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
well I'm not positive on the variety, I do think the wife picked up some heirlooms but they are kind of medium sized. probably have 50 of them that look like this.

It'd help if you said which part of the country you live. The reason I say that is:

My Dad lives in Upper Midwest and he's trying to finish his tomatoes before frost

I live in Texas and most years I'm pruning the cherry tomatoes that survived summer and replanting sauce/slicer tomatoes. This year, I replanted both cherry and sauce tomatoes last Saturday.

If you live in the north like my Dad then a hard prune will help focus the plants energy into finishing tomatoes rather than growing vines and leaves. I had to do the hard prune this time of year when I grew tomatoes in Calgary, Canada (ie very short growing season). This article is really good description of what I mean by hard prune.

If you live in the south like me, a lighter prune would be in order.

Regardless of where you live:

You want to get some color (ie red or orange) on a tomato before harvesting or the paper bag trick will result in tomatoes that are bland like super market tomatoes.

Based on your picture, I'd guess that you're using a high nitrogen fertilizer (ie first number on label is higher than other 2 such as 24-8-16). The article I linked suggests 0-10-10, and both Dad and I use a water soluble 4-18-38. The reason is you want to be growing roots and fruit not vines and leaves.

I live in Oregon so the season will be over soon , I will give your suggestion a try then off to the brown bag after that. Thank you!