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Too many tomato plants!

(41 Posts)
Witzend Sun 24-May-20 12:00:32

I’ve offered them locally, just 3 I don’t really have room for, but no takers.

Three are already in large pots but I don’t have room for more anywhere that sunny enough. The other 3 will have to go anywhere there’s a bit of space in the very large pots that have flowers. Lots of tomato food will be needed I expect, mind you my mother always said it was brilliant for flowers, too, since that’s what it’s designed to make - flowers.
We shall see.

craftyone Thu 04-Jun-20 12:14:34

I have 11 tomato plants, ferline, mountain magic, losetto and 3 yellow balconi

Only me grin I cannot bear to throw the survivors away, they grow well in plant halos sitting in a bucket. I know I will have lots of tomatoes, I will bottle or freeze them for all of winter. I bought citric acid ready. I will stop new flowers in good time, so as not to have many green tomatoes

Callistemon Tue 02-Jun-20 09:42:27

Furret some of the peppers started going a kind of dark red but by then it was about October!
I don't know why I'm trying again.

Not tomatoes but sunflowers - some very old seeds have germinated so I transplanted 7 into a large oblong container. "Don't stake them yet, says DH, let them get stronger". Yesterday morning one was snapped off and the smallest heaved out of the soil. I blamed the pigeons or the squirrel and I did stake the others.
However, last evening I was sitting outside and heard a shuffling behind me and there was Mr Blackbird looking for ants in the container, not caring what he damaged.

Ohmother Tue 02-Jun-20 07:34:25

Find a tasty tomato in your local supermarket. I like small tomatoes on the vine. Take a few pips and separate onto dampened kitchen roll. Place onto a cm of compost and cover lightly with more compost. Place on sunny windowsill. Water sparingly for a couple of weeks. Pick out and pot on when able to lift by real leaf.

Hetty58 Mon 01-Jun-20 23:36:25

I just plant seeds from a fresh tomato (in February) in pots on the windowsill. They always germinate and grow - every single one - so I have too many plants. When I pot them on I just leave the extras by the front gate. People do take them, so no problem.

Purpledaffodil Mon 01-Jun-20 22:56:06

I’ve had very little luck with seeds planted directly in the ground, although ones in newspaper pots were fine.. Interesting people have grow bags. Totally unobtainable here as is Tomorite. ,

Furret Mon 01-Jun-20 22:43:00

We have a glut of cucumber plants and you know how much room they take up!

Callistemon when I grew peppers the green ones turned red, or orange or yellow when they ripened.

Callistemon Mon 01-Jun-20 21:55:32

I've bought plants before and all I got was a few green peppers, some with a neat hole in. We don't like the green ones.
It's hope over experience.

Chewbacca Mon 01-Jun-20 18:29:51

Same here with the sweet pepper seed Callistemon, not one has terminated. Total waste if time and money. Grrr!

Daisymae Mon 01-Jun-20 17:14:44

I've got 20 plants! Is that too many then? I have cherry, trailing and chocolate! I have them in pots, grow bags, and even fat ball containers. If there's overload then I intend to cook them up with onions and freeze as a sauce. However if I only have a few on each plant I expect that we will manage.

Callistemon Mon 01-Jun-20 16:51:56

The sweet pepper seeds I paid £3.60 for did not germinate but those from inside a red pepper have, the plants are about half an inch tall now - can't see them producing much!

We get little grape vines sprouting up in various places.

ExD Mon 01-Jun-20 16:46:36

I grew a little tree from an avocado stone, pretty little tree but I lost it over winter. I think it was lack of daylight up here in the north. I find a lot of plants don't thrive without daylight in the winter compared with my daughter in Wiltshire, where they seem to get an extra hour night and morning.

Luckylegs Mon 01-Jun-20 16:40:08

I had the bright idea (read it somewhere) to try and grow tomatoes from the pips in a tomato. I succeeded so well we now have 16 big plants in the greenhouse coming up nicely plus as many smaller ones which will probably go into the vegetable garden. Daughter and son have six each, friends have been given some and I’m just anxious to see what occurs! I think it was a big vine tomato but we will see! On the strength of that, we’ve done melon plants too. They won’t fruit up here in the north west but it’s interesting nonetheless. Anyone who’d like some, you’re welcome?

Callistemon Mon 01-Jun-20 13:16:16

Can you put anything inside the windows on the sunny side, Bakingmad? eg a membrane taped to the very sunniest window?
I remember my father used to paint the windows with a whitewash, I think you can buy special greenhouse paint now.

Bakingmad0203 Mon 01-Jun-20 12:52:02

I have mine in the greenhouse. Unfortunately it gets very hot in there and some of the leaves look as if they are burnt!
I’m watering them 3 times a day as they wilt otherwise. Any suggestions ? I can’t take them out of the greenhouse as they are tied up to canes

travelsafar Mon 01-Jun-20 12:40:57

I have planted some in the flower beds and they seem to be doing ok, i think they wil look pretty once the fruit appears, 'red jewels' among the flowers. smile

GillT57 Mon 01-Jun-20 11:54:49

Oh Chewbacca I would have wept! I too have been nurturing seedlings in my greenhouse, now have four tomato plants outside and four others which I need to find space for. So, do people find that tomato plants manage ok in flower beds, as long as well watered, pinched out etc? I have been fretting about enough big pots/sunny places, so planting in among other things may be the answer? This does seem to be the year for tomato plants, there are lots of people here putting surplus plants out for collection, maybe it is because we all have time during lockdown to grow them.

jimsmiths Sun 31-May-20 18:49:31

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travelsafar Wed 27-May-20 09:00:47

I too had a surplus of tomato plants. I left some on of my friends doorsteps and they were thrilled. I get updates from one of them about how they are doing in her garden. I have 3 in the greenhouse and the remainder i just planted in amongst
my flower beds. They seem to be doing well. I shall freeze or give away to friends and family if i have too many, obviously doing SD.

NfkDumpling Sun 24-May-20 15:02:19

Maybee once I discovered how easy tomatoes peel from frozen, if I need to peel fresh ones I freeze them first! A dunk in really hot water on a slotted spoon and the skins ping apart. Wonderful!

MissAdventure Sun 24-May-20 15:01:35

I think I'll plant some seeds, and if some plants turn up it'll be a bonus.

Witzend Sun 24-May-20 14:59:36

Oh, no, Chewbacca!
How utterly sickening and upsetting for you, especially after all the ‘baby-nurturing’ you’ve done.
Having done the same with my ‘babies’ I think I’d have cried!
???

NfkDumpling Sun 24-May-20 14:59:18

I think it’d be cheaper for you to plant seeds now Callistemon!

Oh, Chewbacca thats’s awful! Your babies!!!

Chewbacca Sun 24-May-20 14:51:30

I planted 3 different varieties of tomato plants in a grow bag specifically for tomatoes. They were doing brilliantly; nice and tall and with the first little yellow flowers just appearing. I've tended them like babies during lockdown. Went into the greenhouse yesterday to water them and the other plants, but had to go back to the outside tap to refill the watering can. Almost as soon as my back was turned, a gust of wind caught the greenhouse door and slammed it shut, which just caught the tray of dahlia tubers sitting on the next shelf and tipped them down onto the tomato plants.

No tomatoes have survived because they were completely snapped off by the weight of the dahlia tray and the dahlia tubers have had their green shoots snapped off too. angrysad

Callistemon Sun 24-May-20 14:27:43

Yes, wash first then sometimes I take the little core out with a sharp knife first. In fact, they peel more easily after freezing if you do that.

MayBee70 Sun 24-May-20 14:26:14

Callistemon; do you jut freeze them whole?