Growing in cocoa

[Organicfreak]

Splitting and cracking is caused by too much moisture in the soil and the tomato absorbing water faster than its skin can grow. This mostly happens when a gardener grows his tomatoes in drier than optimum conditions and a big rain comes or he forget to turn off the water hose.

Well that makes sense, due to the pot being full coco and perlite. Throughout summer I would let it dry out for 3 days then fully soak it. However we did have extremely hot weather which made it dry out in half a day. And then we had 1 week of rain.

I was giving it 1.5litrw every 3 days at first, but as it got bigger and I noticed the sun drying the pot out, that turned to 1.5 litres per day, it was still drying out by say 3pm. So that turned to 1.5 litre twice a day. Since the extreme heat has gone I give it 1.5 litre per day now. But maybee that's too much then, I really don't know. I give it tomato plant food twice a week aswell.

The plant has never really shown signs of underwater or overwater. It did start dieing at first that's when I started watering more regularly. None of the new tomatoes have splits or anything but there still small. I will have to take some proper pics and show you guys.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Cover it and control it?

 

[Organicfreak]

 

[DirtMechanic]

Cherries for salads! Plums for sauces! Big ones for slicing!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Cherries for salads! Plums for sauces! Big ones for slicing!

I have some yellow plums which are really nice in salads, yellow tomatoes tend to be sweeter and not have the 'tang' of the red ones.
That plant is looking good and healthy with some nice trusses. Tomatoes release a hormone as they ripen which encourages those around to ripen as well, so you can control the rate you get ripe tomatoes a bit by picking them orange or leaving them to ripen fully on the vine.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I have some yellow plums which are really nice in salads, yellow tomatoes tend to be sweeter and not have the 'tang' of the red ones.
That plant is looking good and healthy with some nice trusses. Tomatoes release a hormone as they ripen which encourages those around to ripen as well, so you can control the rate you get ripe tomatoes a bit by picking them orange or leaving them to ripen fully on the vine.

Funny you just gave me a mental picture of over-ripe bananas hanging from a tomato plant for the ethylene effect.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

for the ethylene effect.

I was racking my brain, I knew it was one of the simple hydro-carbons, I seem to remember being told it is the simplest hormone. I was thinking methane or ethane, but the double bond makes more sense.

 

[Organicfreak]

I have some yellow plums which are really nice in salads, yellow tomatoes tend to be sweeter and not have the 'tang' of the red ones.
That plant is looking good and healthy with some nice trusses. Tomatoes release a hormone as they ripen which encourages those around to ripen as well, so you can control the rate you get ripe tomatoes a bit by picking them orange or leaving them to ripen fully on the vine.

That's something else I didn't know, I was picking them off half ripe. When I let them fully ripen on the plant, 1 or 2 days after they just split open. Somebody told me a caterpillar is eating them.

Also on my pics, you can see the tomato that I've cut in half, the darker parts are actually green. Is that normal?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Yes, I often get a little bit of green like that, it doesn't seem to affect the taste. Have you noticed when you do anything with tomato plants, like taking off old leaves, pruning, even moving them around a bit sometimes, when you wash your hands after the water is always really green?

 

[Organicfreak]

Yes, I often get a little bit of green like that, it doesn't seem to affect the taste. Have you noticed when you do anything with tomato plants, like taking off old leaves, pruning, even moving them around a bit sometimes, when you wash your hands after the water is always really green?

I've actually never noticed that, the only thing I've noticed is my hands stink after handling my plant lol

 

[DirtMechanic]

I've actually never noticed that, the only thing I've noticed is my hands stink after handling my plant lol

You would be amazed at how you can stain clothing unexpectedly with a tomato plant. I grew on tomato tunnels once and threw away a lot of tee shirts that season.

 

[Organicfreak]

You would be amazed at how you can stain clothing unexpectedly with a tomato plant. I grew on tomato tunnels once and threw away a lot of tee shirts that season.

Luckily I've not had a stain yet, but I can imagine, when your rub the plant its fairly sticky

 

[DirtMechanic]

Luckily I've not had a stain yet, but I can imagine, when your rub the plant its fairly sticky

Any old dark leaves are the worst.

 

[Organicfreak]

So I picked these tomatoes today, I've noticed some gold and red colour on them, is this due to insects?

 

[DirtMechanic]

That is the deliciousness showing! They are freshly ripened.