Tomatoes Not ripening fully

[yardiron]

First off, this is the first year in many that I've not grown my usual Better Boy tomatoes after every last better boy plant I seeded failed this year.

I had picked up something called Garden Monster Tomato seeds from Ferry Morse because they seemed similar to the Porterhouse tomatoes I had about 8 years ago and haven't been able to find again.

I planted a full flat of seeds and every last one grew, the plants were fast growing and healthy.
The season was a later than usual start due to the cooler spring and I didn't get them in the ground until mid May. (Some years I've had plants in the ground in late April).
They grew rapidly but set fruit later than expected. They were fertilized with 10-10-10 to start and monthly with 5-10-5 after that.
Now the plants are 8ft tall and hanging over the cages, a few cages are taller and even those are overgrown. The plants are absolutely loaded with tomatoes but I'm seeing a few things I found odd with these this year.

First is how late they set fruit, second is the fact that every Garden Monster plant has clusters of tomatoes, most in sets of three and five together, each set is a mix of completely different shaped tomatoes. There will be one huge, pumpkin shaped tomato, then two or three medium, round tomatoes, and then one deformed or twinned tomato. This is on every one of the plants, (I think there's 19 in all of this type).
I didn't get any ripening until August, and then it was only a few here and there at first, then nothing till last week when I picked two bushels all at once. (I spent yesterday canning the first batch of sauce and tomatoes). Now the ripening has slowed down, with a dozen or so every day.

What I'm seeing with the Garden Monster tomatoes is that they don't all ripen to the top, some never at all. I have tomatoes that are bright red and getting over ripe at the bottom but yellow at the top and that yellow extends down to the middle of the tomato on some. The yellow parts are hard but taste ripe. Some of the round tomatoes are red but when I peel them the outer body of the tomato is green or yellow below the skin as if it were not ripe, but the center of the tomato is bright red and ripe.

Over all I suppose I'm glad I got what I got so far considering the hot summer and lack or rain but I water daily.
Every last plant in the yard this year has acted odd, from my figs, to my Okra and even my lawn.
(I've only had to cut the lawn four times so far this year and its been four weeks or more since I last mowed and it doesn't seem to have grown much since then, despite seeing two or three rainy spells over that period.)

The first batch of figs that came on turned ripe looking then fell off, with all the figs still being fully green inside and not ripe. Then I got a surprise second bloom which put on more figs than its ever given me in decades.

My okra took till two weeks ago to produce, then I got one large picking, then it slowed down, the plants grew very little and now in the past few days, now that the weather is turning cooler, its starting to grow like it should have months ago. Its finally gaining some height, although not giving me much production.

I'm not sure yet what happened with the better boy plants, most didn't even germinate and the few that did died or just never produced any tomatoes. They looked straggly from the start and the two that actually put on tomatoes only made one or two tiny stunted little tomatoes that turned red almost instantly and fell off.
It was a huge disappointment because they were the same seeds and source that I had used for the past four years and had excellent results.

Although we had a few long heatwaves here, and not much rain, it seems our summers are getting later and shorter every year over the past 5 or 6 years. This is the fifth year in a row that we had threat of frost into May. It wasn't as bad as last year but even though last year I didn't get plants in the ground till the second week of June, the plants caught up fast and still produced late into the year.
This year seems like the weather is turning sooner, we've had many nights lately in the low 40's, something we've not seen here in many years.
Last season I was still picking tomatoes into late Nov. but the weather didn't start to cool until late Oct.

This was the first August where I had to run the heater at night. Usually August is our hottest month. This year we got the humidity but not the heat.

 

[Anniekay]

You already know what the cause is: The weather. It's been weird since 2002 and gets weirder every year. I would trim off all the leaves on the tomato plants so all the energy goes into ripening. If that fails, fried green tomatoes are absolutely delicious !!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Ripe tomatoes produce a gas, I think it may be methylene, I remember it being the simplest hormone going, and it's effect is to cause other tomatoes to ripen, so worth leaving a couple of riper ones on the plant. I don't know how your weather goes, but as it gets damper and colder here tomatoes are susceptible to rot, so I tend to pick them and put them on a south facing windowsill, slight space between them, not touching, and leave an occasional red one.
My missus turns any green ones into green tomato chutney.

 

[smitty55]

You already know what the cause is: The weather. It's been weird since 2002 and gets weirder every year. I would trim off all the leaves on the tomato plants so all the energy goes into ripening. If that fails, fried green tomatoes are absolutely delicious !!

Without leaves there will be no photosynthesis and therefore no energy as that's how plant growth works to produce sugars in the roots. I disagree about the weather as well. My tomatoes do fine each year apart from issues with early blight. Biggest one this year is 2lb 4 oz and plenty in the 11/2 lb range

 

[smitty55]

Ripe tomatoes produce a gas, I think it may be methylene, I remember it being the simplest hormone going, and it's effect is to cause other tomatoes to ripen, so worth leaving a couple of riper ones on the plant. I don't know how your weather goes, but as it gets damper and colder here tomatoes are susceptible to rot, so I tend to pick them and put them on a south facing windowsill, slight space between them, not touching, and leave an occasional red one.
My missus turns any green ones into green tomato chutney.

The gas is ethylene and it is produced internally in the plant which starts the ripening process. Sunshine is not needed for the ripening process, that's why some folks put them in paper bags or cardboard boxes.

 

[Anniekay]

Without leaves there will be no photosynthesis and therefore no energy as that's how plant growth works to produce sugars in the roots. I disagree about the weather as well. My tomatoes do fine each year apart from issues with early blight. Biggest one this year is 2lb 4 oz and plenty in the 11/2 lb range

Tell that to Monty Don from "Gardener's World" program. The plant is not going to produce any more tomatoes as they are annuals ((grow from seed, flower, fruit, (set seed) then die. )) so whatever nutrition is left will go to the fruit and not the leaves. You will be either harvesting all green tomatoes when the plant is finished otherwise.

 

[yardiron]

The balance between leaves and fruit is fine.
Without new leaves, there's no new tomatoes.
The lower parts of the plant, once it makes a set of tomatoes, that branch is done.
They will continue to grow till they freeze. A few of them are now over 8ft high and flopping over the top of the cages, and those branches that are hanging over the top are loaded with tomatoes.
My problem is the random ripening of this variety and the mix of tomato shapes on each cluster.
They were billed as a round tomato, a 70 day to ripe time frame, and they touted them as a super size better boy tomato.
What I got is a row of plants that are making four different types of tomatoes in clusters When the begin to ripen, the largest tomato turns first, then the other follow. I pick them as soon as the whole tomato shows color.

This also does not explain how a tomato, that looks completely ripe on the outside can have a green/yellow inside just under the red skin, many of these have yellow or green tops.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I think this is partly down to a climate difference, Monty Don is a UK presenter. Over here we remove all side shoots, grow plants to three or four trusses, and then take the lead shoot out, there is no way you are going to grow an eight foot plant in the UK successfully, and you can have problems getting a four foot one to grow fruits to size and ripen, so losing leaves to let light in and direct energy to the fruit is fairly standard over here. I see what was meant about leaves being necessary for photosynthesis, but it does work removing them, perhaps because the whole plant, and the tomato before it is ripe, are green?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I disagree about the weather as well. My tomatoes do fine each year apart from issues with early blight.

Continents have climates, England has weather. We are an offshore island between the North Sea and the Atlantic.

We just had three cold, wet days and one group of my outside tomato plants turned black almost overnight, slung a bucket full of tomatoes in the council bin and burnt the plants, then I picked the rest of my outside plants on the other side of the garden and put them on the windowsill where I turn them daily checking they are okay.

 

[DirtMechanic]

The balance between leaves and fruit is fine.
Without new leaves, there's no new tomatoes.
The lower parts of the plant, once it makes a set of tomatoes, that branch is done.
They will continue to grow till they freeze. A few of them are now over 8ft high and flopping over the top of the cages, and those branches that are hanging over the top are loaded with tomatoes.
My problem is the random ripening of this variety and the mix of tomato shapes on each cluster.
They were billed as a round tomato, a 70 day to ripe time frame, and they touted them as a super size better boy tomato.
What I got is a row of plants that are making four different types of tomatoes in clusters When the begin to ripen, the largest tomato turns first, then the other follow. I pick them as soon as the whole tomato shows color.

This also does not explain how a tomato, that looks completely ripe on the outside can have a green/yellow inside just under the red skin, many of these have yellow or green tops

View attachment 105086View attachment 105087

I say (because we all were late here) that the sequencing lacked normal momentum. Growing light increasing and lower temps trigger chemical balances to your purpose inside every plant. Those we grow to maturity in a short 6 months are sensitive to the time of year. One cannot be 2 months off planting times around here and get normal pollenation much less growth when young plants are heat stressed and the pollen is melting. They want to be earlier is all. The phytohormone balances are key and are both heat and sunlight driven. Perhaps you might look that direction for support. I understand gibberillins are to do with senesence and thus maturity.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

We are planting seeds indoors for outdoor plants late March, to April, and our growing season is ending now, so only five months, and I have never known it too hot for them

 

[smitty55]

Tell that to Monty Don from "Gardener's World" program. The plant is not going to produce any more tomatoes as they are annuals ((grow from seed, flower, fruit, (set seed) then die. )) so whatever nutrition is left will go to the fruit and not the leaves. You will be either harvesting all green tomatoes when the plant is finished otherwise.

The role of photosynthesis is quite clear, that's where the nutrition comes from. Otherwise roots will not have sugars available and there will be no exchange of nutrients from soil biology. My tomatoes continue to grow and produce tomatoes until frost kills the plant, if I had the right climate they would continue to grow for months.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The role of photosynthesis is quite clear, that's where the nutrition comes from.

Yes, but it doesn't all instantly get used, it is spread through stem and root, and if it can't feed the leaves it will go to the fruit, the best chance of reproducing in a desperate situation.

 

[YumYum]

I've grown those, the Garden Leader Monster. They are an heirloom. 96 days after seeding or 54 days after blooming is when I got my first tomato. I didn't care much for them as most of them when ripening kept green shoulders and the shoulders never really ripened so you have to cut half the tomato off to eat it. Yours look to be about the size for them to start ripening to me and yours look like they are pretty healthy so nutrition isn't the isssue.

Those simply do not compare to Better Boys which are hybrids. It is hard to find an heirloom that competes with Better Boys.

 

[smitty55]

I've grown those, the Garden Leader Monster. They are an heirloom. 96 days after seeding or 54 days after blooming is when I got my first tomato. I didn't care much for them as most of them when ripening kept green shoulders and the shoulders never really ripened so you have to cut half the tomato off to eat it. Yours look to be about the size for them to start ripening to me and yours look like they are pretty healthy so nutrition isn't the isssue.

Those simply do not compare to Better Boys which are hybrids. It is hard to find an heirloom that competes with Better Boys.

LOL that is so funny, I would absolutely flip that completely around. Now I've never grown those Garden Leader and never would. I've been growing Greek heirloom tomatoes for over 30 years now that are the best tomatoes I've ever had in my life and people I give tomatoes or plants to agree with me. There's not a hybrid tomato in the world that even comes close to matching the flavour and meatiness of these fruit. The only downside to them as with most heirlooms is their lack of resistance to blight but I deal with that no problem. My biggest one so far this season is 2lb 4oz with plenty in the 1 1/2lb range but it's the flavour that stands out the most.