I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April.
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@CiaraNi It's sad but happens. And are these tiny tomatoes not the most precious treasures?
Here in France, with now too much sun even for the sun-loving tomatoes, lives a guy who produces seeds adapted to heat and drought. He started with usual species hardening them, e.g. giving them nearly no water. His tomatoes grow even on completely stony ground, like weed.
Another one breeds old forgotten varieties and makes research about climate adaption. Our problems are not so new, natives had
@CiaraNi adapted varieties for every climate zone. But with the industrialisation of farming to a handful modern varieties, we often forgot that knowledge.
So I want to give you some hope for the next year: nature has some solutions. And sometimes, tomatoes want to be free.
(I had my best harvests from forgotten, wildly seeded tomatoe plants on my compost). -
@Hellybootwader Thank you. The flowers have been few and far between and on stalks that are not setting fruit. I will definitely try this.
"you can use a soft paintbrush & pretend to be a bee"'
This is most definitely what I will be doing - thanks for this delightful tip!
@CiaraNi hope you have fun buzzing around the flowers!
If not many flowers maybe add the fertiliser a bit more regularly? The soil will probably be depleted after 5 months.
There are some nice seaweed based fertilisers that seem to work well.
Tomatoes are hungry plants. -
A tip still pertinent to *this* year, which I had to pick-up quickly when I started growing in this normally hot-summer climate, is that many plants - inc toms - have summer break then continue with renewed vigour as it cools down, if you have managed to keep them alive thru the heat.
So, if it's been abnormally hot and dry up there too, try giving them some more feed and water. They may have a 2nd go, if there's enough light and the temperatures stay up.
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I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April. Making sure they get enough sun, enough shade, enough water. Protecting them from the wind. Talking to them. Here are the fruits of my labour. Of their labour. The full five-month harvest. Well, that'll get me through the first 11 minutes of the climapocalypse, I suppose. Once again, my balcony harvest reminds me how important farmers and communal food sources are.
@CiaraNi 🤩 Nice
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@CiaraNi adapted varieties for every climate zone. But with the industrialisation of farming to a handful modern varieties, we often forgot that knowledge.
So I want to give you some hope for the next year: nature has some solutions. And sometimes, tomatoes want to be free.
(I had my best harvests from forgotten, wildly seeded tomatoe plants on my compost).@CiaraNi If you want the link of the breeder, I can give it to you. On his website you can search varieties which are best for balconies e.g. I have to search ... we call him the Tomato Prince, it's a big old castle ... must refind the book.
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I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April. Making sure they get enough sun, enough shade, enough water. Protecting them from the wind. Talking to them. Here are the fruits of my labour. Of their labour. The full five-month harvest. Well, that'll get me through the first 11 minutes of the climapocalypse, I suppose. Once again, my balcony harvest reminds me how important farmers and communal food sources are.
@CiaraNi I decided to plant bok choy (Chinese cabbage) this year. After much composting and manuring of the soil before sowing the seeds, and loving twice-daily waterings thereafter, I ended up with a crop that could fairly be represented by your photograph if you removed the tomatoes. The plants came up, but I think they got shocked by the heat because they bolted and went straight to seed. OTOH I did manage to grow a few aubergines/eggplants. Outdoors.
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Technically? Fruity, with notes of berry.
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@CiaraNi adapted varieties for every climate zone. But with the industrialisation of farming to a handful modern varieties, we often forgot that knowledge.
So I want to give you some hope for the next year: nature has some solutions. And sometimes, tomatoes want to be free.
(I had my best harvests from forgotten, wildly seeded tomatoe plants on my compost).@NatureMC 'I had my best harvests from forgotten, wildly seeded tomatoe plants on my compost'
How lovely
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@CiaraNi hope you have fun buzzing around the flowers!
If not many flowers maybe add the fertiliser a bit more regularly? The soil will probably be depleted after 5 months.
There are some nice seaweed based fertilisers that seem to work well.
Tomatoes are hungry plants.@Hellybootwader Ah! I picked by random chance a seaweed-based one. I have used it sparingly though, wary of over-doing it. I will be a bit more systematic about it now and see if that helps too. I appreciate your expert tips, thank you!
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@CiaraNi 🤩 Nice
@regendans I should probably have positioned them like a smile
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@CiaraNi If you want the link of the breeder, I can give it to you. On his website you can search varieties which are best for balconies e.g. I have to search ... we call him the Tomato Prince, it's a big old castle ... must refind the book.
@NatureMC If you come across a link, then yes please, it would be interesting to see what varities he recommends. Thanks.
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Technically? Fruity, with notes of berry.
🤪 -
I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April. Making sure they get enough sun, enough shade, enough water. Protecting them from the wind. Talking to them. Here are the fruits of my labour. Of their labour. The full five-month harvest. Well, that'll get me through the first 11 minutes of the climapocalypse, I suppose. Once again, my balcony harvest reminds me how important farmers and communal food sources are.
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@ewen Haha - I've decided to think of it as 'exclusive'.
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Tin of tomatoes for scale
@CiaraNi Cool...they're bigger than I thought. Well done!
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@CiaraNi Tomatoes thrive outdoors here, but unfortunately I failed to plant any this year. Next year, for sure though.
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@ewen Haha - I've decided to think of it as 'exclusive'.
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I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April. Making sure they get enough sun, enough shade, enough water. Protecting them from the wind. Talking to them. Here are the fruits of my labour. Of their labour. The full five-month harvest. Well, that'll get me through the first 11 minutes of the climapocalypse, I suppose. Once again, my balcony harvest reminds me how important farmers and communal food sources are.
Your point about farmers is 100% on
But if I may say so, politely, you really should be able to get a LOT more tomatoes from a balconyI know this is true, cause I got a lot of nice tomatoes from my porch garden in Somerville MA, back when I was a poor student
maybe you just don't have enough sun, or you picked a variety of tomato unsuited for your porch ?
but if tomatoes don't work, try something else !! -
I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April. Making sure they get enough sun, enough shade, enough water. Protecting them from the wind. Talking to them. Here are the fruits of my labour. Of their labour. The full five-month harvest. Well, that'll get me through the first 11 minutes of the climapocalypse, I suppose. Once again, my balcony harvest reminds me how important farmers and communal food sources are.
@CiaraNi
I planted five Beefsteak variety plants in early May in a 'mini-greenhouse'. The bees seem to have disappeared, as pollenation and fruit set has been very poor. I do have a few fruits - still green, but I do live in hope. -
I’ve been giving my tomato plants tender loving care since April. Making sure they get enough sun, enough shade, enough water. Protecting them from the wind. Talking to them. Here are the fruits of my labour. Of their labour. The full five-month harvest. Well, that'll get me through the first 11 minutes of the climapocalypse, I suppose. Once again, my balcony harvest reminds me how important farmers and communal food sources are.
@CiaraNi That reminds me of my potato "harvest" last year, from a potato bag.
First attempt at it, and I was absolutely *thrilled* seeing these little golden orbs emerging up and out from the dark soil, one after the other. Hardly any blemishes, almost all perfect!
After digging them all out, and gathering them together, they filled one (1) single large bowl.
Well, feck, said I.
