As the season draws to a close one of the most frequent questions asked is how do I help speed the ripening of my green tomatoes?
The easiest way is to put them into a bowl with a ripe banana. The banana gives off ethylene which is a gas that helps speed the ripening process.
Tomatoes taste best picked ripe but many professional growers pick them as they are just turning colour in order that by the time they get to the supermarket shelves they will be just ripe and therefore last longer ... they won't taste as good though!
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Monday, 1 September 2008
Tomato Blight
My wife and I have recently returned home from a great holiday in Northumberland. Although it rained everyday, we did have a good time visiting the North East and the Edinburgh fringe.
It also rained everywhere else in the UK and when we got home many of our outdoor plants were affected with tomato blight.
As you can see, this fungal disease affects both plant and fruit and will also spread to other tomato plants that are close-by.
The best thing to do in this situation is to bag-up these plants and their fruit and leave them to be collected by the regular waste collection service.
If you have been growing tomato plants outdoors in the UK this season and they are not affected by the wet weather that we've had, you're doing very well!
Now that weather predictions are such that we could be getting wet summers every year, outdoor plants will need some kind of protection from the rain.
It also rained everywhere else in the UK and when we got home many of our outdoor plants were affected with tomato blight.
As you can see, this fungal disease affects both plant and fruit and will also spread to other tomato plants that are close-by.The best thing to do in this situation is to bag-up these plants and their fruit and leave them to be collected by the regular waste collection service.
If you have been growing tomato plants outdoors in the UK this season and they are not affected by the wet weather that we've had, you're doing very well!
Now that weather predictions are such that we could be getting wet summers every year, outdoor plants will need some kind of protection from the rain.
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