It has been not an easy journey for our tomato plants through this summer. The tomato plants have to get through many kind of problem and endure the 40+degree Celcius that came. At least this summer the heat waves were not that bad as previous summer when we had continuous everyday in one week of heat waves that will certainly made them not easy to survive. So this is what happened to large tomato variety(Black Russian?Rouge de Marmande?can't remember which one nevertheless all of them share the same fate) after a few days of 40+degree Celcius.
Caterpillar has been making tomatoes its own house and grow very fat living inside the tomato.
I thought that this variety of cherry tomato will turn red when its matured. I finally realised that this tomato turn brownish green when it is ripe. No wonder I have several fruit skin split while waiting for it to turn red. Last year I bought a packet of rainbow cherry tomato mix and I thought it will be different variety of red and yellow cherry tomatoes. This variety is the most sweetest tomato growing in our veggie patch, sweet like eating candy. I have to remember to collect some seeds from this tomato plant. From the random cherry tomato seeds that we planted only one seeds popped to be this variety.
The most hardy heat-tolerant (or heat-wave tolerant) tomato plant for this summer is the yellow cherry tomatoes where other varieties suffer major casualties, yellow cherry tomato got through the 40+degree Celcius with just a small scratch. Tomatoes are originally yellow in colour before the old world came sailing to new world and brought back this plant. Maybe the colours do make a difference against the hardiness towards the sun force. May the force be with you my cherry tomatoes to provide us many harvest this summer. We hope your other big brothers will bounce back again next month as they are now growing new shoots from the bottom of the plant like baby seedlings to recover from being sun-burn.
Dua tahun lepas cm sempat ziarah anak perempuan yg belajar di Melbourne pada musim summer dan Cm faham bagaimana cuacanya.Tak hairan bila lihat buah tomato Diana yang seperti terbakar itu.Pokok tomato ni tak tahan panas kan?
ReplyDeleteCm suka buah tomato ceri tapi tak ada rezeki.Setiap kali tanam ada je musuh yg menyerang.Sealunya ada ulat yg serang batangnya.
That is a pretty fat little caterpillar, he certainly seems to be enjoying himself. We often have issues with our tomatoes splitting as well, but I guess it does let you know when they are ripe...especially with the lighter colored ones. We grow a variety called "Turkey" that gets about as big as a golf ball...definitely one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI also had cracks on tomato's skin last summer when severe heatwave affected agricultural products in Japan. I think growing beautiful tomato is more difficult than other vegetables since properly watering, protection against rain and sunlight are required. But trying to grow tricky vegetables might give you much experiences.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes are in trouble too. They have turned yellow but not red. I did not grow any yellow variety. The weather here is also 40 degree Celsius.
ReplyDeleteWhen we face extreme Heat in the Summer in the US I pick the tomatoes closest to ripe and then let them ripen on the counter in my kitchen.. My Dad says to put them in a brown paper bag in the fridge and they will finish ripening...
ReplyDeleteWIll I see you Saturday for flowers on SAturday?
So sad to see all your damaged tomatoes. I thought Tigerella had more striping too. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite tomato is Cherokee Purple, but where I live we don't get enough really hot days for the big heirloom plants, which tomatoes need. So this year I'm planting mostly cold-tolerant varieties, that will fruit early.
I wanted to let you know that the seeds arrived! Thank you so much, I really appreciate them.
I also had cracks on tomato skin during dry season (kemarau) here, but not the sun burn as the 1st picture. So sad to see the damages. The most I like is cherry tomato, but always failed to plant it here.
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of trouble with my tomatoes too this year. Your yellow cherry tomatoes look good - I must plant some of them myself next year.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite tomato is Jaune Flammee! It's golf-ball sized, orange, tasty, and a very hardy plant. It can survive our heat waves.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to avoid those sun-scalded tomatoes would be to have some shade cloth structure above the plants. This way they are protected from the direct sun and don't burn.
I like your new look. The header especially! It is too bad that the heat is taking a toll on your tomatoes. It is interesting that the yellow cherry tomatoes seem to be fairing so much better. I am so impressed with the harvest of veggies in your previous post. It must be so wonderful to cook with and eat them.
ReplyDeleteyeah I hope the 'big brothers' will bounce back also... but your cherry tomato is looking really good :-D Maybe the tomatoes need an umbrella for some shade hehe... ;-)
ReplyDeleteSome of my tomatoes burnt even under shadecloth, I think it's just one of those things you have to put up with, crazy weather. I love my cherry tomatoes best too.
ReplyDeleteMine too! :)
ReplyDeleteBut still taste good!
Tomatoes are so sensitive to all weather conditions. If there is too much rain, you get blight, if there is too much sun, you get burns. If there is too much of everything, you get cracks. If there is not enough of anything, they don't taste as good. They are actually very difficult to grow, but I cannot imagine vegetable garden without them.
ReplyDeleteCikManggis~ Ulat memang suka tomato cherry sebab rasanya lagi manis dari yang besar. Saya punya pun sekarang banyak ulat tu duduk dalam tomato cherry lagi sejuk agaknya dari nak berlindung bawah daun sayur hijau. Tapi yang gambar akhir tu tomato cherry kecik sangat besar duit sepuloh sen jadi susah sikit kut ulat tu nak buat rumah dalam tomato cherry jenis tu.
ReplyDeleteMr. H~ We have many of the caterpillar residing in the tomatoes but at the moment I don't mind them very much as we still have many left for us. The biggest problem is the weather. I never heard of Turkey before but it is a cute name for tomato.
Takaeko~ Yes many things effect the way tomatoes will look. I think chili and eggplant are much more easier to look after as there are more tolerant of extreme heat.
One~ Might be due to the weather. When the weather was much cooler my tomatoes ripen to a nice red. But after very hot weather there were more yellowish in color.
Mom of M&Ms~ Thank you for the terrific idea! I hope I can be on time for Flower on Saturday.
Alison~ I am glad the seeds are already in your hand. I like how the Cherokee Purple look but never grown them before.
Orchid de dangau~ Irregular watering can cause cracking as well. I hope you have luck growing cherry tomatoes next time.
Veggiegobbler~ We planted several variety of tomatoes this summer. But after the extreme hot weather only the yellow cherry tomato continue to fruit.
Andrea~ I never heard of Jaunne Flammee before but it is great that it is heat-tolerant.
Jennifer~ I feel lucky this summer that we have many varieties growing in the garden and can do some picking although we had extreme weather.
Stephanie~ I forgot that I have some big brothers growing in between the sweet corns until I pick some cobs for Ilhan. Lucky there were 4 plants saved by sweet corns.
Kat~I hope all the summer plants bounce back end Summer Kat where it will be a busy time for us to harvest our labour.
Mrs Bok~ I think the cosmetic does not matter as long as it taste good;-).
Ana~I agree and it is one of the must have plant in the summer garden for any gardeners.
Eeee... that ulat is so geli!! Your one tomato plant can give you so many fruits, wow. I have 4 in the raised bed, normal size tomato plants growing since September but so far only 1 is giving me fruits, so kesian me. My favourite is cherry tomatoes, will plant few for next season. Thanks for your seeds!! I received them all today, so happy!!!!!! But have no time to back to blogland yet, tight schedule here as i just received accounts from branches and need to reconcile and close accounts by these few day. Thank you so much, Diana!! And the notes on how to grow them, love it! THANKS!!
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me to try my hand at tomatoes. If you are sticking to it despite all the troubles you've encountered then it must really be worth it. I hope you don't mind if I ask for advice now and then.
ReplyDeleteBom~ Home-grow tomatoes taste so much better than supermarket ones despite it does not look as perfect as the bought one. You are welcome to ask question, although I am not an expert I will try to help.
ReplyDelete