For the last few years I've chosen to grow the bush variety, Maskotka. It has a sprawling habit and though the plants always look untidy, they produce the best tasting tomatoes I've ever tried. This year the plants have grown more compact than usual and they look rather poor specimens too, not very healthy looking.
They haven't produced many tomatoes this year either, usually a couple of these plants will give me more tomatoes than I require but there's very few on the plants and none have ripened yet.
I'm glad now that I chose to grow a second variety this year, Bloody Butcher, though I have to say that these two plants aren't faring any better either. This is a heritage cordon variety but the plants haven't grown very tall and though there's plenty of tomatoes on this first truss, the rest of the plant is comparably bare. At least these are starting to ripen now though, I should have my first taste of homegrown tomato today.
I know the plants have been a little neglected this year due to everything that's been going on here so I'm putting their poor performance down to that, but they could certainly do better and I shall strive to make sure that happens when I grow them again next year.
I have 3 different plants, a small vine one, plum tomatoes, and I used a seed from a supermarket fruit, just to see if I grew them from the same stock, would they have any taste (the supermarket ones are completely tasteless). The small vine have done brilliant, we have been eating them for ages, the plum ripen slower and we have just started eating them but the plant is huge and full. I seeded ones we have picked our 1st few, they taste wonderful, I might do the same next year.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look much better than mine :)
ReplyDeleteThey look much better than mine too! in fact mine are just starting to flower now so I can't see me having any ripe tomatoes this year and I have lavished love and attention on them, seems like it makes no difference.
ReplyDeleteI hope your tomato tasted good. I don't know why but I have gone off tomatoes this year but then my tastes in general have changed. I tried some supermarket bought sugardrop tomatoes which are small, on the vine, sweet and tasty but not exactly cheap.
ReplyDeleteWell, the lovely red tomato in your last photograph looks good to me :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
You have lots of fruit, and lovely big ones as well. I have tended to mine I have two tiny fruits on one plant out of eight! I think the cold spell put paid to them flowering and fruiting. There is nothing quite like a homegrown tomato, enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes weren't the best last season either & took ages to ripe, but I put it down to quite a bit of cloudy weather(no rain) during summer and where I may have bought the seedlings from Gardening can be so hit and miss! Enjoy the rest when they ripen. Take care and huggles.
ReplyDeleteYou know some years they flourish for me and others are so so. My tomatoes that are potted are not doing nearly as well as the in ground plants. The cherry tomatoes are usually sweet , but this year the skin in very tough!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that first red tomato tasted all the better for being the only one so far. I think you planted yours a lot later than we did so maybe you'll get more later on.
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame. Most of mine haven't done well either, and I blame the weather. Let's hope that they do better next year. xx
ReplyDeleteI’m sure that you can pass some of the blame down to the weather.
ReplyDeleteThere are slim pickings on my tomato plants too, although to be fair i have neglected them somewhat too. My brother in law gave me three plants otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to be honest, I never have much luck with them.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly not a great year for the tomatoes, my plants don't have many tomatoes on them, fortunately I have lots of plants.xxx
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better my toms aren't doing very well this year either.
ReplyDeletexx