Condolences. Sounds like our summer last year.

Sorry about that lovetogarden. If if makes you feel any better, about 2/3 of my 30 plants are stunt due to the recent low 50 nights.

Lesson for next year: More container plants and raise the ones in ground while planting them in June. More sungolds as well as they are more tolerant.

Same here in San Mateo, lovetogarden. I gave up this week and turned on the heat in the house. Half my tomatoes are in a greenhouse and they are giving some fruit, but the outside plants are just plain shivering.

Too bad, hate to hear anyone complain about your weather. Been 100+ F. here for about the last 60 days. No tomatoes setting, nothing growing except crabgrass and bindweed seeded into my garden from my neighbor's lawn.

Hi Loves,

I sympathize with you fully. I was late getting my tomatoes transplanted this year, too much other stuff going on then too wet and cold when they should have gone out. I got about 3 ripe tomatoes then the hot weather hit and I don't think anything has set for the last month.

Betsy

Same here. Except that it is unbearably hot and has been since early June. Everything, watermelons, cantalopes, squash, all are rotting before they can even be picked. Anyone with a solution? Is it the soil? Have raised beds that are redone every spring with fresh soil, manure, fertilizer etc. In addition our water provider raised their rates to make it almost impossible to water the garden, without huge bills. Next spring or earlier, have to have a well installed.

I feel for you also. I'm still waiting on my first ripe tom, although I've had just a small handful of cherry toms that have ripened. I planted late, deer topped the plants, we've gotten lots of storms(one last night which blew a lot of the containers over), the temps have been too cool and moist, deer topped the plants again, cramming the containers together to cover them with netting is causing pest problems(other than deer), it's just been a carpy season so far. Here's hoping we end the season with a nice late crop!

I'm sorry to hear that I'm not the only one having problems. Hopefully we'll have a late season and I may be able to have at least a few good treats.

It has been pretty bad in Seattle too this year. Right now it around 66*F outside and cloudy (contrary to what you might expect, Seattle has fairly dry summer from July and August most of the time)and it won't get above 70 until this Wednesday IIRC. I got a couple of "larger" (about 7 oz or so) ripe tomatoes the other day but the rest are just sitting there on the vine looking sort of pale. Also I can see that the fruit from earlier on in the season (when it was warm for a couple of weeks) are in pretty decent shape appearance-wise, but the ones that set later are crazily catfaced.

In fact, I have a couple of Japanese trifele plants in my back yard with fruit that are all kinds of freaky-looking. Oddly enough, they catface by growing spurs, so I have a few tomatoes that look like spiders or octopi. And I thought this variety was supposed to look fairly smooth and uniform!

Sigh... been miserable for me too. A lot my fault (planted late, didn't spend any time prepping beds last year cause too busy) brutal heat and mainly growing heirloom varieties. Gotten some cherry tomatoes that have been really good (Sweet 100s) but only about a half dozen tomatoes even on the vines and none are anywhere near ripening size let alone anywhere near starting to ripen.

Oh well, learned a valuable lesson for next year. Do a much better job of prepping the beds at the end of the season.

At least my local garden center's doing so well with theirs that they're giving away fresh tomatoes and are happy to share with me.

Also in the Bay Area--the newspaper said this is the coldest summer in the past 30 years. (I've had to turn on my heat three times in the past month.) Have not gotten any ripe tomatoes yet. I planted mine by April 1 and they are all good size plants--at least 5' tall. They were very slow to start setting fruit due to fog and 50 degree nights in May and June. Some setting occurred early in July. Now the fog has been here for 5 weeks straight in Berkeley.

I do have green fruit on my Cherokee Purple, Big Beef, Sungold, and Sweet 100 but not even one blush of color anywhere. The Brandywine didn't even set any. Maybe I will get some ripe tomatoes by October?

The Bay Area is supposed to start warming up on Thursday. I read that the jet stream, which is supposed to be in Canada is in So Cal, which was causing our cold weather. I hope this is the start of our summer and the tomatoes have better weather to grow on. Crossing my fingers.

ah yes!! thank you!! well, what i mean is that i'm so glad i'm not alone, but so sorry that everyone else is having the same issues.

i'm in the east bay and here it is 1:34pm and the sun has yet to peek out and the wind is just a blowing. i'm wrapped up in a blanket sipping tea, trying hard not to turn the heat on.

i've got roma's, sweet 100s, yellow pear and the two latter have tons of fruit that has set, but no blushing AT ALL. i've have the same fruit hanging for the last month!!! i just got a roma about 3 weeks ago that's been the same size this whole time. the plants are thriving like crazy but not one tomato to eat.

i just want to eat some tomatoes!! my poor 8 year old ladybug has completely lost interest! UUUHHG!

there, i feel better now.

angela ;p

I am also in the CA Bay Area. We have had no heat waves this season so far. Maybe a few days of mid 80s but nothing higher. Unusual.
But what is killing my tomato production is the thieving squirrels. It is very disappointing. So disappointing that I have gotten out my pellet rifle. I hope to disappoint some squirrels soon in they backside.
I have learned to spread my plants out, and to keep them away from other squirrel plant foods, like apples or figs, because a squirrel sees a green apple, a green tomato looks the same. My single tomato plants that are scattered throughout the yard are not getting hit much...but that may change. Next year, it will be traps or the gun from the beginning of the season. Life is too short to grow tomatoes for squirrels, which are PESTS.

My tomatoes are doing the best ever this year here in Orange County in southern California. It has been cooler than usual the past month or so, I actually like it, haven't had to use my air conditioner for several weeks. I have so many tomatoes I only eat the best ones, the rest I squash into the dirt. I also am sun drying a lot of tomatoes.

I'm not having a great year for tomatoes in Sacramento either, and this is one of the best locations in the country for tomatoes.

Early Girl is just now starting to ripen.
Unless it was mislabeled, I had a Super Fantastic catch verticillium wilt, which is supposed to be a resistant variety.

My Purple Russian is currently producing like crazy, but it has been in the low 50's at night, so it quit setting.

Jetsetter set about five tomatoes in June, then quit after the weather cooled off.

Black Krim and Caspian Pink haven't set at all, and the Black Cherry just is not growing.

I have two bell pepper plants that should be loaded with bell peppers. They haven't been setting due to the cold nights, so I'm only going to have a few bell peppers.

The weather has also affected some ornamentals. Powdery mildew attacked the cosmos as soon as the weather became chilly. Several other plants which like warm weather haven't bloomed yet.