how do you know for sure production is over

19 years ago

ok...first it seemed like they would never turn color

then in a whirlwind of 3 weeks i had POUNDS an POUNDS of tomatoes

never in my 12 years have i ever had that many...6 pants..arkansas traveler..etc.. never grew b4

maybe the dry year..the heat...everything else in garden toast...anyway....of course there is not a tomatoe in site now...

My question...there are a few flowers here and there....will they stil fruit..should i take it all down...its a bug trap and unsightly..and i want to later them if no more fruit..usually i have some fruits at this time...but not a 1...the big heirlooms are done ...not time for them..but what about romas and salad varieties

thanks

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Comments (5)

sushiqueen
Original Author
19 years ago
heat wave 10 days up to 115...scalded all green tomatoes..soo asking if more fruit will come
digdirt2
19 years ago
Production is only truly over on indeterminate varieties once they are killed by frost or die from disease. Keep the plants going and well watered until the temps break and fall into the normal range and then you will get more blooms on the newer growth. If they will set fruit or not will depend on the air temps when they bloom. And if they do, the fruit will likely be smaller. It's up to you if it is worth the work.

If you haven't fed them lately you can try a dose of 1/2 strength food. It will help them generate new growth. But just half strength as they are already stressed by the temps.

Dave
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bart1
19 years ago
Let your plants go as long as possible, and by that I mean, keep all the fruit on the plant until you expect a frost.

Last year we got our first frost sometime in mid October and night before I went out and harvested all of my tomatoes. Most were VERY green and VERY hard. I figured that there was no chance that any of them would ripen, but sure enough little by litte they started to ripen.

In the end, I'd say over 80% of them ripened up just fine and I was eating "fresh" tomatoes at Thanksgiving.

Bart
atash
19 years ago
If they're still making flowers (determinates stop at some point, lacking any active buds), then they can still make fruit. Tomatoes are an interesting crop as far as ripening goes; if worse comes to worse and a frost is coming (or you're trying to save them from rain-induced blight in my part of the world), then you can pull the whole plant up, suspend it upside-down in a cool, dryish place like a garage, and the green tomatoes will usually ripen. They won't be particularly sweet or flavorful, but they are no worse than store-bought which are ALWAYS picked quite green, and not ripened on the vine but just treated with some ethylene gas.

Last year I had tomatoes in December that way, despite unusually early and hard frosts in November.
yardenman
19 years ago
At the risk of seeming flippant, "it's not over til it's over". A couple of years ago, I had 1 stem of 1 tomato plant that just wouldn't die (it was up against the house foundation). I picked a ripe tastey fruit from it in December! It was small, but I sure appreciated it...