So a tomato plant I had kind of given up on has started in on production!

It has several small tomatoes - pea sized and lots of flowers...

Any hope for this "late bloomer"????

Do you like fried green tomatoes?

You can probably expect frost soon...we had patchy frost just a couple of days ago. I wouldn't get my heart set on ripe tomatoes if I were you.

In our area of the world, unless you move those plants inside, it is too late for them. There simply will not be enough warm enough weather for those tomatoes to ripen.

Well if it makes it through to Oct 17 (my next day off!) I will try to attempt to containerize it and bring it inside to let the little peas develop.

It's one of those truly sprawling weedlike plants, we'll see what happens!

One year, I kept a bed of tomatoes alive outdoors up here through the middle of October. They didn't ripen though. Just as Kimm1 said... not enough heat or daylight.

You can make pickled green tomatoes with the little ones. Yum! Half or quarter them (no need to peel); pack in pint jars; cover with a hot brine of 50/50 vinegar/water plus salt (1/4 c salt to 3-1/2 c vinegar plus 3-1/2 c water); add 2 tsp dill seed, 1 clove garlic, and a bay leaf; process pints 15 min in a hot water bath. (Recipe from Ball canning book.)

I'm in a different zone & climate... but mine are still outside, under cover. A couple on the patio in a pot and a topsy turvy, and many more in a raised bed with plastic over it.

They're still ripening here... but definitely slower than a few weeks ago. We've had nights in the upper 30's and days in the upper 60's. I'm still trying to figure out what this winter is going to be like. Some years we have snow by Halloween - others we never get any at all! It's usually VERY cold at night by Halloween though... so I know my tomato days are numbered!

Now is when you say,"Ahh, I now have it figured out, and NEXT year I'll....."

"Next year" in about mid-July, remove a couple of healthy suckers from a smaller variety like Sungold, Jelly Bean, or Fourth of July. Bury all but the terminal leaves in big pots of potting soil. Keep the suckers watered well and in a somewhat sheltered but warm and well lit place.

Once they are well established and about 2 weeks before your first frost, bring them in. If you can keep them in a sunny window and maybe add a few extra hours of artificial light, you can keep them going into December, or at least I'm trying...

I know that I owe y'all some photos. I have experiments going on sustaining tomatoes through the winter, cultivating a sustainable lettuce and radish crop indoors, and on comparing the efficacy of standard kitchen and bath florescent tubes to specialty "plant" lights.

I also have an entirely new lamp setup for spring seedlings that I want to show off.

I have a half day off on Friday, so if I get all my exams graded, maybe I'll have some time to shoot and post some pictures.

Looking forward to the report, ctdahle!

My little ones didn't make it! I was plotting all manner of maneuvers but I had to work out of town this weekend and early sunday morning, Mr. Frost blew on my lovelies!

I had one in a pot that I brought in, but it has no flowers or tiny toms on it at all. Just came in with the other pots and not sure what do with it.

I will join you in your experimentations!

one plant I did do triangle out of 3 old windows a neighbor gave me, just tied around with rope, and platic over the top.

We only went to 29, but that one didn't make it either!

pumpkin, squash, tomatoes - all gone!!!

But my petunias and sweet allysums bloom on....

That has me confused!

Yeah... I jinxed myself. Mine (that are under plastic) still got a bit curly-leafed on our one near-frost (frost everywhere except the block I'm on!). Think I'll be picking a bunch of green tomatoes and semi-ripe tomatillos this evening!

We had a cold snap in mid-September, but the ten day forecast predicted overnights back above 40 after a three day chill. So I ran a cord out to the greenhouse and hooked up a little space heater.

My greenhouse is not airtight or insulated, so normally I just let it freeze when the time comes, but I have many tomatoes on the vines and I just hated the thought of letting them go. I ran the heater through my little Kill-a-Watt meter and found that for the three nights, I only used 19 kWh. I pay about 7 cents/kWh, so for less than $1.50 I saved an extra 40 pounds of tomatoes for the freezer. Not too bad.

Funny thing though, the tomatoes made it, but the peppers in between the tomato plants died.

More to learn from I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Liz1:
You can make pickled green tomatoes with the little ones. Yum! Half or quarter them (no need to peel); pack in pint jars; cover with a hot brine of 50/50 vinegar/water plus salt (1/4 c salt to 3-1/2 c vinegar plus 3-1/2 c water); add 2 tsp dill seed, 1 clove garlic, and a bay leaf; process pints 15 min in a hot water bath. (Recipe from Ball canning book.)

Thanks for the "blast from the past" Liz! My dad used to do that every year at the end of the season. Only difference was he did up quarts of them & used more garlic, fresh dill flower heads from the garden, & a few whole dried hot peppers. Boy were they ever good as snacks, in salads, or alongside sandwiches!

quote:

Funny thing though, the tomatoes made it, but the peppers in between the tomato plants died.

I pass some gardens on in to work (walking and a top view from the train - elevated in chicago)

Was surprised to see this one with tomatoes - out in the open - with a few large tomatoes riping on it. They didn't get killed!!

Only thing I can think of is this is a second floor garden, a built up bed on top of an enclosed porch on the first level, and that the heat rising kept them ok???

I had mine covered and everything and lost them!

Ahhhhh - next year!