I am going to try and pick whatever is left (chives, accidental squash) in my ‘not this year garden’ before the freeze and possibly snow expected this weekend. There is a mama black bear with 2 cubbies roaming around, so I know winter is on its way. They all look well fed, so she must be training them well according to the news reports from town.
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Wow! So many climates! I just returned from Alaska to mid nineties in Northern California. Fortunately it is cooler this week, and we have had our first drizzles since May. Pretty early for this, and while I’ve decided to pull out most of my tomatoes as a result, it’s always welcome here.
Maybe I will get some fruit to set on this Manzano pepper!
Those of you who grow bouncing onions; this is my first time growing them,
Scotch bonnet to the left, Aji Amarillo behind.
the plants are about 10 months old, big, with only a few off shoots. What should I expect going forward? Will they bolt? We don’t usually get hard freezes, but our first frost date according to some sources would me mid November.
Also my first time with “Roselle” ( Hibiscus sabdariffa, aka “Jamaican sorrel”), @bogman s lemongrass behind.
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Sorry for this beginner question here, as I I have only started planting tomatoes about 2-3 years ago, and never cherry tomatoes. Now that my original cluster of “Hiiro” tomatoes are starting to ripen, they are ripening at different rates - the bigger ones (closer to stem) is looking really good, and they are progressively greener as you move away. Do you usually pluck the ripe ones off the cluster when they’re ready, or do you wait for the entire cluster to get to at least a medium level of ripeness? Weather is really 50-50 for us now in New England, so we’re really only about 2 weeks growing left. All the new babies that popped out have no chance. 
Take them off as they ripen! You don’t want to leave them on there too long once they’re red, especially if it rains or something - they’ll start to split.
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WRT ripening, there are two general categories of tomatoes, indeterminant and determinant. Indeterminant varieties have fruits that ripen at various times, bearing for a few weeks in a bell curve rate - low to start, then a glut, then tapering off. Determinant varieties, OTOH, have been bred to have the vast majority of fruits ripening all at once. You’ll get a frenzy of tomatoes, then bupkis. Determinants are great for canning, because you can harvest enough all at once at the fruits are within a couple days of each other in terms of ripeness. I don’t can a lot of tomatoes, but we like to have them all summer long, so almost all the tomatoes we plant are indeterminant types.
Also, you may know this already, but it’s good to rotate your tomato beds. Allow at least 3 seasons between tomato plantings to avoid nematodes.
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One more tip I’ve seen mentioned, although I have no clue if it actually works: At this point you can pop the tiny tomatoes off, as well as any unset blossoms, so the plant can use its energy for the fruits that you think are most likely to yield something. You can also “top” the plants – cut off the very ends of each main stem, so they stop trying to grow more leaves upward. Again, not something I’ve personally A-B tested, but neither approach seems all that crazy.
I have been picking at first blush to avoid critters stealing them (and even then, they have eaten at least a third of my Black Krims!). It also helps to avoid any cracking due to excess rain. They ripen well indoors and I haven’t noticed a big difference in terms of flavor when I do occasionally let one get fully ripe on the vine.
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The ripe ones easily came off in my hands. If these taste good, these m light be my go to for tomatoes next season.
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Probably my last harvest. Warm days ahead but possible frost at night. Will check again in a day or two.
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Most cherry type tomatoes are indeterminate and keep growing until something kills them (frost or disease). It’s typical for the proximal fruit, closest to the main stem, to ripen first. Many Italian “Piennolo” or clustering types meant for hanging indoors, continue ripening off the plant. For best results, those are picked at the not fully ripened (red) stage. You can pick some clusters when frost approaches, keep them dark and with plenty of air circulation to see how many after-ripen. Meanwhile, pick off the ripe ones and enjoy. Leaving them on the plant exposes them to fungus and animals, insects.
Green tomatoes can make tasty dilled pickles, especially if they are firm.
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Making a homemade soda with some of my glut of lemon verbena today. Just spring water, honey and lemon verbean leaves, hanging out for a couple days and hopefully building up a little fizz. I’ve typically not had luck making fizzy drinks at home - all the kombucha I ever made was tasty, but flat. We’ll see how this goes.
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What’s the verdict? I googled and these sound really good! But your plant looks small; did you start it late or did it not perform well for some other reason?
I grew Momotaro tomatoes in '23 and '24 – supposedly the favorite market tomato in Japan – and while they did amazingly well in '23 (which was a very rainy year, you might recall), I got almost nothing last year. The year they did do well, they were delicious. So if you want to grow Asian tomatoes it might be another interesting option for you to consider.
Delicious! Like the ones in the store. I’m kind of bummed that I mixed up some of the seeds and won’t know if next season I’ll get the same. Maybe I’ll leave one of these to ripen and harvest its seeds. I have two more that might ripen, and a small clusters that are forming.
If anyone also has helpful hints at how to harvest these seeds in an easier, and less messy fashion, I would love to know! I dug out the seeds and lightly smeared then onto a paper towel and let them dry. But naturally, many of them stuck to the paper towels. Am I missing some obvious method of harvesting cherry tomato seeds?
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My latest pick. I have some Oregon Spring plants on the front and pack patio that didn’t get very big, but they are ripening. The ones on the paper plate are from the garden.
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Forgot to answer your other question. Yes, these tomatoes I tossed into a pot in late July, or so. I tried the Hiiro double bomb tomatoes and loved them (never had a tomato I require loved), and so I took the seeds from one of them and planted them on a whim, even though it was quite late.
Learned they are a hybrid tomato, so wasn’t even sure what I was going to get. Got lucky that these came out (seemingly) the same as the store bought kind. I didn’t even bother with fertilizer. Will try to get these going early next season and get some proper plants, and hopefully I continue to be lucky with the seeds.
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How about more messy? I’ve never done it but I seem to recall something about fermenting and coffee filters.
I’ve processed large amounts of tomato seeds and here’s what I do:
- Cut the tomatoes with a sharp knife and use the knife tip to dig out just the gel containing the seeds (arils) and put the seeds/gel in a small jar. You can partly cover the jar so the mix doesn’t dry out. With larger quantities, this isn’t necessary.
- Let the seeds grow yeast, mold and ferment for a few days. The fungi will help dissolve the gel. If you get a pellicle (mold layer) on top, pull it off.
- Wash the seeds off in a sieve that won’t let the seeds pass through. Let drain and set the sieve bottom on a rag or paper towel to absorb moisture for a few minutes.
- Spread the seeds out on a paper plate or cardboard to dry out of the sun, with good air circulation. How long it takes to dry depends on your home’s humidity, the volume of seeds, etc. Figure three weeks is usually enough.
- Store the seeds in an airtight container, in the fridge, Tight jars work well for holding seed packets. Tomato seeds stored this way can last over five years.
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Robert, I just realized that I should have done this with the dwarf apple tree I planted a couple years ago. It had fruit even though another apple tree is nowhere near, but I did not save any of the seeds.
I would like to have one or two more of these little apple trees, they produce small, sweet but mildly tart, apples in limited numbers. Next year should I just quarter a couple apples and set the seeds aside to dry for a couple weeks, place the seeds in an envelope in a dark closet for the winter and then in the spring plant a half dozen seeds in each biodegradable “grow cup” and place under a grow light until they sprout? Maybe I will wait until they sprout for the grow light… LOL!
I did not realize how appropriate the bowl was until now. 
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