Toms on my balcony

9 comments

Just this evening I was out on my balcony checking my tomatoes. I finally cut out two plants that haven’t set any fruit. It’s too late now for them to set any. The other plants I cut a few of the leaves off but I haven’t done anything very drastic. There are few tomatoes this year. I don’t know why. I put in more plants hoping that with our promised “BBQ Summer” I would get a lot of fruit this year. But just the opposite is true. I’m quite disappointed! I don’t think I’ll bother next year they take up more room than I have really & I can use it for other plants. I’ve grown tomatoes for 3 or 4 years now but I think this may have been my worst year yet.

Beginning of June 2009

A month later

A couple of tomato plants behind balcony door beginning of July

Although it may appear to be just one plant here there are in fact two just that one was weaker than the other & eventually I pulled it out.

Getting very difficult now to see them!

The one behind the balcony door.

First tomatoes 3rd week in August

A close up of the tomatoes above

Last ever shot of this plant – no fruit, no plant. I pulled it up this evening!

Just leaves one more plant to see: the one growing in the hanging basket!

The first photo I took of this tomato plant

This one was taken about a week later

This is the last photo I have with a close up of the actual tomatoes. The wind during the last week has now caused the plant to collapse & I’ve taken off the biggest tomatoes

31 Aug, 2009
9 likes

Comments

Lincslass

Sometimes that happens Balcony,no rhyme nor reason,I`ve had a smashing year with both tomatoes and cucumbers and an abysmall year as regards the fuschias,dont know why but am very disappointed with them,the only ones doing any good are in the front garden in pots on the ground ,perhaps my ones in baskets dont like heights,lol...........

31 Aug, 2009

Dottydaisy2

How frustrating for you, we didnt do much better in our very hot garden, had a couple of Gardeners Delight, what we had was very tasty but certainly not as many as we usually have.

31 Aug, 2009

Lily2

They do take up a lot of room don't they and if they don't give the results, they've got to go! Plenty of other lovely or productive things you could have in your limited space.
It's disappointing though when you put a lot of effort in but then 'that's gardening'. :o))

1 Sep, 2009

Balcony

Thanks for your comments, ladies. The variety I grew was the same as yours DD. Perhaps it has something to do with the seeds - they all came from the same packet of seeds I opened about 4 years ago! I just sowed a few each year then sealed up the packet till the following year. I had a lot of plants this year because I sowed all the remaining seeds & most of them germinated. I can't bear to throw away plant material if I can reuse it! So my balconies are always full of many different kinds of plants. They why they also look like cottage gardens!

I took a photo of my balcony this morning. I like to take a photo at least once a month, it's like standing back while you are doing a painting to see the overall picture instead of the brush strokes.

My Fuchsias are going over now. I've had a tremendous display, 100s & 100s of flowers. I intend to move the baskets into the balcony,close up to the windows & keep them pretty dry. I'm sure they will last out the winter without any further protection.

I have 2 conical baskets with Ivy Leaf Geraniums which have been in the same place year after year without being moved in summer or winter. The same plants I put in 4 or 5 years ago are still growing in them. This spring I changed the compost in the baskets & the plants went straight back in again. They have responded very well to the change of compost!

1 Sep, 2009

Fluff

I had real success this year growing toms in pots...they took up less room than gro-bags & had more depth of soil.

1 Sep, 2009

Blodyn

What a shame about your tomatoes, and you had so many plants aswell. Better luck next year if you change your mind and decide to have another go.
Good about your fuchsias. Mine were hopeless.

1 Sep, 2009

Balcony

Shame about your Fuchsias, Hywel. :( Perhaps you will have better luck next year. You could try putting them in fresh compost & cutting them hard back in the late spring, that may help.

1 Sep, 2009

Steve

i have never grown toms in grow bags , but possibly 6 per bag is too much , just a thought.
we grow 1 per large pot in the greenhouse and feed as soon as the 1st fruits set.
you could try this , and a few 12" coloured pots dotted around your balcony would look nice as well.
hope this helps for next year , lets pray for a better summer!!.....................steve

2 Sep, 2009

Balcony

I quite agree that 6 is too many for a growbag - I had up to 8 when I started!!! I "weeded out" a few after the first couple of weeks. I started off with 8 in each bag - I knew very well that was far too many but I thought "What the heck, I'll just have to feed & water much more often, that's all!" As I've commented before, I hate to throw away plant material that I can reuse. So I was very much amiss at the idea of throwing away the extra seedlings.

Very soon it was quite clear that some were weak & weren't worth the while growing. I pulled them out after a few weeks, I repeated the operation a few weeks later. That reduced 16 to around 8 or 9. They then grew very tall & spindly & took a long time to set any fruit. As I say in my blog above, I pulled out a couple that weren't making any fruit &, although they had flowers, weren't going to be able to grow fruit to a worthwhile size. I had stopped the plants by removing the growing point some weeks ago hoping to got some decent tomatoes. I saw no sign of that happening. By removing a couple of plants I hope that with the extra space I might end up with a few worthwhile fruits.

2 Sep, 2009

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