The right way to get an appropriate tomato harvest out of your plants
But with the light beginning to fade now it is very important help your plants reach their full potential – otherwise you may be left with masses of green tomatoes.
Remove any yellowing leaves just in case they become diseased, and ensure you add tomato feed if you water your plants.
You also needs to pick the fruit once it’s ripe, or it could become soft and split, and ensure your tomatoes are watered each day so that they don’t go black from blossom end rot.
Towards the top of September regulate the elements forecast just in case there’s a sudden dip in temperatures, as unusually cold nights can turn unripened tomatoes brown and tough.
There shouldn’t be any frosts until October – or later within the south – but when it does turn cold protect the plants by throwing a length of horticultural fleece over them for the night.
You should pick any unripened tomatoes by the center of October (or before within the north) to save lots of them from frost damage.
The best strategy to ripen them indoors is to position them in a paper bag somewhere warm.
The ethylene gas they provide off will ripen them quicker than leaving them on a windowsill – sunny or not.