Problem with a Tommy plant...need advice.

[Shane]

Hi,
One of my Tommy plants began fruiting a week or so ago....you beauty I thought,
I noticed tonight though that nearly every piece of juvenile fruit has turned a black/brown colour
at the underside (also seems soft in this area)....some sort of disease ? rot ? pest ?
Any advice for what I can /could do to rectify it would be appreciated (as would any explaination as to what has caused this).

Tommy plants only a couple of feet away DO NOT seem (as yet) to have the same problem...although they are a different variety to the affected one.

Cheers,
Shane.

[dufflight]

Could be a pest. Picture would help.

[Shane]

OK....I'll take a pic or two tomorrow, as its too dark now (& upload @ work on monday morning).

[RupertofOZ]

Sounds like "blossom end rot" Shane... you can see it forming in the two tommies on the right...

[attachment=1:vgcqw1tr]100_2651 (Medium).JPG[/attachment:vgcqw1tr]

And a bit more advanced in the tommie top left...

[attachment=0:vgcqw1tr]100_2694 (Medium).JPG[/attachment:vgcqw1tr]

Flattens the base of the Tommie and varies from brown to black... commonly attributed to Calcium deficiency...

But is usually actually other factors that cause lack of Calcium uptake... have a look at this link...

http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/P ... st/479.pdf (http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Plant_Pest/479.pdf)

[Castaway]

Hi Shane, post your pH reading along if you can remember the name of the tomato variety you are growing. My pH is under 6.5 and my tomatoes are all good. I just picked a nice red Beefsteak variety and can confirm they grow well without problems or any odd marks. Some varieties of tomatoes can split and turn bad. Important to share a list of good tomato varieties well suited for Aquaponics on this forum.

[Shane]

Rupe,
Thanks for those photo's & the link to that document,
Thats exactly what my Tommy looks like, that link has also helped me realise why its become that way...Cheers.

Castaway,
IIRC that particular Tommy is a Roma, my pH is currently 6.4
The Tommy is located very close to the water inlet for my LHS GB,
The auto-siphon on this LHS GB is a little tempermental, it needs a slightly faster flow through it
than the RHS one does to function correctly, Since raising the flow through it I've never had any more problems with it.
But.... I do end up with just a constant smallish pool of water
under the inlet (about the size of two packs of ciggies).
Rupes link identifies water logged roots as one of the causes of the rot.
I think thats what it is as neither of the neighbouring Tommy's show any sign of the rot & are all fruiting well.

[Ben]

I've had similar experiences Shane, to overcome the constant water near the inlet I've attached a piece of 19mm pipe to the elbow connector and fed it to the bottom of the GB.

This causes the water to enter the GB from the bottom, eliminates constant water near the inlet and also acts as a siphon back to the tank should the power cut out (that was a bonus to my modification).

[Shane]

Hey thanks for the tip Ben, much appreciated.
I'll do the same this weekend.
Cheers,
Shane.

[Shane]

Ended up pulling out the affected Tommie plant (it was a Roma)
All other Tommie plants are going great guns,
current problem though, is just as everything is ripening the birds are hopping in for a treat bigtime:(
Bird nets are the obvious answer....which will become a chore for next time as my current set up will change somewhat over the next month or three.

I tried to scare them off with rubber snakes (which seemed to work for about one week) & those coloured spinning fan things on a stick (which also seemed to work....errrr....until there was no breeze)....but they are back.....on the attack.

Hence my question....whats the best way of ripening Tommies if I pick them green (so the birds don't get them first?)

Cheers,
Shane.

[fishfood]

At the first sign of colour change you can pick them and let them ripen on the kitchen bench dont put them in the fridge

[Madcow]

Ended up pulling out the affected Tommie plant (it was a Roma)

Hence my question....whats the best way of ripening Tommies if I pick them green (so the birds don't get them first?)

Cheers,
Shane.

This post might be a bit late to your question but I thought I might add it anyway.
The best way to rippen them up is to throw them in a paper bag with a banana. Bananas help rippen everything. Don't put them in a sealed plastic bag as it won't allow the fruit to breathe.
For a number of years when the price of a box of tomatoes dose not cover the cost of production... or when the are at the end of their production, large growers strip the bushes (which includes very green tomatoes) and then gas them (its a natural gas but I wont go into that). If you every bought tomatoes from the big chain stores you will have notice from time to time when the fruit is quite pink and translucent... thats a gased green tomato... no flavour, poor texture.
The best tip I can give is on choosing the time to pick the tomato when it is still green. If you look at the bottom of a green tomato, eventually a white star will start to appear. athis means the tomato is about to rippen. If left alone it will only be a couple of days before the fruit is almost ripe. Now if you can't wait this long because of birds or whatever, just pick it when you see the star. The fruit will rippen well and will develop a natural colour and texture. If the tomato is grass green when you pick it most of the time it wont rippen or rippen poorly.
Hope this helps.

[RupertofOZ]

Generally they use Ethylene I believe... same goes for Bananas... Whistling

[Wendy in BC]

Yes it's ethylene that they use.
Putting them in a bag (paper) with an apple also quickens ripening.

Wendy