Last year I grew several plants of Picobella vine toms (Tesco's
version of Piccolo), from seed squidged out of some fruit bought in
our local Tesco. It was my first attempt at growing tomatoes. I grew
them in growbags in my little greenhouse (6'x6'), watered them daily
and fed them with diluted high-potash feed (Tomorite) every few days.
I pollinated them daily by vibrating the flowers with an electric
toothbrush minus its bristle-head. The pollen came off in little
clouds. I had squillions of tomatoes, maybe more!

This year I've done much the same thing, but with different varieties
of tomato: Tumbler (bought by mistake - growing it in a pot on the
staging), Riesling, Sungold, Sweet Million, and a plum tomato from
seeds recovered from Tesco-bought fruit.

Their performance so far is disappointing. Plenty of growth, not many
flowers and no visible pollen when the flowers, such as there are, are
vibrated. Am I doing something wrong (despite using a similar routine
to last year)? Has the recent hot weather resulted in less flowering?
Or is it just that these varieties don't behave the same way as last
year's Piccolo?

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 15/06/2023 11:02, Chris Hogg wrote:
> Last year I grew several plants of Picobella vine toms (Tesco's
> version of Piccolo), from seed squidged out of some fruit bought in
> our local Tesco. It was my first attempt at growing tomatoes. I grew
> them in growbags in my little greenhouse (6'x6'), watered them daily
> and fed them with diluted high-potash feed (Tomorite) every few days.
> I pollinated them daily by vibrating the flowers with an electric
> toothbrush minus its bristle-head. The pollen came off in little
> clouds. I had squillions of tomatoes, maybe more!
>
> This year I've done much the same thing, but with different varieties
> of tomato: Tumbler (bought by mistake - growing it in a pot on the
> staging), Riesling, Sungold, Sweet Million, and a plum tomato from
> seeds recovered from Tesco-bought fruit.
>
> Their performance so far is disappointing. Plenty of growth, not many
> flowers and no visible pollen when the flowers, such as there are, are
> vibrated. Am I doing something wrong (despite using a similar routine
> to last year)? Has the recent hot weather resulted in less flowering?
> Or is it just that these varieties don't behave the same way as last
> year's Piccolo?
>

I was looking at the couple of plants I've got in outdoor pots today.
First set of flowers are already settin, BUT growth is strange. The new
leaves and flower stalks are all remaining twisted up (like clenched
fingers) and not growing strongly. Also keep putting out side shoots
from leaf/main stem junctions which I remove almost daily.

On Thu, 15 Jun 2023 21:49:47 +0100, Polly@golly wrote:

> On 15/06/2023 11:02, Chris Hogg wrote:
>> Last year I grew several plants of Picobella vine toms (Tesco's version
>> of Piccolo), from seed squidged out of some fruit bought in our local
>> Tesco. It was my first attempt at growing tomatoes. I grew them in
>> growbags in my little greenhouse (6'x6'), watered them daily and fed
>> them with diluted high-potash feed (Tomorite) every few days. I
>> pollinated them daily by vibrating the flowers with an electric
>> toothbrush minus its bristle-head. The pollen came off in little
>> clouds. I had squillions of tomatoes, maybe more!
>>
>> This year I've done much the same thing, but with different varieties
>> of tomato: Tumbler (bought by mistake - growing it in a pot on the
>> staging), Riesling, Sungold, Sweet Million, and a plum tomato from
>> seeds recovered from Tesco-bought fruit.
>>
>> Their performance so far is disappointing. Plenty of growth, not many
>> flowers and no visible pollen when the flowers, such as there are, are
>> vibrated. Am I doing something wrong (despite using a similar routine
>> to last year)? Has the recent hot weather resulted in less flowering?
>> Or is it just that these varieties don't behave the same way as last
>> year's Piccolo?
>>
>>
> I was looking at the couple of plants I've got in outdoor pots today.
> First set of flowers are already settin, BUT growth is strange. The new
> leaves and flower stalks are all remaining twisted up (like clenched
> fingers) and not growing strongly. Also keep putting out side shoots
> from leaf/main stem junctions which I remove almost daily.

I think clenched up leaves can be a sign of over feeding.
I always start my tomatoes in a very rich compost and they often go very
dark green with furled top leaves.
This hasn't been a problem as the plants grow.

I grow tomatoes outside under cover.
That is, on a deck with a plastic roof over to keep the rain (and
hopefully the blight) off.

Cheers

Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On 15 Jun 2023 11:02, Chris Hogg wrote:
> Last year I grew several plants of Picobella vine toms (Tesco's
> version of Piccolo), from seed squidged out of some fruit bought in
> our local Tesco. It was my first attempt at growing tomatoes. I grew
> them in growbags in my little greenhouse (6'x6'), watered them daily
> and fed them with diluted high-potash feed (Tomorite) every few days.
> I pollinated them daily by vibrating the flowers with an electric
> toothbrush minus its bristle-head. The pollen came off in little
> clouds. I had squillions of tomatoes, maybe more!
>
> This year I've done much the same thing, but with different varieties
> of tomato: Tumbler (bought by mistake - growing it in a pot on the
> staging), Riesling, Sungold, Sweet Million, and a plum tomato from
> seeds recovered from Tesco-bought fruit.
>
> Their performance so far is disappointing. Plenty of growth, not many
> flowers and no visible pollen when the flowers, such as there are, are
> vibrated. Am I doing something wrong (despite using a similar routine
> to last year)? Has the recent hot weather resulted in less flowering?
> Or is it just that these varieties don't behave the same way as last
> year's Piccolo?
>
>
Here the nights, until quite recently, have been cool which tomatoes do
not like.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden