Christmas Tomatoes

[Odsox]

Yep, it's THAT time of year again when I sow my tomatoes for ripe fruit at Christmas.
These are Silver Fir Tree and I don't remember ever explaining how I sow them. I always chit them first, that way I know how many are going to grow. These seeds were placed on a damp kitchen towel in a container and placed in our airing cupboard. That was done 4 days ago and today 5 of them will be potted up. (spot the one that won't be potted up )

Other seeds I always chit are Sweetcorn, Parsnips, all Tomatoes, Peppers, some Beans, Courgettes, Squash and any largish seeded plant that I only grow small quantities of.
It saves on potting compost and time, especially when I am using less than fresh seed.

These tomatoes should have ripe fruit by about the second week of December when grown on my windowsill.
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[Green Aura]

Well we may just be joining you this year, with our hydropnic mini toms.

Thanks for the reminder, we probably need to get some going soon.

[Weedo]

Too early to plant them here, at least in the open. If the weather continues to warm as it is perhaps plant in Mid Sept. to ensure the first ripe ones by Christmas

[Odsox]

Well, I got my timing slightly wrong again.
There will be ripe tomatoes for Christmas, but I thought I'd timed it so that they would start to ripen in about 2 weeks time. Probably a few more sunny days than other years messes up my timing, so I will probably never get them to ripen exactly on time.
So I have one ripe and 5 more sizeable tomatoes showing colour and of course lots more to come on my 4 windowsill plants.
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[Green Aura]

Lovely. Never did get round to sowing ours, unfortunately.

[Weedo]

Well done! I don't think mine will make it for Christmas, they are only just setting now (early November planting).

I still can't get a handle on your varieties versus those I can get so I have just gone back to the old standby varieties, mostly heritage plus a couple of plants from a mate. He has been saving seed from his toms for years and I sure their ancestry is well lost in the mists of time; I call them Connorton specials.

[Weedo]

The drought and heat have really upset my toms - they have heaps of sweet and tasty fruit but only about 2 - 3 cm round. The Tiny Tom variety are just comical, they look like undersized red currants. I picked about 1.5 kg yesterday and froze them whole for sauce later.

[Odsox]

That sounds like the Tiny Tim tomatoes I grew when I first started trying to grow all year round tomatoes. They are indeed a bit on the small side, marble sized here, but did behave and made a tidy bush in a small flower pot.

Coincidentally I have just started another batch of tomatoes, destined to have ripe fruit on my windowsill by the end of April (90 days from sowing)