While we have had a good crop of tomatoes this year, a few of the vines
are producing consistently soggy, tasteless tomatoes. Definitely
something wrong with them, The tomatoes start to turn soft and mushy
just before they ripen, and when they do turn red, are not usable. It
makes no difference if we leave them on the vine or pick them a little
green and let them ripen inside.
Anyone know what this might be and what causes it?
Thanks

On 2006-07-24, wrote:
While we have had a good crop of tomatoes this year, a few of the vines
are producing consistently soggy, tasteless tomatoes. Definitely
something wrong with them, The tomatoes start to turn soft and mushy
just before they ripen, and when they do turn red, are not usable. It
makes no difference if we leave them on the vine or pick them a little
green and let them ripen inside.
Anyone know what this might be and what causes it?
Thanks


Our Romas are that way but others are ok. I started plants from old
seeds and thought that might be the problem.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

Not sure if this is your situation or not. During the spring I buy my
tomatoes from a vendor at the State Fairgrounds. I got a batch of these
mushy ones and the next week when I went back and complained she said it
was probably because they had cut back on their watering schedule???
Seems like it's something different every year lately. If they weren't
so darn good I'd quit wasting my time growing them.

wrote:
While we have had a good crop of tomatoes this year, a few of the vines
are producing consistently soggy, tasteless tomatoes. Definitely
something wrong with them, The tomatoes start to turn soft and mushy
just before they ripen, and when they do turn red, are not usable. It
makes no difference if we leave them on the vine or pick them a little
green and let them ripen inside.
Anyone know what this might be and what causes it?
Thanks

I don't know about your area, but here NE of Raleigh, the rain has been
*very* uneven -- dry for weeks, then 6" + of rain on June 14th. As I
recall, tomatoes can be very finicky about getting the right amount of
water.

Anne


wrote in message
oups.com...
While we have had a good crop of tomatoes this year, a few of the vines
are producing consistently soggy, tasteless tomatoes. Definitely
something wrong with them, The tomatoes start to turn soft and mushy
just before they ripen, and when they do turn red, are not usable. It
makes no difference if we leave them on the vine or pick them a little
green and let them ripen inside.
Anyone know what this might be and what causes it?
Thanks

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 19:29:48 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:

I don't know about your area, but here NE of Raleigh, the rain has been
*very* uneven -- dry for weeks, then 6" + of rain on June 14th. As I
recall, tomatoes can be very finicky about getting the right amount of
water.

Anne

With all my pepper problems, my originally volunteer large cherry
tomatoes are doing beautifully! Great tomatoes and plants really
loaded.
My larger tomatoes are doing as expected (3rd year of planting those
from previous year seed).... one tomato per plant max and yellow wilt
marching up the plants. Each year I save the seed from the plant that
appears most wilt resistant. They actually did better this year than
last two years, so maybe that is working. But the other tomatoes
compensate for the problem ones. Always enough to freeze for a whole
winter's stews. And my Chinese eggplants are flourishing.
Kira

Kira Dirlik wrote:
On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 19:29:48 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:


I don't know about your area, but here NE of Raleigh, the rain has been
*very* uneven -- dry for weeks, then 6" + of rain on June 14th. As I
recall, tomatoes can be very finicky about getting the right amount of
water.

Anne


With all my pepper problems, my originally volunteer large cherry
tomatoes are doing beautifully! Great tomatoes and plants really
loaded.
My larger tomatoes are doing as expected (3rd year of planting those
from previous year seed).... one tomato per plant max and yellow wilt
marching up the plants. Each year I save the seed from the plant that
appears most wilt resistant. They actually did better this year than
last two years, so maybe that is working. But the other tomatoes
compensate for the problem ones. Always enough to freeze for a whole
winter's stews. And my Chinese eggplants are flourishing.
Kira

All of my tomatoes are doing very well. I picked another 15 pounds today.
I have Costoluto Genovese, Thessaloniki, and San Marzano Tomatoes. I had
gotten the seeds from The Natural Gardening Company. There are a few
others I am planning on trying next year. (Zapotec)

I had a couple that I got into the earth a little late, but most are
doing so well.

I have been using my dehydrator and making my own sundried tomatoes. Yummy.


Jo

Jo wrote:
I have been using my dehydrator and making my own sundried tomatoes. Yummy.

Talk a bit about that. Are you (or anyone?) using the blast heat from
the sun to dy tomatoes or other vegetables?
If so, how think, how do you keep the bugs off while drying, what is
the screening material they dry on, etc?
Seems a shame to waste all that free solar energy scorching my back
deck these days. I've dried blueberies that way, but never cut veggies.
Thoughts?

I used a dehydrator years ago. It broke and I never replaced it.

I sun dry tomatoes now in the oven at 200 degrees. Normally takes 8-9
hours.

I can't imagine how long it would take if you just racked them out on
the porch...or if the temp ever would get high enough to get the job
done in any reasonable amount of time.

But i'm curious to hear other's experiences.
--
John

jan wrote:
Jo wrote:
I have been using my dehydrator and making my own sundried tomatoes. Yummy.

Talk a bit about that. Are you (or anyone?) using the blast heat from
the sun to dy tomatoes or other vegetables?
If so, how think, how do you keep the bugs off while drying, what is
the screening material they dry on, etc?
Seems a shame to waste all that free solar energy scorching my back
deck these days. I've dried blueberies that way, but never cut veggies.
Thoughts?

jan wrote:
Jo wrote:

I have been using my dehydrator and making my own sundried tomatoes. Yummy.


Talk a bit about that. Are you (or anyone?) using the blast heat from
the sun to dy tomatoes or other vegetables?
If so, how think, how do you keep the bugs off while drying, what is
the screening material they dry on, etc?
Seems a shame to waste all that free solar energy scorching my back
deck these days. I've dried blueberies that way, but never cut veggies.
Thoughts?


I use the dehydrator and it keeps the house cool. I have done them in
the sun in the past, but I don't have an area set up for it. I used a
very fine screen and cheese cloth to keep the critters out. They would
look like skinny boxes, you might be able to get some silk screening
frame kits and convert them. It can take weeks to do, but it is worth
it. If you do it this way, if you see rain coming, bring them in.

I didn't have such a problem with as many bugs up north as I do here as
well as the high humidity, so I gave up on trying to dry things outside.

I love dried blueberries... yummy!

Jo

Teech wrote:
...
I sun dry tomatoes now in the oven at 200 degrees. Normally takes 8-9
hours. ...

Do you mean you *oven* dry them? They aren't sun dried if they
aren't... sun-dried. Right?

- Susan

? wrote:
On 2 Aug 2006 12:39:06 -0700 in . com Susan Hogarth wrote:
Teech wrote:
...
I sun dry tomatoes now in the oven at 200 degrees. Normally takes 8-9
hours. ...

Do you mean you *oven* dry them? They aren't sun dried if they
aren't... sun-dried. Right?

If you hang them in the back of an enterprise class SPARC system from
Fujitsu to dry, are they still SUN dried?

I buy that. Err, the idea that is, not neccessarily the 'maters.

- Susan

? wrote:
On 2 Aug 2006 12:39:06 -0700 in . com Susan Hogarth wrote:
Teech wrote:
...
I sun dry tomatoes now in the oven at 200 degrees. Normally takes 8-9
hours. ...

Do you mean you *oven* dry them? They aren't sun dried if they
aren't... sun-dried. Right?

If you hang them in the back of an enterprise class SPARC system from
Fujitsu to dry, are they still SUN dried?

I'd buy that. Err, the idea that is, not neccessarily the 'maters.

- Susan

? wrote:
On 2 Aug 2006 12:39:06 -0700 in . com Susan Hogarth wrote:

Teech wrote:

...
I sun dry tomatoes now in the oven at 200 degrees. Normally takes 8-9
hours. ...

Do you mean you *oven* dry them? They aren't sun dried if they
aren't... sun-dried. Right?


If you hang them in the back of an enterprise class SPARC system from
Fujitsu to dry, are they still SUN dried?




If you have a mum you can call them son dried tomatoes at least.

If you Google for "drying tomatoes," you will find numerous websites dealing
with drying your own tomatoes. However, the first few I saw mentioned 10 or
12 days outside, plus having to bring the tomatoes in at night. I think it
may simply be way too humid here to leave cut tomatoes for that length of
time (even covered, retrieved at night, etc.)

Anne


"jan" wrote in message
oups.com...

Jo wrote:
I have been using my dehydrator and making my own sundried tomatoes.
Yummy.

Talk a bit about that. Are you (or anyone?) using the blast heat from
the sun to dy tomatoes or other vegetables?
If so, how think, how do you keep the bugs off while drying, what is
the screening material they dry on, etc?
Seems a shame to waste all that free solar energy scorching my back
deck these days. I've dried blueberies that way, but never cut veggies.
Thoughts?