Despite suffering blight on my indoor tomatoes (it gained access via the odd splash of water through gaps in the glazing) I seem to be getting plenty of good sized specimens ripening in good time for the weekend's shows. I've kept on top of the blight by removing any leaflets showing signs of infection and disposing of them, but I was half prepared for the whole crop to fail.
However, I've been lucky and I'm confident that my toms are better this year than last year when I won 5 out of the 7 shows I entered. They're certainly a better shape than last year due to the fact that I thinned my trusses to give the remaining fruit more room to develop fully, and not get 'flat sides' from overcrowding on the truss. There also seem to be more large fruits than in previous years, again due to thinning out early in the season as soon as the tomatoes are about the size of a pea.
I'd also recommend the idea of sinking a 2 litre lemonade bottle upside down into the soil (with the bottom cut out) and watering into this. This keeps the soil surface dry and prevents any dampness in the glasshouse which tomatoes hate. This can manifest itself as white 'ghost spots' on the skins and can lead to downpointing.
Last night our Society had a tour round a crysanth enthusiast's garden. I thought I was obsessed until I saw what he had to do to keep hundreds of crysanths fed, sprayed and watered....all growing in pots! I admire the dedication of these growers and there's nothing more stunning on the show bench that a vase of large ball shaped blooms but I think if I got into 'crissies' then Leesa would divorce me....she thinks I spend far too long in the garden as it is! He's also growing a few 'tommies' for Hathern Show and took us into his greenhouse to show us. He seemed quite proud of them
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