Tomato

ss== When your tomatoes don't ripen ==

Most gardeners know that you have to pinch out the suckers from tomato plants (left photo). Sometimes it is necessary to do more pruning on tomato plants when the fruits ripen. Tomatoes get red quickly in full sunlight but take a long time in the shade, even under hot conditions. They also don't get very sweet without direct sunlight. Tomato fruits first grow lower on the plant, later they appear in the top. When your tomato plant has formed fruits, you can remove the leaves and branches that shade the tomatoes. Tomato plants are fast growers and they can easily do without these leaves.

Preserving tomatoes in salt

Blanch the tomatoes two minutes in boiling water and then cool them in cold water. Pack the tomatoes in sterilized jars, add a tablespoon of sea salt for a 500 ml jar. Fill up the jars with boiling water within a quarter inch of the top. Put the open jars in a water bath of 90 C (194 F) for 22 minutes to sterilize them, then put the lids on and take them out.

Gallery

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  Close-up of tomato flower

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  Tomato seeds, cherry, Maja

See also

• Gardening courses
• Knowledge base:Gardening
• Phytophthora

External links

• [http://www.examiner.com/article/blossum-end-rot-on-tomatoes-1 Blossom end rot on tomatoes}
• Tomato Wikipedia