Zone 5 here, and I have had to survive on Cherry tomtoes and one Celebrity for 6 days.

d

"I am not sure if the couple weeks in June of below normal temps are the cause of the delay."

It depends on how early you planted. It could be the cause, it all depends on timing. Depending on the timing of the cold spell, it could have stunted your plants and set them back a few weeks. If that was not the case, it's also possible that your first flowers were just opening during the cold spell, it might have been too cold for them to pollinate early / properly, so you might have missed out on your first couple fruits.

I planted in the first week of April and only gave protection from hard frosts and I've been getting ripe tomatoes since July 1st, but that's probably largely due to the above average temps we had in late April / May.

The weather is all out of whack this year. This is one of the hottest and driest growing seasons I've seen in about 10 years - although there's positives and negatives to every extreme. The hotter temps have made for smaller plants in some cases, with slightly lower yields, but damn has the flavor really kicked up on some of the varieties. Brandywine Sudduths is so sweet this year that I swear I could put it on a plate as-is and convince people they were eating watermelon, lol.

Not in zone 5, but I haven't gotten a single ripe tom yet, between all the rain storms we've had and the deer topping my plants(twice).

This is the worst year I have experienced with my tomatoes in all the years I have been gardening. I am in zone 6 also and I just don't understand it.

I planted Sheboygan this year to make juice, Opalka and San Marzano for canning, plus my standards Champion and Dona, along with some cherry types.

I am so dissapointed with the performance of the Opalka and the Sebouygans. They are ripe on the bottom and green on the top. Weird. If they don't start getting better I won't have anything to can.

I planted on May the 9th and in years past have had tomatoes by June 30th.

It's funny that this post appeared today because I was going to write about this very issue.

I will be curious to see how the season progresses with this issue.

I planted out memorial day weekend. We have had 4 enchantment plums ripen - nothing else which is beefy boy, san marzano redorta, marglobe and strawberry cherries. All have fruit how the smr have lots of early blight. I'm zone 7 I think

Thank you everyone for the responses. I planted this year in 2 phases a week apart from each other starting on May 10th. That was the day after mothers day I believe, not good with the hallmark holidays. Last year it was a couple days after Memorial day due to a late frost and life situations. I just thought it strange that this year my tomatoes have been slow coming into ripeness.

It is funny that after I wrote this post I am starting to see several start to blush. Well yesterday morning anyhow.

Sundrops I have had the same issue with mine for the 3 years I have had a garden. Yes I am just a noob at this gardening thing, other then 20 years ago when I had the room for it. But my tomatoes ripen funny they get nice and red from the bottom up about 3/4 of the way and are green on the top. I have never understood this when friends and family in the same neighborhood with same varieties don't have the issue. I can set them for a few days on their stem and they will finish ripening. Although they are firmer at the top and sometimes still green inside a bit. Anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

Next year be sure to plant an early variety. I've found Sungold begins to ripen first. And this year, my first time trying it, Bloody Butcher ripened early. I'm seeing blushes on the others, but at least I've got something to tide me over.

I'm actually zone 6b so I guess I'm right there along with you but I planted out later than you. I'll see if I have anymore blushing on Friday when I go out

Funny this year is the earliest I've ever harvested full size mid-season tomatoes. (I didn't plant an early variety this year.) So far I have harvested: Rose be Berne, Caspian Pink and Brandywine. Go figure I'm about 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule. I guess it depends on the geography and the weather as always. FYI - Pea crop was down this year as was lettuce due to the early heat. Win some, lose some.

Next year start spanking your plants as soon as they start blooming. Start spanking again when temps reach above 95 if they ever do in your neck of the woods.

It's been really good this year, had first Bloody Butcher mid June, lots of BB, Stupice, Sungold, and SuperSweet 100's all through July. Started getting some Polish Dwarf, Amish Paste, Yellow Pear and Black Cherry over the past couple of weeks. Just had the first Early Girl. Still waiting for all the larger varieties to blush. It's been very warm and dry this season.

I have 40 tomato plants that are beautiful, green, full and without actual tomatoes. This is the first time in 10 years of gardening I have noticed this. I planted late May after the cold weather. It is just a weird season in terms of fruit production.

I picked my first 2 ripe tomotoes today. The good news is that those 2 Black Cherries ripened at just about the right DTM.

The bad news is that they were the only 2 tomatoes on the entire plant. Now the plant is bare, and there is not one flower to look forward to for additional fruit. The plant, itself, is barely 18 inches tall after having been in the ground for 9 weeks.

75% of my plants are pathetically tiny and producing very little fruit even though my soil was tested and rated excellent for nutrients, structure, water retention and drainage.

It must be the heat.

I've only had a few ripe ones. I attribute the lack of ripe toms to the fact that some deer topped off all of the plants a month or so back.

Mine are super late this year, but from the looks of them now, I'm going to have a really nice August harvest if this sunny warm weather keeps up.

I thought to ask question about tomatoe ripening this year but thought to search first in case someone recently asked about it. Surely orbdweller asked the same question describing situation that I might have indicated. I am in Zine 5 and always plant tomatoes after the last frost date and always get ripe tomatoes around July 15. However, so fot I got two half-ripe tomeatoes that then ripened inside the house.
There might be something in this year seasonal progress that we don't notice but the tomatoe plants sense it and behave accordingly but I don't know what it is.

Ottawan;

Not a freeze, but we had a couple late June bouts of high 40's. I got 47F once. We think that is why lots of the zone 5's in the rockies are singing the blues.

Did you get anything like that?

I'm so disappointed. I've never had problems growing tomatoes - in fact I had 16 large plants last year. Too many. It has to be the weather this year. My first plants were stunted by the early cold spell in June and were starting to shrivel. Pulled them out and planted new ones. It's been incredibly hot with rain coming down in buckets periodically - then nothing. They've doubled in size, but have very little fruit on them. I'll wait and see what's going to happen. Bummer. Miss those tomatoes.

I just got back from my weekend gardening. One beefy boy is turning red and 4 more enchantments were ripe. One san marzano redorta is ripening. I only have around 10 of those - they aren't doing very well - and I have 4 plants of them. They are the most diseased of all my plants. Anyone know how large Marglobe should be? I have tons of them on the plants and none of them are very big and none have ripened. They don't look like they are getting larger either. I never grew them before.

Well I see I am not alone, although its been a week since my org post and this weekend I picked about 15 pounds of roma's. Not all were ready to eat but a few days on the counter and they'll be ready for canning.

I still haven't got any of the slicing tomatoes but a few are starting to blush.

Thanks for all the replys I hope they tide turns for everyone else.

I'm going on record just so I don't have to look through hundreds of e-mails again! Back injury, Sciatica, and family matters have set me back about a month... or more.

I planted most of my cherries, 12 plants, on 6/21 in 4-gallon containers and most hearts and pastes plus Cherokee Bi-color, Korney's Cross, Earl of Edgecombe, Sophie's Choice & Romeo in 5-gallon containers 6/20. My raised beds didn't get planted until 7/10, including a Speckled Roman and all my larger varieties. Peppers are a blur, I think in 4 gallon continers near the end of June and raised beds 7/17.

So, in all 56 tomatoes & 44 peppers...

6/20--20 pastes, hearts, Cherokee Bi-color, KC F9, SC, EoE, Romeo
6/21--11 cherries (short 1 spot; filled it with a NBD on 7/4.)
7/4--1 New Big Dwarf; planted with the cherries--had room for 1 plant in that caged pen.
7/10--24 beefsteaks, crosses, Speckled Roman, Wes, Slankard's (5 gal containers for Wes & Slankard's)

To date, I have picked 4 Speckled Romans (3 from 6/20 planting & 1 from 7/10 planting), 1 huge Joe's Plum (yesterday, from 6/20), 1 Wagner's Italian (6/20, picked yesterday), 3 Haley's Purple Comets (from 6/21, picked 7/31), about a dozen Sungolds and about 30 Matt's Wild Cherries over the past week or 2. There are 2 Sophies on the only plant, both ripe, but didn't pick them yet. I think 1 Opalka is ripe too. So I am getting some ripe maters in as little as 40-42 days due to the heatwaves we've had--even less days for cherries...oh, and about 5 Snow Whites over the last week.

Everything except 1 Speckled Roman were from containers. I'd say my numbers are quite small so far, but days to maturity are really short.

All tomato seeds were started on 4/8--that's less than 100 days seed to ripe fruit for some! My raised bed plants are barely 3ft tall yet, but the cherries & pastes are about 5ft+ tall.

Let's hope the L-XL-XXL varieties get something before first frost, usually the first week of October!

Some are asking whether cool temperatures may be behind the late production. I think it may be the opposite.

Most of us in North America have seen some pretty amazing hot weather, in many cases very humid as well. Tomatoes don't like temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. They get stunted.

My tomatoes are producing and ripening, but I did see some slight symptoms right in the middle of the heatwave. Tomatoes weren't ripening for about ten days (but the plants kept getting larger). As soon as the "normal" weather returned, a bunch of flowers popped up to replace the ones that seem to have dried on the vine without producing anything.

Right now, there are about 500 (yes, five hundred) cherry tomatoes in one of my plants ripening away.

I am no expert, but I think the unusually hot weather may have something to do with the lack of ripening...

I'm going on record just so I don't have to look through hundreds of e-mails again! Back injury, Sciatica, and family matters have set me back about a month... or more.

I planted most of my cherries, 12 plants, on 6/21 in 4-gallon containers and most hearts and pastes plus Cherokee Bi-color, Korney's Cross, Earl of Edgecombe, Sophie's Choice & Romeo in 5-gallon containers 6/20. My raised beds didn't get planted until 7/10, including a Speckled Roman and all my larger varieties. Peppers are a blur, I think in 4 gallon continers near the end of June and raised beds 7/17.

So, in all 56 tomatoes & 44 peppers...

6/20--20 pastes, hearts, Cherokee Bi-color, KC F9, SC, EoE, Romeo
6/21--11 cherries (short 1 spot; filled it with a NBD on 7/4.)
7/4--1 New Big Dwarf; planted with the cherries--had room for 1 plant in that caged pen.
7/10--24 beefsteaks, crosses, Speckled Roman, Wes, Slankard's (5 gal containers for Wes & Slankard's)

To date, I have picked 4 Speckled Romans (3 from 6/20 planting & 1 from 7/10 planting), 1 huge Joe's Plum (yesterday, from 6/20), 1 Wagner's Italian (6/20, picked yesterday), 3 Haley's Purple Comets (from 6/21, picked 7/31), about a dozen Sungolds and about 30 Matt's Wild Cherries over the past week or 2. There are 2 Sophies on the only plant, both ripe, but didn't pick them yet. I think 1 Opalka is ripe too. So I am getting some ripe maters in as little as 40-42 days due to the heatwaves we've had--even less days for cherries...oh, and about 5 Snow Whites over the last week.

Everything except 1 Speckled Roman were from containers. I'd say my numbers are quite small so far, but days to maturity are really short.

All tomato seeds were started on 4/8--that's less than 100 days seed to ripe fruit for some! My raised bed plants are barely 3ft tall yet, but the cherries & pastes are about 5ft+ tall.

Let's hope the L-XL-XXL varieties get something before first frost, usually the first week of October!

Sorry, got a GET error message first time, then a can't find error like not connected...

Ottawan:
I thought I'd give you a status on my progress since I'm close to you (assuming you're from Ottawa, ON!).
My tomatoes seem to have topped out in height between 4-6ft.
I have lots of green tomatoes but have made BLTs with a few ripe ones. My first ripe one was 2 weeks ago and off the same plant others are ripening as we speak. I can't tell you the variety because they're all mixed up. I can only identify Black Cherry (some ripe), and Japanese Black Trifele - which, BTW, did horribly for me last year in terms of production and fruit size, and WONDERFULLY this year! All green, but nicely shaped and large.
They are in raised beds, red mulch and a soaker system. They haven't gotten early blight (yet). I gotta say that I'm pleased with my crop (Cross my fingers, no BER or EB) so far. All the other tomatoes off the plants are green. Except for JBT, I think the others are early-mid, mid DTM. I guess we just have to hope our warm weather continues for a while! Good luck.

Here in Seattle I have lots of big green tomatoes and even more small ones. A few of my smaller ones (Matina) have turned red, but I am still waiting on Anna Russia and Paul Robeson to turn. It has been a very cool summer, the weather is nice if you want to go out and have fun, but miserable for vegetables like tomatoes. Nights are consistently below 56 *F and right now the forecasts are telling me highs will be below 70 this weekend during the daytime.

If the weather does not cooperate like this, there's really nothing you can do about it. I'm glad I at least have a few very healthy plants with some large unripe fruit on them; eventually they will ripen.

I've had 2 ripe Stupice here in Montreal. Lots to come.
Joe