Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Tomatillos?

Collapse

X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Tomatillos?

    I had a thought of growing these when I got Thomasina Miers Mexican cookbook, and then they turned up on Nigel Slaters programme last night. Has anyone grown them please. Are they similar to tomatoes as regards growing?
    Mad Old Bat With Attitude.

    I tried jogging, but I couldn't keep the ice in my glass.

  • #2
    I grew two huge bushes - but didnt get a single tomatillo, In my case, just a waste of time.
    With regards the ease, they grow very well though.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by cupcake View Post
      I had a thought of growing these when I got Thomasina Miers Mexican cookbook, and then they turned up on Nigel Slaters programme last night. Has anyone grown them please. Are they similar to tomatoes as regards growing?
      I am thinking of having a go myself - adore Mexican food and they looked so beautiful on Nigel's show last night

      Comment


      • #4
        Pinging this as I bought a packet of seed? Am I rightt in thinking they're best grown biennially? I think I read that somewhere???

        Comment


        • #5
          They need a long season, and a good metre cubed per plant.

          Comment


          • #6
            I grew some this year in the greenhouse. Grew them just like tomatoes, they do grow tall and need support. Got loads of fruit but as Zaz says, they need a long growing season so I had trouble ripening, they don't seem to ripen off the plant as tomatoes do. Still managed to get a reasonable amount of ripe fruit and will definitely grow some again next year.

            Comment


            • #7
              I grow the ever year, more delicate than tome, so i grow them inside in a pot, outside once it is good & back inside once it getscooler

              Comment


              • #8
                cupcake - I've loads of Verde tomatillos - green ones if you'd liek to try some seeds before splashing out on a full pack?

                IIRC - you need a minimum of two bushes to set fruit. If you would like some, send me an SAE! (PM for address).

                Comment


                • #9
                  I've found them well worth growing, though the long season as others have said caught me out the first time I tried.

                  I managed a good crop this year with two outside in one of my metre squared raised beds (with other crops, though it's a double height bed) and three more outside in huge pots (foot across by foot and a half down or thereabouts, though the crop was very slightly smaller). The weather being what it was this year did shock them a bit but they recovered in two or three weeks with no issues.

                  They do need extensive staking (unless it was just mine that went triffid! ) and a decent amount of water to swell the fruit but I've personally found them a lot less fussy to grow than tomatoes and have tended to just let them sprawl, tying up a few stems at a time when they get too big.

                  For the type I grew, the unripe ones were still edible (roasted and then froze most of mine), just more bitter.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Sounds like a crop for the propagator then! Thanks for all your replies.
                    Mad Old Bat With Attitude.

                    I tried jogging, but I couldn't keep the ice in my glass.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      They're a doddle, especially the green ones. You can eat them as soon as they're big enough and they don't need to ripen as such. I grew 5 last year outside (as ever) in a lottie bed (think they took up about 4' by 5'ish and produced tonnes even in a rubbish summer. Use them mainly for Mexican but also put some in chutney. I've not found they need a long season, tend to sow on the window ledge in April, plant out end of May and am harvesting in mid August. Very pretty too.

                      Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

                      Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by northepaul View Post
                        I grew two huge bushes - but didnt get a single tomatillo, In my case, just a waste of time.
                        With regards the ease, they grow very well though.
                        Likewise Paul! I also had two huge pot grown plants with a couple of hundred fruits on each, but still didn't get an edible one. They were all like peas!
                        My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
                        to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

                        Diversify & prosper


                        Comment

                        Latest Topics

                        Collapse

                        Recent Blog Posts

                        Collapse
                        Working...
                        X