Tomatoes not ripening!

[ReNayNay]

I planted Better Boys and a hybrid, (whose name I can't recall ) from seed in early March. I transferred them into peat pots when sprouts appeared around mid March. I transferred two of the plants to a self-watering garden system and moved them to the deck in mid-April. They are now 5ft high, tons of fruit, plenty of flowers, no sign of any diseases.

They seem to be growing well. I have fertilized them every two weeks, trimmed the suckers (at least I think they were suckers ). The largest fruit so far, is about the size of a golfball. The weather here was wet at first, and really nice (80 degrees, lower than normal humidity) more recently. Since these are the first tomatoes I've ever planted, I guess I'm looking for reassurance that things are progressing normally.

[rainbowgardener]

Lots of people are having that issue, at least partly due to the cool season we've been having in lots of parts of the country. But you probably need to STOP fertilizing. Especially if you are using something that is high in nitrogen (that's the N in N-P-K, the first number in the ratio). Tomato fertilizer is usually like 5-10-10. Nitrogen encourages it to grow tall and leafy, but discourages fruit production. It would probably help at this point to pinch out or clip the growing tips. That will also help focus the plant on developing fruit, not just growing taller.

But the tomatoes don't turn red until they are full sized. If your Better Boys are golf ball sized, they have a long way to go, they should get three times that big. Are your plants in full sun? If your rain stops, you definitely need to keep watering them. On the deck means in containers. Tomato plants in containers dry out way faster than in the ground. If it gets hot you might even need to water twice a day... they need lots of water to get big enough to ripen. (If you are watering twice a day, then you might need to go back to fertilizing because that flushes nutrients, but if so look for the 5-10-10 or even higher on the P-K end if you can find it) Let us know how it goes...

[Bigdtc]

Your fine. Mine are a little behind too. Enough with the fertilizer as rainbowgardener said. I have 4 varieties of tomatoes and all are still green but with huge plants and lots of fruit. Be prepared when they do ripen, though. Youll get a lot at one time...

[LumpyLungwort]

I'm based in uk, summertime here and my tom's are, well a few, are just starting to turn orange "Shirley" and "Gardeners Delight".
I was recommended pinching out the top at six trusses but opted for five to play it safe.
It's the first time I've grown them and they are on the deck like yours , I've been feeding them once a week and watering once a day.
The only thing lacking with mine, as they are also still mostly green, is the sun not shining.
Hope yours pick up soon, as do mine...........