Dysfunctional tomatoes

[medievalgirl]

I've got 3 tomato plants in growbags, in the sunniest bit of the garden against a south-facing wall. They're stupidly tall (7 feet) and the tomatoes are not really ripening. The plants have each got one or two tomatoes that are reddening a bit, but it's a blackish red - doesn't look normal. I've been careful to water them regularly (but not too much - no standing water allowed) and feed them. And OK, we've had a rubbish summer. But I'm wondering, are they not ripening properly because the plants have got too tall rather than concentrating their energy on producing fruit? My friend said I should lop their tops off after there were about 5 trusses, but I was overambitious and didn't follow his advice. Should I lop the tops off now or is it too late?

here's a link which may help

It could be that they simply need more time...

Yes cut the tops.

Re colour , I don't suppose they are supposed to be black ones?

HJ, I don't think they're supposed to be black, but the plants were a gift so I can't be certain.

NC, thanks for the link. It's made me even more sure they're dysfunctional, because they started changing colour about three weeks ago!

Right, I'm off to lop their heads off.

Thank you for the advice. :-)

remove any and all sideshots you can find as these are sapping the plants energy, you will need to feed toms at this time of the year, I cheat by watering my plants with a pint of Guinness each week which makes them an intense red colour and gives them a good strong flavour due to the high iron content of the guinness, I also put a few handfulls of sugar around the base of the plant which in turn sweetens the fruit.

Bureni, I do already remove the side shoots, but I LOVE your sugar and Guinness ideas! I'm going to try those.