Tomato woe

[TheGriffle]

We’ve grown some yellow tomatoes, we’re fairly new greenhouse owners and have only grown red ones the past year when we first had the greenhouse. The yellow ones have gone speckled brown when they’ve ripened, they’re not overripe or mushy but the skin is mottled, are they still safe to eat does anyone know? I’ve tried Google and image search but nothings really come up, only blight, which I don’t think this is? Never had this on the red ones that we’ve grown/are growing now.

It doesn’t rub or wash off or anything either so it’s not a mould I’m guessing?

Tomato blight I suspect. I wouldn’t eat them, sorry, you need to pull up and destroy the plants if it is blight.

mine go like that when they get too much sun exposure.

blight has a very distinctive smell. if they smell like tomato then they are fine to eat.
you can always use them in cooking.

I've had them like that before and they've been OK to eat. It would be early for blight esp in a greenhouse (although it's been very wet) . If the plants look healthy (no black or brown patches on stems) I'd be inclined to think it wasn't blight as it usually shows up on plants before fruit and it's more patches on fruit

That really doesn’t look like blight. How are the vines looking?

That happens to my yellow ones. It's not blight. They are fine to eat.

The vines are fine, odd brown leaf but no rot etc. the fruit is fine when you cut it open it’s literally just on the skin. I thought blight was a patch of rot that starts on the bottom. It’s a variety that’s supposed to be in a hanging basket which we didn’t realise so it’s really close to the ground. The red plants we have are all perfect and not a mark on them so I was wondering if it’s just something yellow tomatoes do!

A patch of rot that starts at bottom is bottom end rot. Will happen to odd fruits on a plant but not terminal for the plant (some will just cut off rotten bit and eat fruit still). Blight usually starts on leaves as brown spots but lots of things can cause that. White outlines to the spots on leaves (fungal) and dark patches on stem are more telling followed by ripe and unripe fruit getting brown patches but it looks different to what you've got.

We get blight on our outdoor tomatoes but usually not until late August at earliest. Never had it in greenhouse as it offers some protection as wind spread. Once you get blight you might be able to save fruit if you pick it before it reaches fruit but it's a destroy the plant job and keep everything isolated from other toms

The patch of rot starting at the bottom of the fruit is blossom end rot, not blight.
This doesn’t sound like anything that could harm you anyway.

I get some like that every year..absolutely fine to eat.. I am living proof!!

Thank you all, I might risk it as it is literally just the mottled skin and it appears after they’ve ripened. The unripe ones are unblemished green, then pale yellow and as soon as they turn darker yellow that’s when the mottled look starts. This plant is getting attacked by wood lice being at floor level so don’t think it will last too long anyway, should have moved it to a basket when we realised it wasn’t a normal tomato plant.

Strangely, my Golden Crown tomatoes (which look identical to yours) have the same thing this year. I grew the same variety last year, from the same seed packet and all were clear, yellow with no brown mottles. Mine are outside though. I too would be interested in what it is. I wonder if the damp, early summer was to blame, but then yours are inside a greenhouse! 🤔

If it's in a container, can you stand it up on some bricks or suchlike?

I think I'd plunge them in boiling water to skin them before eating.

There’s nothing special about growing in hanging baskets. Most tomatoes grow with a long main stem which you train upright. Some tomatoes have a much more branching habit. Since the general tendency of tomatoes is to flop, this second group is sold for hanging baskets where they can flop to their hearts’ content.

you could just put the container on top of something - on staging if it’s a grow bag, on an upturned pot if it’s a pot.

It’s in a raised bed in the greenhouse so I’d have to dig it up to do anything about it being at floor
level. Our normal tomatoes are as tall as me, this one is barely ankle height. Thought it would never grown after we planted it until I took another look at the card and realised where we should have planted it.

I wouldn't worry about the discoloured skin, they'll be absolutely fine to eat. Most likely just normal colouration. It's obvious when fruit is diseased and not fit to eat - brown and mushy etc.

If it’s in a raised bed it’s fine