Have my tomatoes turned into some sort of mutants?
Q What on earth has happened to my tomatoes? They are cherry red and cherry orange. All was normal, developing normal fruit, then there was a sudden masses of flowers and the fruits have gone a pointed shape.
Jane Campbell, Longlevens, Gloucester
A Remarkable! Indisputably, your tomato plants have changed character. From producing normal trusses of round fruits to those that are pointed, together with immense flowering trusses, indicates that your tomatoes have mutated. This is not an uncommon occurrence.
This crop is noted for gene aberration, when cells suddenly behave abnormally. There are varieties grown for their huge trusses of fruit. In this instance, your plants have ‘acquired’ this characteristic. Happily, the pointed fruits that result should be as tasty as the normal globular ones.
I observed, too, that some trusses of your tomato plants have flattened, strap-like stems. This is called fasciation and it is usually triggered by some sort of damage to the plant’s growing point, or by an infection.
Can we bring our aucuba’s spots back?
Q We bought an aucuba two years ago. At first it was very spotty, but now it is spotless but healthy. How can we induce it to get ‘acne’ again?
