Tomatillo failure and success

enchant · October 5, 2019

Last winter I started doing a little Mexican food cooking and bought tomatillos from a nearby supermarket. They were all about 2.5"-3" across. On a lark, I bought a packet of seeds and planted a few along with my usual tomatoes. They came up big and strong and were the healthiest plants in my garden all season. Even today, with all of my tomato plants looking like the Addams' Family garden, the tomatillos are green and still flowering. Tons of fruit everywhere.

The problem is that none of the fruit are very big. The largest in the garden is less than 2", and the rest range from 1" to barely perceptible. The husks are all looking good, but they're mostly hollow inside with tiny inhabitants.

I live near Boston and while I've got enough sun for tomatoes, maybe there's not enough for these. Is this normal?

bitterwort · October 6, 2019

That seems fairly normal for my experience here in Minnesota. Tomatillos are always later than the tomatoes, so they don't fill out the husks until later in the season. This year many of them are later than usual because we've had very rainy, cloudy weather most of the summer. If you don't get frost too early, you may still wind up with a good crop.

enchant · October 6, 2019

They've got a long way to go in a a short time. They were planted 6.5 months ago and have been in the ground for five months. Frost is probably just a few weeks away.

October 23, 2019

I've had some early tomatillos, to compete with early tomatoes:
* Amarylla
* Yellow (this one gets fairly large, sweet fruit)
* A kind that came from one I got from a friend that had crossed with Purple De Milpa in my yard (Purple De Milpa wasn't early for me, though); these get really sweet and good when fully ripe, but have that potatoey taste that some tomatillos have.

I've had more success growing them in containers. That makes me think they probably like warmer roots.

Tomatillos shouldn't need loads of sun.

Out of the later ones I've tried, I like the flavor of Cisineros a lot.

October 5, 2019	#1
enchant Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 142	Tomatillo failure and success Last winter I started doing a little Mexican food cooking and bought tomatillos from a nearby supermarket. They were all about 2.5"-3" across. On a lark, I bought a packet of seeds and planted a few along with my usual tomatoes. They came up big and strong and were the healthiest plants in my garden all season. Even today, with all of my tomato plants looking like the Addams' Family garden, the tomatillos are green and still flowering. Tons of fruit everywhere. The problem is that none of the fruit are very big. The largest in the garden is less than 2", and the rest range from 1" to barely perceptible. The husks are all looking good, but they're mostly hollow inside with tiny inhabitants. I live near Boston and while I've got enough sun for tomatoes, maybe there's not enough for these. Is this normal?

October 6, 2019	#2
bitterwort Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MN Zone4b Posts: 292	That seems fairly normal for my experience here in Minnesota. Tomatillos are always later than the tomatoes, so they don't fill out the husks until later in the season. This year many of them are later than usual because we've had very rainy, cloudy weather most of the summer. If you don't get frost too early, you may still wind up with a good crop. __________________ Bitterwort

October 23, 2019	#4
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	I've had some early tomatillos, to compete with early tomatoes: * Amarylla * Yellow (this one gets fairly large, sweet fruit) * A kind that came from one I got from a friend that had crossed with Purple De Milpa in my yard (Purple De Milpa wasn't early for me, though); these get really sweet and good when fully ripe, but have that potatoey taste that some tomatillos have. I've had more success growing them in containers. That makes me think they probably like warmer roots. Tomatillos shouldn't need loads of sun. Out of the later ones I've tried, I like the flavor of Cisineros a lot. Last edited by shule1; October 23, 2019 at 05:50 AM.