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This is more of a plant question but I thought maybe you can help.I started tomatos from seed indoors,Delicous variety and purchased a Sweet Million plant from a local garden center.I live near Washington DC we had a much colder than normal May so instead of transplanting outdoors the first week in May as I normally would I set out plants on the 20th,given that I understand it was a much colder about 11degrees than normal we had an extremely hot June and it has been at least 85 or warmer virtually every day since it is now July 20 and all I have is lots of green tomatos even the cherry type which mature more rapidly,does extreme temperature shifts and extreme heat also reduce or delay production on warm weather plants such as tomatos and peppers?this seems unusually late for this area to not have ripening,my cucumbers are producing abundantly,though I realize they are mostly water.
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Hi Peter,
Thanx for your question.  Tomatoes originate from mountainous areas in Mexico.  The like the heat of the day but also enjoy cool nights.  They produce and ripen best when day temps are in the mid-80s and night temps fall to between 50 and 60 degrees.  When temps stay consistently above 85 degrees the flowers can abort and production of fruit will cease or at least slow down until temps fall.  If night temps stay consistently above 70 degrees the fruit will slow down the ripening process and it seems like it takes forever to get a ripe tomato.  I'm in the Kansas City area.  We are entering our peak hot time of the year and it has already kissed 100 degrees.  I don't imagine I will be harvesting too many tomatoes until it cools down next week.  I have tons of green tomatoes although we have harvest some ripens a couple of weeks ago.  Be patient and keep the plants well watered and soon you'll have ripe fruit.  The key is don't let the ground dry out.  Keep the plants well watered.  I hope this helps.
Tom So we were too cold,now too hot,yes in July the night temps rarely fell below 70 and daytime highs and I have to check the NWS I believe we came close to if not breaking a record of amount of days over 90,Ok another question,Obviously cucumbers like it this hot because they are producing abundantly,right? Also most of my cukes are developing properly with a nice green texture but 1 vine is showing leaves that are a paler green then the others and the cucumbers are getting large but remaining pale green to yellow ,what can be causing this? I am watering adequately.leaves are not torn or rotted,I planted Pointsett 76 which is supposed to be tolerant to fungus .
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Hi Peter,
Thanx for the followup.  Cukes love the heat as long as they're getting a lot of water.  Sometimes, plants will vary in color, size, productivity, especially if they are hybrids.  If the paleness is due to a whitish tinge, that could be a sign of some kind of blight (a fungal disease) this is usually followed by wilt and death of the plant.  If the plant keeps fruiting and looks healthy, it's probably just a genetic variation.  I hope this helps.
Tom  Thanks,most fruits are Ok,but the edges of some of the leaves are brown or yellow and a few have holes,what should I spray ?I have tried neem oil for fungicide,My cantaloup plant has same problem.

Answer
Hi Peter,
Thanx for using us again.  It sounds like a pest.  Could be a pest specific to cucumbers and canteloupes.  These will be hard to kill once they have infested your plants.  Have you grown cucurbits (canteloupes or cucumbers) in this part of the garden before?  I would recommend planting your cukes and canteloupes in another area of the garden next year as the pests may over winter.  Also, take all of the plants up after they have finished fruiting and burn them to ensure that there is nothing for the pests to overwinter in.  If the plants are fruiting and there is no significant damage just look and see if you can find some beetles on the undersides of the leaves or silver bugs on the fruit.  You can pick these off and this will help save the plants and the fruits.  I know it seems intensive.  I don't recommend pesticides because I don't use them.  I hope this helps.
Tom