THE TOMATO GROWING THREAD 2018

I am lucky as my plants are kept in the conservatory until May then transferred into the greenhouse so no heating costs as conservatory never drops below 12 degrees C. I am sometimes picking toms while still in conservatory as they are in their final pots before transferring.

 

Hi,

You will have to try them an see how you plants/seedling react to them, you might find they need to be a close as possible.

Think the biggest problem of the little heated propagators on the sunny windowsill is how high the temperature can get when the sun actually catches them.

Young seedling can easily suffer, so on a clear day I often put some shading over the window and have a thermostat so it cuts the heating power if it goes over 20c.

Equally if using curtains do not leave the prop behind them overnight as it can get too cold.

I've only tried these 28W mains run led bulbs ( for safety its in a locked greenhouse with no kids around) and last year the plants seems to enjoy the leds, partic the fuchsia cuttings.

As you can perhaps just make out in the pic above, I have one of those mini 4x2ft greenhouses on top of a bench in the main greenhouse with one of those yellow heating cables.

The Tumbling Tom being so small I was looking at getting a few growing on early as they are not going to get much over 30cm tall.
Would be nice to get some very early home grown toms by May.

I have a heater in the main greenhouse and its has a controller which keeps it at aminimum of 4c without costing a fortune, though it is insulated; have found that many tender plants survive overwinter ok, partic my current favourites, the fuchsias.

If you can get electricity in there it does take greenhouse growing to another level, well worth it imho.

 

Rather than reply to multiple quotes of several recent posts ...

Seeds for outdoor plants should normally be sown later than for indoor/undercover plants.

Filling a propagator under lights with pots of seedlings could cause problems as they grow and need even more space under lights before daylight times become long enough to move elsewhere.

Some tomato varieties react badly to being continously under growlights (turning blue, thinning of leaves and 'burnt' white patches) and need some time in natural light, can be on a window sill during the day.

I start moving tomatoes started indoors into my greenhouse late March/early April, but they require expensive heating and top up (growlight) lighting. Unless you've got loads of other stuff in there, this wouldn't be cost effective.

 

I think it's true to say we are all waiting to get the seed compost out and opening all those lovely seed packets.

 

Im planning on starting marconi peppers,tumbling toms and a few others in the boiler room. Got a 6000k led light 36w. Should cost me c. £3 pm in electrickery. Heat from boiler.
May add some additional 9w 2ft led tubes at 4000k if needed and in spring. It may all go pear shaped but fancy giving it a go.

 

Last of the 2018 tomatoes

 

I'm looking after a neighbour's 2 patio tomato plants for a week. They are in good nick so as long as the weather behaves...
They are "Totem " patio bush.
Can anyone tell me more about them ? Have you grown them ?
thank you,
Jenny namaste

 

Just a thought.
I have a greenhouse full of tomatoes ,now they are all tall strong plants with loads of small green fruit and flowers,they also have loads of strong healthy leaves.
Now the question is how many of these leaves should I remove .
What is there value to the plant ,what if we removed them all.
No of course not ,what if we leave them all on........or is there a happy medium.
My thought is what do the leaves give or take away from the fruit at this stage?

 

I remove leaves to let more light and air in. It decongests and helps the fruit ripen.

 

@Jenny namaste. Ive not done much gardening but last year I did try a Totem and although I got quite a lot of fruit it was tasteless. Scary looking after somebody else's plants. The goldfish story springs to mind. I just watered mine every day, removed any leaves that turned yellow and fed them once a month. Good luck. :-)

 

That’s pretty much what I do. If the plants get a bit overgrown, I might just trim the leaves a bit.
Btw, this is the 2018 thread

 

on my potted tomatoes I have wee babies forming. its a rarity I grow them. if it was not for my good neighbor having extra I would not have them. he had so many types.

 

Anyone actually picking red tomatoes yet?