2013 Tomato Growing

Hiya Kristen.

As you say, by the end of June should be ok. But, as I recall, last year was not only wet, but quite cold and windy at times. I had decided not to grow outdoor toms again after last year, because although they were eventually wiped out by blight, they never really got going, which I put down to the weather. I have now decided to have one last try, and to offer some protection when needed.

 

As I see it height doesn't come into it if you are going for four trusses, as this will determine the ultimate height!

Some cordon varieties can be as much as 9"-12" between trusses depending upon available light, whereas a shrub variety might produce trusses at around 6" intervals.

So as I see it variety and available light are the key factors.

What do you think?

 

Hiya Tee Gee.

Yes, quite right. I mostly only grow cordon varieties, and it is for those that I have to allow for. My own (somewhat limited) experience is that they have produced their fourth trust at around the three foot mark. I am taking into account the comments made here (which is why I asked in the first place ) and going for four feet high. It may or may not work out, but it can't be any worse than last year

Cheers...Freddy

 

You can also "plant deep" so that the first trust is very near the ground, if you are "height limited" ?

 

Yes, I do that routinely now, following on from several posts on the topic

 

And, as I expect was already raised in this thread, you could start from Cuttings from plants seed-raised earlier in the year which will, usually, have their first truss lower down the plant.

 

Good point

 

Following on from that, what kinda timescale are we talking about when planning to sow seed and taking cuttings for outdoor use?

 

Hiya John.

The toms I'm growing in the G/H aren't the same varieties I plan to grow outside. Normally, I sow around mid-March for inside. For outside I would normally sow mid-April. Obviously I would need to get the plants to a stage at which they were suitable for taking cuttings, ie...plenty of side-shoots with good growth. Hmm...thinking about it, it might be more trouble than it's worth, relying on successful cuttings. I think I'll just do what I normally do, sow mid-April

 

You'd have to be very keen to get a shorter plant! to want to bother with it, that's for sure. Local shed will probably have the variety you want, complete with unremoved sideshoots, shivering in the cold, ready for help-yourself, a couple of weeks ago already

I did record, some years ago, how long from seed-sown to side-shoots long enough for cuttings, and then from cuttings to ready-to-plant out; its quite a long time of course. But, for planting outside, there is quite a bit of time available. Sorry not got the figures to hand any more, they might be in a thread somewhere ...

The forum on the Grow Fruit and Veg magazine's website had a competition (last year I think?) for the maximum number of generations of take-cutting, grow on, take-cutting-from-that ... which would perhaps give a good indication of the time from taking a cutting to the plant having a big enough side shoot to be usable as a cutting.

Bit of an academic exercise though I suspect ...

JWK: You grafting some this year? Sorry, I've forgotten already :(

 

Yep, I'm gonna rely on seed grown

 

I'm actually really looking forward to this years season. Even though I've suffered losses in past years, the experience I've gained will hopefully stand me in good stead. I still have the problem of an Alkaline soil, but I'm hoping that the addition of Aluminium Sulphate will help, even though I have 'free lime'. Gonna' muck' the bed this weekend, then set to work on putting together the framework for said protection