Cold Toms

Hi folks. It seems I was a bit hasty when sowing my toms. The plants are now 6" or so tall in my UNHEATED greenhouse. I didn't realise they needed a minimum temperature of 10c, so at night I'm putting them back in my propagator. Now then, they'll soon need planting into grow-bags and I was THINKING of using a heated cable placed inside or underneath the grow-bags to keep the temperature up, at least a bit. Good idea or a waste of time ? Cheers...freddy.

 

I wouldnt bother with the cable under the growbags Freddy, it won`t make much of a difference considering the cost.
I`d leave them out of the propagator at night if they are indoors, temp and environment swings could stress them out. It gives them a chance to harden off a bit too :wink:

 

Hi Hex. Maybe I should add this. I already have a heated cable, so the cost is minimal. You say leave them out, but last night I recorded a temperature of 1c in my greenhouse, surely too cold for my toms ? Cheers...freddy.

 

Freddy, it sounds a bit too cold at the moment to me.
Harden them off by all means but if they turn purple they will take ages to get moving again.
I'm sure you could at this stage plant some more seed as a back up.

Why not do that anyway, and see which plants turn out the best, and which has the first ripe fruit.


I'm willing to bet the results will be surprising.

 

Hi pete. So you don't think the cable idea is going to help either ?

 

6" !!! I'm envious.:|

I'm gonna keep my toms in ever increasing pots(inside propogator) until ready to plant out

 

I think it would help, Freddy.

But if your still getting 1C over night it might not be enough.
Give it a go by all means.

 

Hi John. No, I don't have any insulation in my g/house. I do have a heater that I use to keep out the frost, but no more. At the moment, the toms can go back in the propagator at night, but they're now showing signs of acceleration. I bought some growbags yesterday and in the instructions it said that one should plant only when the first set of flowers have opened. Well, that could be some way off yet. Ah well, I'll play it by ear. Cheers...freddy.

 

I go along with the planting when the first flowers are showing.
Not necessarily opening.


Freddy, a later sowing would probably be showing the first flowers at 6ins, 8 at the most.:thumb:

 

Hi pete. It seems I'd better make another sowing, ah well, live and learn

 

The past few years I have sown toms in 4" pots and then straight into the soil when they have got about 6" tall. They did ok, but grew slowly and it wasn't until late in the season that they began to ripen. This year I have started them off in our home office where it was warm (but not too hot) and sunny. They are in 4" pots and are now outside in one of those mini-greenhouse things you get from B&Q. They are now about 4" tall and seem to be doing ok. In a few weeks they will go into the greenhouse, but I think I will wait like Pete says until the first flower forms.

 

You ought to bring them in from the grow-house if we get any more cold nights (i.e. if the forecast is below 5C) - the grow-houses don't retain any heat during the night.

I expect you will have a much better crop than outdoor ones - I always think that outdoor tomatoes are a challenge in the UK - the crop arrives when the Summer is pretty much over!

 

Hi folks. Just by way of update, what I decided to do was turn up the heat in the greenhouse so that it doesn't drop below 10c. Seems to have done the trick, and I planted my toms into their growbags last weekend. First flowers are open ! :thumb: Cheers...freddy.