Cold Toms

"First flowers are open"

Give them a little tap during the day - to dislodge the pollen and fertilise the fruit (sorry, I expect you know that). I love that Tomato-plant smell, can't wait!

 

"Give them a little tap during the day - to dislodge the pollen and fertilise the fruit " Hi Kristen. What I've done in the past is to go round with a soft brush. This after a year or two with hardly any fruit. It came to my attention that toms don't like too dry an atmosphere, and the greenhouse I had at that time was pretty dry as it had an all concrete base. I now routinely go round giving 'em a tickle Cheers...freddy.

 

"What I've done in the past is to go round with a soft brush."

What, for Tomatoes? Blimey, you've got some patience! Give 'em a thump (gently) that's wot I say!

Spraying the atmosphere will help pollination too

If you greenhouse is small I think that may mean you have to work harder. Typically to get the temperature cool enough in a small house you pretty much have to throw everything open, and that means that things dry out more.

In a larger house you can get away with using Convection, rather than "draughts", to move the heat.

 

Kristen - "Give them a little tap during the day - to dislodge the pollen and fertilise the fruit (sorry, I expect you know that).'"

I have only been here 2 days and I have learnt so much already. That is one of those pieces of info that seems so obvious now I am thinking about it. I have never done this and just left the toms to themselves. I dampen down the greenhouse, and I know it is helping increase the humidity, but I didn't think it would also aid in pollination. I will certainly be giving my toms a bit of a tap this year, thanks Kristen.

 

Now, your Melons will need the paintbrush treatment. Toms and Sweetcorn can be given the gentle-tap. And greenhouse Cucumber mustn't get fertilised at all (makes them bitter) - take any male flowers off the plant if you see any (the F1 varieties shouldn't produce any/many). But there again outdoor Cues do need to be fertilised - the Bees should take care of that for you - so leave the male flowers on them.

I wish I hadn't started now - its a mine field!

 

The latest is, they're looking good and my first fruits are starting to swell !

 

Hi chums. The toms continue to make good progress. Herewith a couple of pics. BTW, I notice on another thread folks talking about growbags and the general consensus seems to be that they aren't all that good. As you can see, I grow mine in growbags with cut-off pots (filled most of the way up with M/P compost) placed on the top, and to my eyes they look fine. I'd like to see the results of toms grown in pots, and maybe I'd consider doing it that way. After all, decent growbags aint cheap ! Cheers...freddy.

 

Hi John. Yes, it wont be long before I have to stop some of them. It's strange, but the cherry tomatoes are a bit 'leggy' whereas the rest are ok. When I planted them, the first flowers were where you'd expect them, but after planting, the stem beneath the flowers just kept getting longer and longer. The first truss is now around half way up the plant. I guess they require more light maybe. TBH, I planted too many toms I think, 18 in all. You know how it is, you just want to grow everything Cheers...freddy

 

They look very healthy Freddy.

There is nothing wrong with growing Toms in bags, I just think its not the easiest thing to get the water content right - particualarly for a Newbie.

I wonder if you would do better (next to year) to have one less row of Toms? I know the planting distance should be 18" - which I reckon is exactly what you have got, but it always seems jolly close to me. I put mine in a single row at 18", but then they can grow over the path, and out the other side of the row.

But maybe I'm deluded! Be interested to hear other people's views.

 

Hi Kristen. I reckon they're too close together too. When I first planted them, it looked like a reasonable distance apart, but now, not. Like I said, the temptation is to grow as much as possible, there are 5 different varieties there. On reflection I KNOW it's too many, way more than we're going to be able to eat. But, it's all part of the learning curve (as they say).
John, if you have some more 'cherries' coming on, and you also have other varieties that will give you early toms, then I reckon it's probably best to ditch 'em. Space for me is at a premium, and I assume it's the same for you ? Indeed, it's that lack of space that means I try to pack too much in. Cheers...freddy.

 

seen these link looked nice to this must be an old lot cos they are selling 8 of these now .Anyone seen them or anything simular anywhere else?

 

"anything similar"

2L plastic drinks bottles, cut the bottom off then turn then spout-downwards and part-bury.

 

wonder if you can get thin ones.Wouldn'T fancy the big ones in hanging baskets:lollol::lollol::lollol: