Tomato Growing Thread 2012

Ok - thank you. I will pop upstairs to take look in a mo. Just taking HWMBO a mug of tea in bed. Alright for some.....
Jenny namaste

 

if you want to speed up root growth, use roots excelurator
http://www.house-garden.com.au/products_stimulators_roots_excelurator.php

regarded by many as the best root stimulator on the market ... I saw a youtube video where the roots even ended up growing through the top of the pot

pricey (approx £35 for 250ml), however, you use 3ml per 10 litres of water, so for £35 you get 833 litres of nutrient

avail on ebay

 

As JWK said, but you can also knock them out of their pots to have a look. You might want to experiment on something not too critical!

Place hand over top of pot with plant between 2nd and 3rd fingers.

Turn upside down - if/when plant falls out of pot your hand will catch it, so in effect it will only fall 1/2" or so within the pot.

Knock the edge of the pot sharply on a table edge or similar, that will dislodge the rootball within the pot.

Once the plant/rootball has "fallen" into your hand lift off the pot with your other hand, examine the rootball, replace the pot, and then turn the right way up again.

Don't do it unless you suspect that, at the very least, the rootball is reasonably well developed - otherwise the compost will be too crumbly and fall to bits and you won't have anything to put back in the pot!

 

Interesting

Couple of thoughts:

Is having the plant at the side of the pot going to be an issue? Obviously you can rotate the pot - I suppose if you turn it a quarter-turn they will be in line with the middle of the pot, along the row, so it will only be at one end that there might be a squeeze.

Looks like you have quite a lot of perlite in your potting mix. Is that your preference? I would have thought it made it too free draining, and I've only ever used "neat" multi purpose, but this year and last I have found it compacts more than before, and my plants are not getting away as quickly as in previous years.

 

Hi Kristen,
I`m trying perlite/compost mix in the top half of the pot and straight compost in the bottom half just to see what happens. I have a load more in straight compost, straight perlite and around 15 in rockwool. All cherry toms.

 

You are right about it being free draining and the downside of that is that you may have to water and feed a little more often. However, the upside is that it is difficult to over water which is my most frequent error with straight compost. That particular mix is 2 parts peat to one of perlite and I have some others in 3 parts peat to one of perlite - just to compare.

Kevin

 

Whilst I agree, provided you don't over-pot Tomatoes I doubt you will have a problem - they drink like its going out of fashion, and the mass of roots they form in the pot is how they do it But you will get more air in the rootball, and that may be a better thing than straight multi-purpose. I'm finding, year-on-year, that multi-purpose compacts more-and-more (probably because of the non-peat materials they are increasingly adding?) and that I am having to "lighten" it for pretty much everything

 

Would it be safe to pot on into the ground in cold greenhouse, 5c at night 22c day now
or try and wait a little longer, Plants getting leggy Shirley, Aisla Craig and first trusses set ?

Jack McH

 

Got 2 in the ground in the greenhouse, but the rest are still in pots.



Potted these Plum Tomatoes up yesterday, and Penny's winky peppers.

 

Hiya Jack.

Maybe a couple of years ago I had a thread running in which I asked what was the minimum temperature needed for tomatoes. The general consensus was that 10c was the minimum. This year I made an effort to hold back sowing mine because of this problem, but I still anticipate having to put the heater on at night, just to keep the temp up a bit. Mine are still quite small plants, so I can put them back in the propagator at night, but in a couple of weeks, I'll have the same problem as you. No way you could put in a heater?

Cheers...Freddy.

 

No Scrungee, I have not got a heater, and really could not afford to run one
Today I did the deed and put the leggy ones burried deep about ten inches
Though I really really need to keep these going as they were gifted to me my Kristen

Another querry is I got a tigerella, it is only five inches high but has two trusses set on it already, that is still in the house, same place as the Shirely's only they rocketed up, the Tigerella is still minute ?
The Aisla Craigs Kristen sent me are well just normal seedlings about four inches high and happy as I am

Scrungee, bargains ? I bought an RHS Enclylopedia of Amazon for 0.01p plus £2.80 postage, I got an email today saying, I can now trade it in for a £7.50 Amazon voucher ?

Regards Jack McH

 

I'll have to plant my toms in the polytunnel within the next 3 or 4 days, but I think they'll be ok if we don't get any significant frost. I've had a ridge cucumber in the tunnel for ten days now and it's doing fine and cucs are more sensitive to cold than toms.
Today I planted a Socrates cuc in the tunnel and it has spent the past couple of weeks in an unheated,though warmer than average, GH and is looking very healthy, though I have created a glass wall with a couple of cloches around it and topped it with bubble wrap tonight.
My toms destined for outdoors are in 5 inch pots in a heated propagator in the GH but I'm now leaving the top off at night.

This year I'm way out of sync with my usual sowing schedule as I'm trying to get plants established so that they require minimal attention as our junior gardener who was always at home to look after plants is away from home, and we are often away too. I've got an automatic irrigation system in the tunnel but nothing for young plants in the GH.

 

I'm going to have to pot my toms on as i still need the space in the GH and can't take the staging down yet.I've always just planted them up in the final position but this year i don't seem to be very organised and i'm trying to be clever and grow too much....I blame GC...

 

has anyone tried growing tomatos upside down?