TOMATO GROWING THREAD 2020

I planted out 3 red alert , very apt, be alert, last week.
They look ok up till now and have been in a cold frame for two weeks, so no massive change in temperature as the cold frame is open on all days when its not raining and only closed at night.

 

I've had my 20 plants outside now along with chillies for about 4 weeks and doing well despite some chilly nights.
I bought some Pink Temptation toms from Tesco and have to say they are the best shop bought I've ever had, sweet and not watery, so much better than the thick skinned, watery Spanish and Moroccan imports. I like them so much so I'm saving seeds now and might try a late sowing this afternoon.
They are from APS in Cheshire and no idea if they are F1(probably) but I think it's worth a go with nothing to lose. I have emailed them to see if they'll let me know.
Has anyone else had any luck saving seeds from shop bought?

 

I'm not really feeding them, just didn't want to hang on to / waste the odd bit left over from the courgettes once their haloes were full.

I thought it was better to wait for flowers before hardening them off?

 

Ah, okay. Thanks!

 

I had my tomatoes outside today and just brought them back in. It was really hard to do - I usually move them all at once on a tray, but couldn't do that today as they're so tall, they're falling over.

The plan is to plant them out into haloes in a raised bed, with 3 bamboo canes each for support.

Should I plant them out, or give them a bamboo cane each to tide them over until they go out?

No flowers yet, they have had quite a bit of time outside over the last couple of weeks though as they went out with the courgettes.

 

My tomatoes are almost ready to be planted on - WHERE? the greenhouse is obviously the right location but I want to save seed from the Manx Marvels and Gardeners Delight (No cross pollination wanted), Manx Marvels will do okay outside in their own patch, G D's I'll have to think about.

 

I've got about 30 Red Alerts, but it's still too cold at my edge of village plot overnight on occasions, so they're all potted up into deep rose pots and staying at home in my garden polytunnel for a few more days.


Deep Rose Pots 2 , 3 , 4 Litre L Lt Plant Flower Pot Tall Plastic Black Strong | eBay

Did you mean wire plant supports like these, or "holes"?

 

Its not been below 10C overnight here for at least two weeks, I'm thinking any drop in night temps will be pretty short lived, its getting light at 4am now and temps rise from 5 am, so overnight lows are very short.

 

7.5 Deg C in my garden yesterday morning, would have been even colder at my edge of village plot.

My toms are staying indoors for a few more days.

I've had -3 deg C in the first week of June before, so I'm still cautious.

 

Nope, I meant halos. Mine are in raised beds rather than a grow bag, buried so the lip of the halo is level with the soil.

 

I'm in Surrey, but the raised beds aren't particularly sheltered.

I do have twice as many plants as I need though, so I could plant out one of each and keep the other two in reserve just in case.