Tomatoes

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Comment by Joy Williams on June 6, 2009 at 2:38pm

Good page on plant diseases:

http://www.urimga.org/vegetable_garden_diseases.html

Comment by Maxine Walker on June 6, 2009 at 7:14am

Don't know what those water pipes are Glenn but 3/4 inch PVC pipes work well. The rigid sides of my raised beds hold them in place and I got clips from Gardeners Supply that fit over them to hold the plastic in place. Picture is on my home page.

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on June 6, 2009 at 7:02am

I have used old blue alkathene water pipes for making hoops over raised beds.
They are 3 feet high and 4 feet wide, so you can,t walk in to them. This is covered with plastic sheet which is held in place by earth.

Comment by Joy Williams on June 6, 2009 at 6:55am

Michelle, this is why I have one of those instant thermometers. :). I used them to measure the temps in my pots (which I loaded up with soil for a few days BEFORE I put plants in them... I think that is rather clever) and in my raised beds. Maxine, COOL! I want to do a hoophouse, I just don't have room. Well I suppose I COULD do it over a raised bed? hmmm

Comment by Maxine Walker on June 6, 2009 at 6:50am

You're right Joy. When I added the comment with my picture of the raised bed with hoops it was for EXTRA warmth for my tomato plants. Here in Western WA when it is sunny the nights are in the 40's so under plastic with the sun out I open up the ends of the cloche to prevent over-heating and close them at night so that soil that was warmed retains it's heat. When it is cloudy the nights are in the low 50's and under cover a little warmer. This is always done AFTER the last frost date which here this year was May 7. Plastic is off now, as it's warmed up, and plants are loaded with blossoms. My seedlings are raised under a halide light indoors until about 5 inches tall and then potted on and moved to my unheated greenhouse under cages that are covered with a quilt at night. I have the time to give all this TLC and enjoy it, but for those who don't have that time better to buy plants and plant when the weather is warm. I thought I was an early riser Joy!

Comment by Michelle W. Flannery on June 6, 2009 at 6:12am

I agree with Joy that it is best to plant tomatoes after the threat of frost has passed, but sometimes long warm periods tempt us to plant, and then a frost comes. In my experience with tomatoes, some plants can easily survive a light frost. If they are not too young and are fairly well established. The soil can sometimes remain warm enough to keep them. Mulching and row covers help too, though I have never used either.

This year I started several tomato plants in pots. Some have remained in pots, others were later transferred to the garden. The Sweet 100s I just harvested were from a plant that started in a pot on my front deck (lots of heat there even in the winter). There was already fruit on the plant when I transferred it to the garden. Hadn't intended to transplant, but there was room and an extra hole already dug and pre-treated. Everything depends on your individual soil and weather conditions working together for the sake of the tomato plant.

Comment by Joy Williams on June 6, 2009 at 6:09am

Yay Michelle!!!!

My Sweet 100's are just now setting fruit! Flowers all over it. I'll take a picture when it's light out.

Comment by Michelle W. Flannery on June 6, 2009 at 6:02am

I've been harvesting my first tomatoes. A nice handful of Sweet 100s from a container on my front deck went into a salad a few nights ago. About a dozen harvested from a plant in the garden 2 days ago never made it into the house! Mid-day snack for John and me.

Comment by Joy Williams on June 6, 2009 at 4:21am

Ya, I know it's a downer to say this. "DON"T PLANT YOUR TOMATOES UNTIL THE FROST IS OVER!!!" And the temperature in the soil is at LEAST 50 degrees

:)

Comment by Joy Williams on June 6, 2009 at 4:19am

I just looked at the temperature outside. it's 48 degrees. This is not good for my tomatoes, though in reality the most important temperature is the temperature of the DIRT. It's always a huge temptation to plant the tomatoes ahead of time, thinking that we can "cloche" the tomatoes or something else absurd. The fact is, that planting them ahead of time just isn't healthy for them.

Here's why. They are TROPICAL PLANTS. They don't like soil that isn't above 50 degrees, and there's no way to make them like it. When you plant them before the soil is warm enough you just stress the plant, and there have been studies done about the productivity. Plants that are planted with closhes, because they are stressed by temperatures, don't do ANY better because they are planted earlier. In fact they don't produce as well. Plants that are put in the ground later do BETTER than the plants that are put in the ground before the last frost date. Putting them in the ground before it's warm enough does NOT toughen them up.

It's a temptation to plant these tropical plants before it's warm enough in the soil to raise them, but for the plant's sake, resist. They just don't like it cold. They are tender annuals, and need to be treated as such.

Ya they will recover from a night of frost, but they really shouldn't be planted until the possibility of frost is over.

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