Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: mrsparkle on March 14, 2011, 19:32
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My tomatoes that were sown back at start of Feb are coming on nicely but i wondered If it is time to move them to the cold frame to join my brassicas? Or am I being over eager
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I put mine in the greenhouse on sunny days, but I would not like to risk them out at night as yet.
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They will be OK in a cold frame when its mild but I would take them back into a warmer spot when overnight low temperatures are forecast (less than 5C). They will benefit from the extra light in a cold frame which will stop your plants going leggy.
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Unless you have a heated greenhouse, February is rather early to start tomatoes.
The ones I have destined for the unheated greenhouse are still in their packets and will probably remain there until April.
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Don't be too keen, it was -2.5 here last night! :ohmy:
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Unless you have a heated greenhouse, February is rather early to start tomatoes.
The ones I have destined for the unheated greenhouse are still in their packets and will probably remain there until April.
...but will you have ripe tomatoes in June?.... I do have to put in a lot of work looking after mine by wrapping them up on frosty nights when they are too big to take into the house.
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Yep!
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Don't be too keen, it was -2.5 here last night! :ohmy:
Ground temp was -6oC here last night.
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Temps of below 10*C (either day or night) will cause your tomatoes to sulk big-style.
I wouldn't risk it.
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Mine are still in a packet on the kitchen table
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Same packet as mine?
The ones I have destined for the unheated greenhouse are still in their packets and will probably remain there until April.
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Mine escaped from the packets today, but it's a bit warmer here (allegedly )
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Mine escaped from the packets today, but it's a bit warmer here (allegedly )
I'd say, where were our predicted 11 - 12c temps in Kent today !
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It did reach a balmy 10c here in Mancunia today. I almost broke out into a sweat. :lol:
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Yep!
I'd love to know how you get ripe tomatoes in June from an April sowing in a cold greenhouse, DD.
I'm sure mine would not be ready until September!
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Ah!
Nowhere did I say I was sowing only in a cold greenhouse!
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Thanks for all the advice guys.
I think ill start hardening them off tomorrow and sow some new plants at the weekend to cover all eventualities the weather could offer.
I'm growing the following if it helps you with the advice offered:
Roma
First in field
Red alert
Black Russian
Tigerella
Smadar
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Ah!
Nowhere did I say I was sowing only in a cold greenhouse!
Aah..that explains it. I only have a cold greenhouse (6'X8') as it is too expensive to heat, so I have to work harder to get results, but looking in my diary I do get ripe tomatoes in June, but not every year, depending on the weather, as I would like.
I am one of those sad people who record these dates.
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All my toms came up so I've pricked them out into 3" pots and have sacrificed the spare room until the frosts are over. Don't want to risk them out for ages!! Spare room faces South, as does the porch which now has peas, beans, marigolds, lavender, parsnips and leeks competing for space with the post! Hope to regain the house at the end of April :tongue2:
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All my toms came up so I've pricked them out into 3" pots and have sacrificed the spare room until the frosts are over. Don't want to risk them out for ages!! Spare room faces South, as does the porch which now has peas, beans, marigolds, lavender, parsnips and leeks competing for space with the post! Hope to regain the house at the end of April :tongue2:
I know exactly how you feel. I run out of plant pots so the broad beans have to be planted out before I can prick out the sprouts, then they have to go out before the runners go in..and then there's the sweet corn...it's an endless procession.
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Have you tried the paper pots? or empty loo rolls? My OH's Mum is collecting them for me. The porch looks a sight! :tongue2:
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There's often pots going on Freecycle/Freegle.
I'm trying to grow a lot of stuff for a do at the end of May at our local church and I reckon I'll need 500+ pots or trays that will never be seen again.
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I am one of those sad people who record these dates.
On the contrary! its an essential part of vegetable gardening!
For those folk who can remember from one year to the next: lucky them! ditto if they have been doing it long enough that it is firmly established in their memory.
But for me (and for you by the sounds of it!) I record Sown / Planted and First / Last harvest, and if I feel like it whether we liked the flavour or not. Also whether too much / too little, plus too early / too late, and then I can adjust what I sow next year. After about 4 years of that we now have a Sowing and Planting plan that does not change much each year :)
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Check the long-range forecast. Here in Stafford it's set to be sleet on Friday..... Keep 'em inside, mate!