[sachkrimbo]

Have just cleaned the lving room and am getting fed up of moving allthe trays of tomato seedlings on and off window sills.  So I'm looking on some advice on when the best time to plant them out on the patch?
I was talking to a friend hte other day and she said she waits until the first flowers, but I think thats weeks away!!!

[DD.]

I'd start hardening them off for a week or so inreadiness to plant out at the beginning of June, but just keep a careful eye out on the weather forecast!

[gillie]

There is a frost warning tonight!  Keep those plants indoors until the weather is really warm otherwise they will just sit around looking miserable, even if not actually dead.

[DD.]

Hence my post was phrased "in readiness" - that does not mean do it - and "keep a careful eye out on the weather forecast".

Overnight forecast temps for Essex area next 5 days: 8, 12, 11, 10, 12 ^oC. Doesnot sound too much like frost to me.

[Kristen]

I use

http://uk.weather.com/weather/

which has a 10 day Max/Min forecast - no idea how accurate it is, but its a start!

(put your Town in  - being careful to pick one from the UK rather than the same named one in USA!! - and then you will get a "Next 10 days" link).

Beyond 10 days it shows a few more days with the long-term average, rather than forecast, which I also find helpful.

[sachkrimbo]

So it seems you think the temperature is the most important factor, not that the plant needs to be flowering.  Think I'll keep them indoors for a little while longer then.  Did some hardening off yesterday and lost a cucumber plant in the winds. Once they die down I'll start on the toms and do the dusting when they are out!!
Thanks for link Kristen, I use met office but always good to have a few opinions!

[shokkyy]

Not only have my toms got flowers on them, but they've got tomatoes on them as well, and they're outside

We've had some high winds in recent days, but nowhere near as bad as people further north.

[sachkrimbo]

What are you doing to them, shokkyy??
When it gets cold how are you protecting them?  I've got fleece over my courgettes and sweetcorn so guess that would be  a good way to protect the toms if I put them out sooner rather then later. 

[Nadlen]

Hmm... either I'm too reckless either you,peeps,are overprotective...
Got toms planted out,and courgetts and sweetcorn. All feel good as far as I know.

[mumofstig]

People plant according to their local climate

Some parts of London are quite a bit warmer than locations in open countryside, and there's really no need to rush.

Sometimes early planting works  ........and sometimes it doesn't

[Nadlen]

Ye,troo story >.< Keep forgetting!

[Milly]

Mine have been out for a week now but they're in a spot that's sheltered from the winds.

[sachkrimbo]

Yeah, we had crazy winds yesterday and some today.  Think I'll wait til after half term, won't get much done then anyway and hope the weather improves in temp after the kids go back to school (it usually does!! )

[shokkyy]

What are you doing to them, shokkyy??
When it gets cold how are you protecting them?  I've got fleece over my courgettes and sweetcorn so guess that would be  a good way to protect the toms if I put them out sooner rather then later. 

Nothing, really. I've got 3 in baskets, 12 in a bed and 5 in pots (I like tomatoes ). All my beans and courgettes and squash are out too. But I do live in a mild part of the country and my garden is quite sheltered by big trees, and we haven't had any overnight temps that have bothered anything for quite a while now. The only plants that have been set back are the borlotti beans, which I recklessly planted out on 9th April because I'd sown them too soon and they were too big for their pots. Even they've put on new growth now and they're picking up, so I think they'll be fine. The only things I haven't stuck outside yet are my sweet peppers and cucumbers, and they'll go out next weekend.

[Bing]

frost check

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/frostrisk.asp