[Russell Atterbury]

Because the next 2/3 weeks weather forecast is good here, i have planted my tomato in the polyhouse. They aren't tall though, like 6-8 inches. And of course the lower leaves were laying on the soil. To remedy this i have stuck the 500ml yogurt pots they grew in under the leaf. Is this ok to do, or is it better to let them lay on the soil?

[Growster...]

Don't see why not, Russell, but why not just take the lower leaves off assuming they're the seed leaves.

[Russell Atterbury]

Understood Growster, but i did remove the seed leaves and buried the plants up around the 5 or 6 true leaves. I didn't think i should remove any of those ones.....or would it be better to do that?

[Growster...]

Understood Growster, but i did remove the seed leaves and buried the plants up around the 5 or 6 true leaves. I didn't think i should remove any of those ones.....or would it be better to do that?

Although I don't know about your weather patterns, Russell, I'd think that you've done all you can here, if the leaves get a bit 'sad' later on, then you might like to remove them, just to keep any nasties at bay - if there are any of course!

It's funny (?), but I never thought I'd ever talk about growing toms in Russia, but I certainly relish the idea! It's bad enough trying to work out how we'll get our 32 plants going, what with the weather we're having!

[Russell Atterbury]

Thanks Growster....i can claim that a few years ago i would not have thought about growing anything in Russia. After just the 3 years of being here, a loose conclusion on the weather is that it is quite a bit more stable than the UK's. Or has been??

[jambop]

Thanks Growster....i can claim that a few years ago i would not have thought about growing anything in Russia. After just the 3 years of being here, a loose conclusion on the weather is that it is quite a bit more stable than the UK's. Or has been??

Good to hear that someone is getting stable weather! Our weather is all over the place. We have just had a terrible cold dry spring. Then things changed to wet and cold then the last four days were great more like normal, then last night we had a huge thunder storm with snow through the rain and today the temperature is back down at 12C which is about ten degrees down on normal! Veg gardening ... you need thick skin to want to do it

[Russell Atterbury]

I have been keeping track of your recent posts jambop. They have made interesting reading after the winter that a lot of Europe experienced. Something is in the air....maybe. Can the world slow down regarding the virus be affecting the climate. I mean, the atmosphere must be loving not having so much aircraft and traffic emission to deal with.

[jambop]

I have been keeping track of your recent posts jambop. They have made interesting reading after the winter that a lot of Europe experienced. Something is in the air....maybe. Can the world slow down regarding the virus be affecting the climate. I mean, the atmosphere must be loving not having so much aircraft and traffic emission to deal with.

I think that it may just be a bit too fast for something like that to happen BUT we are definitely having a very different spring this year. I have to say that I am not an out and out believer in global warming. I think the earth goes through climate changes the intervention of man may change things though scientist are renowned and of course make a living out of predicting doom for us all. Very occasionally something happens that bears out their theories a pandemic is something they have bashed on about for years ... and look we now have one... they are all geniuses and we should bow down and praise them The we can look at one they got totally wrong mad cow disease... never hear of that now do you and there were going to be thousands dying from the delayed effect. I worked in scientific research all my life and to be honest I am a skeptic about lots of stuff that is raised by scientists ... the need to generate doubts to earn a living and of course the worthiness of their research and opinions are judged by themselves so it has to be right 

[Russell Atterbury]

jambop, you absolutely echo my own thoughts on the subject. I only posted my remarks as a matter of intrigue. I wonder how debate will be in a couple of centuries time. It might be blaming our paranoia for the world being plunged into the deep freeze.

[missmoneypenny]

Sadly I think climate change is happening and it is man made. But on the topic of doom laden predictions, when I was at university in the 80s, the dean very seriously told us during his freshers week address that by the time we graduated, one third of us would be HIV positive!

[mumofstig]

Or is it just cooler this spring because we have low sunspot activity at the moment. The powers to be accept that this does have  an effect on the climate - but is never prepared to say how much, because it doesn't fit with their man-made theory, maybe?

[Russell Atterbury]

The climate does appear to be changing missmoneypenny, mumofstig's comment is a catalyst for debate if someone more in the know than me can expand on her pointer. jambop's earlier comment about more natural reasons than man made, with madcap science being used to force manufacture and other industry into a supposedly cleaner way forward might bare weight though, even if it's truly only about the air we breathe, and with climate change added on for maximum force.

[Growster...]

Being a 'nerd', I've kept a gardening diary since 1985, and we've had much worse Springs before...

We remember going on holiday around 1978, and because it had rained solidly up to June, we had to re-light the Rayburn so that we could finish fermenting the homemade wine we always took (funds were limited), to get it to finish in time!

Luxury...

[Russell Atterbury]

I seem to have clear memories of deep snow as a child, maybe 10 years old, so 1968 ish. And this was in June, that much I do remember. I grew up in Northants.