Toms outside

Our overnight temps are fine now and forecast to stay that way for at least the next couple of weeks, so I left everything standing outside overnight for the last couple of days of last week, and this weekend I took the plunge and planted out everything - French and runner beans, squash, courgette, tomatoes, plus cucumber, melon, aubergine, sweet and chilli peppers in my tunnel. I've been putting this stuff in and out every day for weeks now, much longer hardening off than I normally do, and they all look really good and strong. I've got fruit on my squash and courgette plants and I'll be picking courgettes by the end of this week (Parthenon). And the tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, even melons have all got flowers on too. It's the best my tender stuff has ever looked on planting out, so this lousy spring might just have turned me into a convert for keeping them in a bit longer.

Trouble is, if you don't have a heated greenhouse, it's very difficult to keep bringing a lot of plants in and out every day for any length of time, and when the plants are getting bigger it takes up an awful lot of space. My utility room has been stuffed with plants and littered with bits of compost for weeks.

What I have struggled with this year is peas (but not mange tout) and potatoes. I've sown the peas 3 times now and the germination rates have been very poor, and the early spuds are still like little toy mini spuds 14 weeks after planting.

I took a couple of MoneyMaker off the allotment Free-for-Anyone shelf down to my plot yesterday. They had been sitting outside for about a week, so they will be my scouts for whether I would try outside toms on my plot in future.

I have visions of them developing some nasty disease or catching blight, but nothing ventured ...

(and they are nowhere near my or anyone else's potatoes.

i put mine out last week they aare not impressed

I'd have thought that anything that is going out should go out now with a week of warm weather ahead

I put the lot out over the weekend  - sweet corn, squash, courgettes, beans

Summer is here

Don't speak too soon. 

I'm frightened to leave mine out 

I've been hardening off half of my plants (15-20ish) for the past week or so but they need to go to the plot soon so I can get the rest hardening off.  I only have a small back yard with limited sun at home

I have a greenhouse on the plot but about quarter of the glass is missing so not much of a help to keep the heat in - it's been getting down to 6°C and I thought it would be too chilly for my girls but hearing some people already have them out I'm tempted to take a few over... but then I am further north than many people... oh I can't decide!  guess I'm going to be doing the tomato shuffle for a while yet! 

I have had 6 plants out in the garden for a few weeks now, sunday I moved the pots of tomatoes out of the greenhouse shelves as they were getting too big, the rest of the plants (mostly cabbage sprouts and broccoli) lost their greenhouse covers last night, as they were getting a bit warm during the day (35 deg) and a couple had secummed to the heat and wilted.
potted tomatoes may just head for the plot later.
Grendel