Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi Freddy,
You asked the temperature that Tomatoes should be grown and I remain firm at 10C. minimum. It does mean that they are not planted out before the end of the first week in June generally and even later here.
We seem to have this difference of opinion every year. The advice that I give you is based on horticultural science and not a whim and a prayer!
JB.

Oh come on, JB, whims and prayers are Ok, and sometimes work...

Hi folks. Thanks for all the input. The toms have germinated, and my plan is to pot them up in a few days or so, and keep them in a fairly large propagator at night until temperatures rise. I read somewhere that Shirley are resistant to the cold, which is why I thought it would be worth sowing when I did. I was just curious as to why 'they' quote minimum temperature of 15c. If necessary, I have a heater to keep the temperature up a bit at night, but I will try to avoid this if at all possible. I normally grow Alicante which seem quite reliable, both in terms of flavour and yield. It'll be interesting to see how they compare.
Johnboy, being somewhat inexperienced, I get quite impatient and want to see things going, it's been a LONG winter.

Cheers...freddy.

Hi Pongeroon,
There are whims and prayers and there are whims and prayers but when asked a specific question I respond with, I hope, the correct information.
If you grow a tomato plant too cold you can actually end up with something not mentioned on the packet. Growing too cool can change the whole character of the plant and in turn give you a tomato somewhat different to that intended.
Freddy, new to gardening, is entitled to the truth not the truth according to myth and legend!
Certainly there are whims that work and I have used them very often myself but temperatures are something that you really should pay strict attention to.
All this fuss and palaver when all you need to do is follow the instructions on the packet. For Tomatoes the minimum temperature is 10C and the ideal growing temperature is 15C. and in most cases they fall below and rise above but they survive. I am only quoting the facts according to horticultural data. Freddy deserves that.
JB.

I'm just teasing you JB.

I value your advice and experience highly, you know that.

WOW!
JB.

I planted some toms in my unheated greenhouse last week,just to see if they can handle the night time temps here in balmy southampton,they seem to be ok until today I noticed some of the leaves have gone white on the tips and seem to be dying off,could this be frostbite??

Hi larrylove. I'm inclined to think that if they WERE frosted, they'd be dead already. It COULD be that there was some moisture on the tips, and that sunlight has scorched them. They need to be somewhere light, but away from direct sunlight.
Johnboy, just to clarify, this is my third year at growing. I don't count myself as a novice, just inexperienced.
ATB...freddy.

Hi Freddy,
I have just looked at my weather station for the first time today and it reads 30.2F which means that there will be a frost outside and you can bet your life that if I had Tomatoes growing in an unheated greenhouse they would be very severely damaged even with the protection of glass.
It is of no consequence to me how long you have been growing because if you ask a question then I feel that you deserve a truthful answer.
Nobody has suggested that Tomatoes will not survive at a temperature less than 10C only that they really should not be subjected to a temperature below that figure which is the truthful answer.
JB.

Hi Johnboy.
Last night I had a recorded reading of 1.4C minimum temp in the greenhouse. I've been keeping them in the propagator at night, so no problems there. I reckon that at the current rate of growth, they'll need planting out in the next two weeks. Sooner or later this spell of warm days/cold nights has to end, doesn't it ? If you look at the 'books', it says that they can be planted out into the greenhouse border late April/early May, which going on the 10c rule(which I accept...btw), can't be right, can it ?
Cheers...freddy.

Ok, I'm obviously boring the pants off you with my line of questioning/propositions. So, what I'll do is plant them out in around 10 days and cover them with newspaper at night as suggested by OH.
Cheers...freddy.

It doesn't have to be the finacial times by the way Freddy, any newspaper will do.

Maybe we're drawing to an end on this one. I'd just like to add a word on what kind of damage you ('one') might expect. Two or three years ago I got some tiny tomatoes on GardenersDelight - more like currants than cherry-sized tomatoes. I consulted the RHS, who said this was down to exposure to cold. The embryonic fruit can be very sensitive to cold even before they are visible.

Everyone's tomatoes must be much bigger by now and with frost forecast over the next few days the problem is going to be how to protect them in an unheated greenhouse or polytunnel. Mine are still in pots and I wouldn't expect to plant out for a couple of weeks or more yet. The problem is not so much how to keep them at 10C as how to keep them unfrosted. I could always move them into the house at nights, or would a multi layer of fleece suffice?