Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi there, this is my first post here, so I hope I am posting this querie in the right place...
I had to bring in some of my tomatoes, after overenthusiastically planting them out into large pots on the patio during the warm and sunny April weather that we had. Sure enough the weather turned the next day (strong winds that almost devastated the lot and very cold) and I had to bring them in.
They are too big for the window sill so they are sitting underneath the window on the floor.. They are 40 cms tall and very spindly.
We have had very little sunshine here (Edinburgh) lately and I can see that the tomatoes are not happy.
I have one of those SAD-lamps (to help humans through the dark months) - and I have used that to give the tomatoes a bit of light. Very likely to be the wrong light spectrum, am I right? Has anyone any idea if using a SAD light on plants works...?
I am just hoping for better weather, but it doesn't look like it...

Thanks for any tips on keeping them happy... I am not very experienced at tomatoe growing outdoors (which is what I'm trying to do - otherwise I wouldn't have used these huge pots..).
MIA

However gloomy it is, there is always more light outside than inside.

I would put them out, stake them well, and put some fleece over them if you are concerned about temperature. They will suffer a brief check, but in the end the plants will be happier.

By keeping them inside you are making them soft and weak, which is not going to help them.

Be brave. Put them out duing the day for a few days, then outside all the time. Do what you can to protect them, but don't love 'em to death.

Hi Mia,

I am in Edinburgh too. What on earth happened with all this wind!!! It has been crazy!

I have several toms doing really well on the windowsill as we get bright sunshine (when available!) for quite a lot of the moring. Seems to be enough for them at the moment. I intend to slowly slowly harden the up a bit when the weather has definately turned. Way we are going though that will be the end of July!

C

Hi and welcome to the vine Mia. I would suggest planting a couple more seeds as reserves just in case.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

I would get them outside even in the wind. They need staking and tying but the longer they are grown indoors the leggier they'll become. You need them short and tough!
Welcome to the vine - hope we give you some useful advice (rather than fill you with terror!)

__________________
Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

Welcome to the Vine Mia. I know what you mean about the weather, but it's not cold now, just miserable. You've had good advice from the others. Put the tomatoes outside - the temps are fine for them - and protect them from wind with some fleece until the weather improves a bit. And as Shirl says, plant a few more just in case. Plants are tougher than you think so they may well be fine.
Also - make a note of the date you planted your tomatoes, could have been a bit early, so that you plant later next year. Good luck.

__________________

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Hi there,

Can I ask something about the weather... wind in particular.

We are expecting 40mph winds over the weekend but there is an odd affect in my back garden so it's always way worse than the front of the building. (it comes up a long street from the sea to the back)... it's been getting worse already tonight and I have already watched my neighbours chairs being blown away.

This happens quite often out there so will anything that I plant out really be ok in that? I have planned to keep half my tomatoes up here as long as poss (my study is like a greenhouse.... it's perfect.) but I have other things I gradually wanted to try outside too. Another neighbour was saying that gave up a few years ago as the wind was so bad they even stopped having window boxes... (ours are actually inside the kitchen window due to finding them 3 gardens away last summer!)...

Any advice would be gratefully recieved... I had to come in from the garden earlier from fear of being blown over!

C

This is a very hard concept for a beginner to come to terms with. I'm very fearful my tomato and strawberry plants will be somehow killed by rain.

Wind! Don't talk to me about wind! We desperately want to get our seeds in the ground (yes I know we're much later than everyone else, but you've all given me the confidence to go ahead and do it anyway ) but as if the rain wasn't origianlly bad enough, now it's exceptionally windy and I'm worried the seeds will blow away as I'm trying to get them in the ground.

And of all the things we have planted, I found one of my lovely french beans snapped at the base and seems too bad to repair.

However, not to be detered for too long, we've planned to get started tomorrow, before, then after, the FA Cup Final (go Chelsea! )

It's made me realise the one thing we haven't done is shelter the plot, and there's not really much we can do as we're right up to every edge of our front garden. I guess we'll just have to expect casualties if this wind persists. Watch it be blistering in June when we're not around to water every day...

If you're going to do any planting Saturday, do it in the morning. I've just checked the weather forcast, it's showery in the afternoon. Windy with showers on Sunday.
I checked my strawbs earlier, they're certainly taking a bashing from the wind but none uprooted yet. Toms still in pots so I can get them some cover at night.

Hello Noidea, if you plan to garden long term on a windy site then you need to arrange a wind break. This can be fences, plants, trees, bushes, propriatry materials or a mixture of all. It's something for you to think about. If it's something you want to do you could raise it as a thread under wind break. Could be a good thread.

__________________

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Thanks Alice.

It is something that worries me a bit.

C

Thanks for the friendly welcome and all your replies to my tomato question.
I have been away from the computer for a few days, thus the delay in replying.
It was good advice to stop keeping the two pots indoors. I don't think they appreciated being out in the wind initially, but they are now becoming sturdier. Very hard work, though to shift them in and out all the time. Hopefully the weather will warm up a bit more and I can leave them out altogether.
Thankfully, I have some smaller, but much thicker tomato plants in a minigreenhouse outside, so if anything goes wrong with these ones, I have a backup.
It's a steep learning curve this tomatoe growing.... But great fun!
Cheers,
Mia