Early Tomato Sowing and Growing thread - poll added please vote

[emilymup]

Zazen, thank you so much for this experiment!! All seven of the various varieties of tommies sown on the 27th December are now at least 12 - 15" tall and have all got flowers on them. I keep them in the greenhouse which has a tiny bit of heat during the night to stop the frost getting to them as well as my other seedlings.

I will definately be sowing more tomatoes around the same time this year as it has been very successful! I have been using the synodic moon method for planting most of my other seedlings as a result of my successful tommies!!

[zazen999]

No problem...it's nice to have positive feedback.

My 2 prized toms are about 18 inches high and the first has little baby flowers just coming........so the rest will go into my greenhouse which is coming on Wednesday....only 4 more sleeps to go.

Even better... the tomatoes that I sowed a while back in jiffy 7s in the great outdoors has one that has germinated this morning...bearing in mind they have no protection it means it is warming up at night and I'll have ready hardened off toms ready for the garden as soon as they are about 6 inches tall.

[BarleySugar]

Phosphorus deficiency

Some of my early sown tomatoes which seemed to be doing so well, fleeced at night and with a little heat if freezing temps threatened, are not looking so good. Some of them have purple leaves with yellow between. Interestingly this is most apparent on the Green Tigers from Seahorse . The later sowings of Tigerella and a beefsteak variety are looking fine, despite being in the greenhouse for as long. Some varieties are probably more temperature sensitive than others
Anyway, a bit of research has shown that if the temperatures are too low the plants have problems taking up phosphorus, even if there is plenty present. The solution is to raise the temperature.

[zazen999]

I love it when they are going purple and staying healthy, as it is a sign of growing them hard. If they are not collapsing leaves, then yes you can bring them in but as long as you keep them in on freezing nights I'd say it is a good sign.

Once they are through this...they will shoot up once the weather warms up.

[BarleySugar]

I can't bring them in, they are too large. I'm hoping in the natural course of things (weather getting warmer) that they will get over this, but the leaves are growing smaller, and not looking so good. As long as it doesn't stop them setting fruit, hopefully there will be no lasting effect. It's a bit more than just the bluish tinge they get from hard growing The veins show purple, and the centres are yellowish, I'll post a pic once I can get outside.

[pigletwillie]

In all some 70 tomato plants went out over Easter into the tunnels. All were sown mid February and stand about 14" high. All have the first truss forming and the Urbikany are in flower.

[RowanStar]

I would just like to share with you that my toms are starting to grow nicely now and i am well pleased, yay

[Cosmo and Dibs]

Now these are toms! Growing very slowly, though- I sowed them on the 3/3.

[BumbleB]

I can't bring them in, they are too large. I'm hoping in the natural course of things (weather getting warmer) that they will get over this, but the leaves are growing smaller, and not looking so good. As long as it doesn't stop them setting fruit, hopefully there will be no lasting effect. It's a bit more than just the bluish tinge they get from hard growing The veins show purple, and the centres are yellowish, I'll post a pic once I can get outside.

Cold night forecast in Kent tonight. I hope your toms will be ok BarleySugar. I was going to start putting mine outside as we have had some lovely weather but have decided to wait until at least 1st May.

[marathon]

I have been watching this thread with interest. As I would love early toms'

anyway today i was at my plot in the polytunnel and I have flowers on three of my tomato plants The seed was sown the second week of February indoors. Kept on my windowsil until the middle of March, with one week of going in the mini greenhouse during the day and in the house at night. The plants were then moved to the PT on the 1st of April. They were on staging and now will go into their final planting holes in the PT.

I also have two pepper plants out of my 35 that have a flower. These are on my windowsil at night and in the mini greenhouse during the day.

I'm so thrilled as this is my first year at growing tomatos on a large scale and never thought I would get fruit forming this early.

[RowanStar]

How tall and wide do the moneymaker tom plants get?

[RowanStar]

Here are couple pics of my toms growing nicley, i've got about 40 growing so far

[marathon]

I sowed my tomato plants at the end of the 2nd week in Feb and now a few of them have flowers. They are different plants. Beefsteak, plum,gardener delight and another cherry type.

Mt later sown plants (by at least 4 weeks) are catching up fast so I wanted to know has anyone actually had any fruit yet who's grown them in an unheated structure like myself.

[Edwardo82]

These are my Tomatoe plants sow on the 20 March:

They were transplanted into these bigger pots about a week ago and I am now wondering when I will be able to move them into their final large pots. I have bought large square tubs about 12 inches deep and I plan on emptying a grow bag into each of them but I am not sure when is the best time. Perhaps you guys would have a look please and let me know how long you think I should wait.

Sorry if the pictures are poor I think I left it too late in the evening to take them!

They are Sweet Olive, Gardeners Delight and Berry:




Kind Regards

[BarleySugar]

I was always told to leave them until the roots filled the pot, but they were not pot bound (the roots are not winding round and round trying to find space), then pot them on into the bigger pots. The other school of thought is to wait until the first flowers are out, then pot them up.
I do the first, but others may differ.