The Early Tomato Sowing Thread

[shangrilyla]

If you're worried about light levels, a simple reflector could help. I fashioned one out of foil and cardboard and it is surprisingly effective. I've only had to turn the seedlings once so far.

Below are my seedlings with said reflector.

Blue Peter eat your heart out

Ooh that's brilliant! So simple, I'm a little embarrassed I hadn't thought of it. I have a shelf full of seeds I've started over the past few days. I might attach a little reflector panel to the back of it.

This is my first season growing in the UK - and the first season growing without the helpful eye of my grandmother. So I've sown moneymaker and red cherry to start.

[adamhartree]

i have just checked on my tomatoes that were sown the end of december in my grow tent, i am using 125w cfl light with reflector. i have got 2 big boy tomatoes in there and they are now just under 2ft tall with the first set of flowers just forming. ive also got 2 rainbow peppers that are about 1ft tall aswell but my scotch bonnets dont seem to be growing well , there still only about 5cm tall, does anyone know why they are so slow to grow or is this normal?. thanks

[Jelliebabe]

I potted mine on yesterday - Some look very sad indeed this morning! Is this usual??? I planted them deep to promote more roots... been meaning to do this for AAAAAGES

[deltz]

Some of my tomatoes are up! Only germinated in 5 days, will definitely be using heated propagator in the future. They've been put on a windowsill and seedlings should get nice and strong soon!

Also I used a mixture of BandQ potting compost and mixed some worm castings in probably 75:25 ratio.

[Two_Sheds]

If you're worried about light levels, a simple reflector could help.

I'm using the vanity mirror in my bedroom - my seedlings are still leggy but they've got the very best conditions I can give them at the moment (without spending money on grow lamps and the like)

I had another casualty, a Sungold swooned over the side of its pot. I don't suspect damping off because I use tap water & clean compost ... perhaps they just think it's too early to be up and about?

[Kristen]

I'm using the vanity mirror in my bedroom

There's posh! Mine only get a bit of tin-foil gaffer-taped to a cardboard box I've cut in half ...

"(without spending money on grow lamps and the like)"

A strip-light / fluorescent-tube would do - if you happen to have one spare. I've managed to jerry-rig one with some chain onto the hooks that normally hold the bit of material that wraps round the parked curtains to keep them tidy.

Mind you, I'm not sure its doing a lot of good so maybe I ought to get a new tube for it which is the correct wavelength.

[PrideRavyn]

I've had to pot some of mine on including three cucumbers as they were getting too big for the propogator but other seeds in there still weren't up or only tiny so still need the lid on...

Some have done a bit of a swoon but hopefully they'll pull through, didn't help that the soil I used was pretty cold

[Sylvan]

I read t'other day that tomatoes won't fruit until there have been two consecutive nights with temperatures above 55F. It made me wonder about early tomatoes - but as I was writing this post I realised a fair number of our summer days aren't even that warm - never mind the nights. Do they continue to set fruit even after the nights get colder again, as long as they've had the two warm ones? (Please forgive me if this post is all run together - it won't format my posts properly, or let me edit them)

[zazen999]

Well, the earliest I've had toms harvested off an early plant is 2nd June, and I know Incy had them earlier from a plant that self seeded last winter....

[Sylvan]

When do you put yours out?

[zazen999]

Well, I keep one or two indoors and start hardening them off from now really, I put my tray out today to catch some rain - they were out there for a couple of hours....I sort of start potting on and will put the smaller less strong ones in the unheated greenhouse after the start of March; and keep the stronger ones inside in increasingly bigger pots. I'd imagine the larger ones will be in the greenhouse at the start of April; and when I harvested my one in June the plant was outdoors in the courtyard from the start of May.

I will also take some to the school greenhouses to grow on there, at the same time as we start sowing their tomatoes.

[Sylvan]

I can't put mine out till the beginning of June. I normally start hardening them off in April, but I realised t'other night, when we'd had the door open for an hour or so between 11pm and midnight, with snow on the ground, that they're probably being grown pretty hard anyway, since they're sitting, shivering, right beside it. Poor babies.

[Two_Sheds]

tomatoes won't fruit until there have been two consecutive nights with temperatures above 55F.

That's only 12c isn't it?... it surely gets warmer than that where you are?

[Sylvan]

That's only 12c isn't it?... it surely gets warmer than that where you are?

I'm not sure about this house - it is considerably lower and more sheltered - but I haven't kept proper records for the last couple of years.

For the 20 years before that my gardens have tended to be just below the fells (like this Grow Your Own - Growing, How To Grow Tomatoes Growing Fruit & Veg - Recipe Advice, Organic food Gardening, Chickens, Seeds for Sale ) and windy enough to blow children off their feet, so cloudy days can get very cold. (Last year there were still large areas of snow lying up where we used to live in July. One year we actually had a few inches falling in the middle of June). If the days are only in the mid fifties I can't imagine the nights being that warm.

On the other hand I've recorded temperatures of 38C against the house wall, on the sheltered stone terrace. (I've become very good at creating shelter)

[Two_Sheds]

large areas of snow lying ... in July.

Oh brrrrrr. I guess you're having greenhouse toms then? Greenhouse within a greenhouse, Russian doll style?