Growing some early tomatoes 2020

[veggiechicken]

Not long now.
Its time to dig out your seeds and propagators. You too could be eating homegrown tomatoes before those who grow by the rulebook.

2019 thread with successes at:-

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...9-a_98334.html

[mcdood]

I've got some old Red Alert I'm going to try, sowed a couple last year but they didn't germinate so will chuck the rest of the packet in a propagator in Jan and see if I get anything.

[Thelma Sanders]

Mcdood, I bet they all come up lol..
I'll be sowing my usuals - Yellow Peardrops and Gardenpearl but really wouldn't have thought about it 'til after the holiday break

I think VC's just trying to lift people's spirits during the dull dark days.... the winter solstice is at 4am on the 22nd, so days will soon be lengthening/getting lighter again. woohoo!

[veggiechicken]

^^^^

I didn't want anyone to make excuses because they've been too busy to think about tomatoes. We know what some people are like!! Any old excuse to avoid sowing early tomatoes - then. when we're all showing the world our toms, they're saying "Wish I'd done this".
No excuses this year or I'll be round to see you.

[Thelma Sanders]

No excuses this year or I'll be round to see you.

You make that sound really scary you probably just mean you fancy a cuppa and a friendly chat

[Penellype]

I'm still harvesting the ones I sowed in January last year...



Sorry the photo is so dark - no idea why the flash didn't work and the photo was taken just now.

I will be sowing Shirley and Balconi red in January.

[veggiechicken]

You make that sound really scary you probably just mean you fancy a cuppa and a friendly chat

Me, scary. You haven't seen me on a dark night.

[rary]

You make that sound really scary you probably just mean you fancy a cuppa and a friendly chat

I bet she means she will be round to scare you

[quanglewangle]

Recommendations for cherry tomatoes please

Happy New Year.
We are waking up and rubbing our eyes after our short winter hibernation and planning for the coming year. Just about to fumigate greenhouse and install new bed compost.

Please can folks recommend a cherry tomato variety:

• Heated propagator. 18°C but can be set different
• Greenhouse with under-soil warming - soil set to 18°C (well, 14°C to 25°C in practice)
• Greenhouse air temp minimum about 3°C, usually no lower that 5°C
• Prefer continuous cropping rather than bush
• They will get plenty of light

[Small pumpkin]

No early tomatoes for me this year.

No excuses, I’m just not growing any

[Scarlet]

Happy New Year.
We are waking up and rubbing our eyes after our short winter hibernation and planning for the coming year. Just about to fumigate greenhouse and install new bed compost.

Please can folks recommend a cherry tomato variety:

• Heated propagator. 18°C but can be set different
• Greenhouse with under-soil warming - soil set to 18°C (well, 14°C to 25°C in practice)
• Greenhouse air temp minimum about 3°C, usually no lower that 5°C
• Prefer continuous cropping rather than bush
• They will get plenty of light

Most of us grow indoors - so temp when the heating switches off will be much higher than 5°c. I think this might be too cold for toms even with hot feet especially as you want to grow a cordon....fleecing a bush tomato may have kept some heat in.
Worth a try obviously, but anything below 10 usually and the plants start going purple and slow up. Would love to see how you get on though.

[quanglewangle]

Most of us grow indoors .

Like indoors indoors, not a greenhouse?

[Small pumpkin]

Like indoors indoors, not a greenhouse?

Yes......

Pampered tomatoes

[Small pumpkin]

Yes......

Pampered tomatoes

But only till April/May then they can go out

[quanglewangle]

Can't really start them indoors. Chez quanglewangle is something of a hobbit hole - a Cornish miner's cottage with 500mm thick granite walls and small windows.

We first grew tomatoes last year in our then-new greenhouse and they survived from a late January sowing.