The Early Tomato Sowing Thread

[Sylvan]

Tee Hee - I think I started all that off with my enquiry about spindly and legginess! I think He is off to report us IRRESPONSIBLE enough to grow tomato's at this time of year to the RSPCV (royal society for the prevention of cruelty to veg!)




(yes I know they're strictly a fruit... I'm not that dense)

Not in America Jelliebabe. The Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that tomatoes are vegetables.

Tomato History | A Brief History Lesson about the Tomato

Nix v. Hedden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some folks get very dogmatic don't they?

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Still no ripe'uns here, but I now have some teeny tiny baby ones on one of my Moneymakers as well
(and the outside ones all survived Thursday night's low of 5 or 6°C quite happily...)

On t'other hand quite a few of my heritage ones (sown late Feb/early March) are still tiny. We put them in the new blowaway to try to give them some protection from the wind and they are now looking very sorry for themselves... since the wind flapped one of the sides so much it knocked the trays off the shelves and they all landed upside down on the ones on the ground

[zazen999]

from sowing in an electric propagator to repotting in a heated conservatory, then into a bubblewrap insulated greenhouse heated with 3 electric tubular heaters wired into a thermostatat, gradually disconnecting them until there was none, and taking down the insulation until only the north facing side was insulated

Thanks for that - I just wanted people to be aware that you were heating your toms - rather than just growing them indoors without any extra heat.

I have yellow flowers everywhere - and lots of toms set but nothing red yet. However, I did chuck mine all into the greenhouse in March I think - strangely though the biggest fruits are on the outside toms, and the ones under a plastic tent at the lottie. Greenhouses eh?

Not available any more but here's the linkie - both the Vine and the Bush varieties [TOGI] that I'm growing of this are rampant and bigger/taller than any of the others - and both outside not in the greenhouse. Go figure.

[Davyburns]

although my toms were indeed heated, they did have several nights of sub 5 degrees, and like yourself, the outdoor Maskotska were among the first to fruit, although they werent the first to ripen
I worked out that my heaters and insulation kept my greenhouse about 8 degrees above outside temprature

[Potstubsdustbins]

No heat, no light, seed set 27/02 started eating a few tumbler and sun gold last week. looking good for full production by the end of next week.

Colin

[King Carrot]

First ripe Stupice today - Started off mid Feb and been in the polytunnel in a bucket since April.



nice arse on it

[Sylvan]

Cheeky!

[Two_Sheds]

It's lovely hearing that people are finally getting to eat their tomatoes... it seems to be such a long, hard effort during the dark cold days. Eating them makes it all worthwhile

[binley100]

I have a red one ....not on my earlier sown toms but on a gardenpearl that I grew just to see why they caused a difference of opinion. Its only small but its red

I ate it and no I didn't share ........ it was too small but tasted sweet......

[CaroltheCarrot]

I ate it and no I didn't share ........ it was too small but tasted sweet......

I grew them I ate them, noone else had a look in!

[Chef_uk]

I don't like them but my wife and kids do so thats why i'm growing them

I have a question though regarding the early sowings. If i had waited another month and instead of sowing on Feb 27th, sowed on March 27th when BST started. Would they have caught up or is it in real time with Tomatoes? From Wednesday until today, 5 tomatoes have been eaten. Would that have been possible on a later sowing but in the same climate we get here?

[Flummery]

I grew quite a lot from early sowings and just put one lot in mid March. They are only just starting to form pea-sized fruits. They don't quite catch up.

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Lots of yellow flowers on my early sowings but still no tomatoes. I have a teeny weeny tomato on a Red Robin plant which was sown end of March, so may try Red Robin for the early sowing next year.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I don't like them but my wife and kids do so thats why i'm growing them

I have a question though regarding the early sowings. If i had waited another month and instead of sowing on Feb 27th, sowed on March 27th when BST started. Would they have caught up or is it in real time with Tomatoes? From Wednesday until today, 5 tomatoes have been eaten. Would that have been possible on a later sowing but in the same climate we get here?

Really does depend on the variety, growing conditions etc. A friend of mine sows in Feb and March to extend his season and at some time in late July early Aug both sowings are producing about the same amount of fruit.

My own personal take on this would be that late Feb is the ideal time to sow unless you got a heat/light source.

Colin

[Two_Sheds]

I've had another pound of toms, mostly Auntie Madge's. The PW Black are taking forever to ripen (they are a much bigger fruit though).
The Sungold isn't great so far: fewer fruits that AM, but oh so sweet. My Sungold Armpits now have their first trusses starting to form.

[Flummery]

How do the Aunty Madge rate for flavour TS? I have some seed but couldn't possibly sow all the varieties I have each year.