Tomato question

[Tripmeup]

Hey all

What to do….

First off…I hope to use my new Propagator to germinate some tomato seedlings at some point soon…

I don’t have a heated green house, but do have access to an unheated one and/or a cold-frame so wondered when should I begin putting seeds in the Propagator? Obviously this is from the perspective that I don’t want them to germinate and then discover that it is too early to put them in either the unheated greenhouse or cold-frame….I know a lot of this is weather dependent, so am only looking for general concensus (in addition to what the seed packets say

Also, for outside varieties, if you had the choice, would you plant them on into Growbags (or similar) or in to the Ground if you had room available??

thanks

[Two_Sheds]

do have access to an unheated one and/or a cold-frame so wondered when should I begin putting seeds in the Propagator?

... a couple of weeks before you put them in the gh, and the gh needs to be a minimum of 10c day and night

would you plant them on into Growbags (or similar) or in to the Ground if you had room available??

In the ground if possible. Plants in growbags have to be watered much more frequently, and tomatoes are thirsty.

Your trouble is going to be blight: the further west you are, the earlier it strikes. I can't grow outdoor tomatoes at all, and I'm the furthest east you could get

[Potstubsdustbins]

Like the lady said about timings, but because of your location I would have them in the GH in pots not grow bags.

Colin

[Tripmeup]

Well at least I am on the east coast of Ireland..
Any reason for pots over grobag, if they both in green house?

[Newton]

I'm near Liverpool and we grew outside marmande beefsteak toms outside in the ground. They positively thrived and no blight in sight........

As TS said temperature is all important. I started mine as early as 5 feb in a heated prop last year. I'm going to start a bit later this year.

They went a bit leggy indoors on the windowcill due to lack of light. I had to re pot them a number of times but this is ok as they sprout new roots from the stems.

Good luck........

[bramble]

Hi, Tripmeup, I too am living on the East coast. I have been growing tomatoes indoors and outdoors for years now. I have been hit by blight twice only with the outdoor crop but have had great success in the last few years, blight free.

I usually sow my seeds in the first week of February and keep the plants on a sunny windowsill until the weather is warm enough toi put them in to my ungeated greenhouse.
You will be looking at keeping them indoors for about 10 to 12 weeks if you decide to sow them now.

[I] would say it is better to plant in pots rather than growbags as the plant will have a deeper root system.
[I] use growbags but cut them in half and then stand them upright, so they will have a better chance of not drying out so quick.

Good luck what ever you decide.

[meandmylottie]

Any reason for pots over grobag, if they both in green house?

I grew both ways last year ( and outdoor also) and found the pots were loads better than the bags, easier to feed and water and didnt dry out as fast either.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Yep like the others have said correct sized pots are much easier to look after.

Colin

[Tripmeup]

"Its easy to be knowledgeable when you have a good teacher"....
That is not (as far as I know) a famous quote...it's my own and is intended as a thank you for the replies

It makes sense now about the Pots, so thanks Pots aka Colin!!

Hey Bramble

thanks for the advice and good to know you are in a similar location to me (I am in Meath - must update my location more precisely like yours )
Will the tomato plants be alright on window cills for as long as 10 to 12 weeks and is there any special care required ?
I will probably need more advice as we go along..new to toms as I might already have said

[rustylady]

What varieties are you planning on growing, Tripmeup?

[Alison]

The problem you get with early sowings is that the plants can get very large before you can plant them out so I prefer to hold off on my toms until March. Have sowed earlier but I prefer to keep my window ledges for my peppers, chillies etc which really benefit from the early start. If you are totally desperate to sow then I'd suggest you only sow some and sow the rest later, you can always put a few out early and maybe get a really early crop if we get an early summer. As to varieties, I don't grow outdoors anymore as I get a much better crop in the tunnel and need the outdoor space for something else, however would really recommend a good bush variety like Red Alert, very good, early and productive and I've had a good crop off them from an April sowing in the past. Blight is random, I've never had it badly and last year there were hardly any risk days round here either.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I will be setting my toms mid to late Feb, but I don't use a propagator just on the window sill. There they will take about 8/10 days to germinate in their 35mm square modules. Watered from the bottom they will stay in the modules until they are just about root bound, then potted on into 3" pots.

I like to put just enough compost into the bottom of the new pot to protect the root ball then fill the pot burying most of the plant. This helps with legginess and the plant will throw out more roots from the buried stem so making a stronger plant. This gradual increase in pot size continues until we get into 6" pots and from there they go into their buckets in the GH.

Hope this helps Colin

[Tripmeup]

What varieties are you planning on growing, Tripmeup?

So far I have Roma, Tamina, Yellow Stuffer and Gardeners Delight and one for hanging basket,sweet baby I thinks...

[RedThorn]

If you're gonna use grow bag's , cut the base off a 2l plastic soda bottle invert and stick in the growbag, that way you've a water point and trust me makes it loads easier to get water into the grow bag. to get extra depth for the toms cut the base of a 6-8" plant pot out so you have a collar and put that in the hole where you're gonna plant your tom, and fill with soil, this will give your toms that extra depth, also buy the thicker grow bags at most only plant 2 toms per bag on the outside markings(I know they show 3 or 4) tom's get bigger than you think. use the centre marking for planting your bottle . You'll need to water and feed often though. Hanging baskets too require a lot of little waters and feeds

[Two_Sheds]

Will the tomato plants be alright on window cills for as long as 10 to 12 weeks

As Alison says, you need to have the room, and good light (south facing windowsills are the best)
Tomatoes grow tall and wide, you should probably reckon for each plant taking up 6"-9" width or thereabouts, and how tall depends on the light.
The less light, the taller (and weaker) they'll grow.

Later sowings nearly always catch up with early sowings, so you don't really gain anything by sowing in Jan/Feb rather than March