THE Tomato thread 2007

[nikkie]

My seedling are growing already!
Last year they took weeks to germinate , only 2 weeks and they are about 5 cm!!!!!!

[funnypeculiar]

Haven't planted yet, but planned for tommorrow!
Trying "olive'...

[nikkie]

Tumblers are the ones I am missing this year, will end up swapping for a couple of plants (or will buy if that fails) had them in hanging baskets last year and they were fab!
I have about 7 different varieties as had a pack of 6 then a free packet of gardeners delight.
Can't get over how quick they have come up, just shoved them under the sideboard and ofrgot about them , checked them to water this am and they were bending undere the cover

[bozza]

I'm cheating. I have ordered some tumbling tom (is that right?) seedlings. Haven't decided whether to grow them in a pot or basket. I am a tomato growing virgin.

[bozza]

I have got some freebie seeds though with gardener's world magazine so might plant them. I am running out of space for all my seedlings though!

[nikkie]

hanging baskets give you more room on the ground for other toms
My gardeners delight came from Tesco kids club last year !

[bozza]

Hmm but I can't persuade DH to have any more brackets up so would have to sacrifice my flowers. We don't have a huge garden for everything I want to grow and bearing in mind that I need to keep the lawn as a football pitch! Might plant the freebie seeds.

[nikkie]

I only have a backyard just about illed it with toms last year as I couldn't bear to kill any

[cece]

Mine haven't germinated yet - about 10 days. Gatdener's Delight. Must check again tomorrow. They are in the greenhouse - perhaps I should bring them indoors?

[nikkie]

lAst year mine took about 6 weeks !

[cece]

Think if nothing has happened in morning when I take a look will move them indoors...

[bettythebuilder]

I had zilcho success with any seeds I planted in trays in the greenhouse last year. (Mind you, I let dd 'help' plant them, and I have a feeling that I was lovingly watering some trays with compost but no seeds...)

This year I sowed them while dd was at nursery, and put them on the windowsill in the spare room a couple of weeks ago and I have loads of lovely seedlings. Hurrah!

I have moneymaker and Gardeners Delight, and they are pretty much ready to put into pots and put in the greenhouse.

[cece]

right they are moving to a window sill first thing tomorrow!

[bunnypeculiar]

I had so many gardeners delight last yr I had a little 'free for donations' stall outside my house!

[nikkie]

I did take some to dds school and my school and gave loads away but still ended up with 42 plants

[Dozeynoo]

not much success with toms last year. Between the footballs, heat/no time to water and the hail they were a bit dissapointing. Going to use large plant pots as opposed to growbags tis year and see it that helps.

[bettythebuilder]

Yes, me too dozeynoo, my Mum gave me the plantpot tip- she always does really well with tomatoes, but lives a bit further south than us, which I think helps when growing them outside.
I've also heard of putting 2 grow bags on top of each other and planting the tomatoes through both layers- anyone tried that?
I think I'm still going to go with big pots, though, because I find growbags a nightmare to water.

[nowornever]

cece your seeds need to be quite warm to germinate - about 20 degrees which is house temperature for most of us. Then they need to be at least 14 degrees to grow. If they get all spindly on the windowsill you can just plant them really deep when you put them in bigger pots and they make roots from the stem. NB this does NOT work with most other plants!

[cece]

OK have now moved them into the house - will the conservatory be OK (heated) or a window ledge better?

[nikkie]

Doesn't matter about the light til they start growing so go for whereever is warmest.

[cece]

right may pop them into the boiler cupboard then

[CADS]

Hi

I have 3 tomato plants that are between 10-25cm tall. Is it ok to put them in the garden during the day? If it is sunny and not too cold?

Thanks. This is a new experience for me.
CADS

[MegaLegs]

Mine are all up, Olive and Sungold. Have put them out in the greenhouse for the day but will bring them back in tonight, the frost has killed all my Cosmos seedlings.

[Gingerbear]

Am I too late to plant my seeds??
I was given small plants by a neighbour last year.

I would like to grow baby plum and cherry toms this year in addition to the normal large varieties.

[fishie]

hope not, mine still haven't arrived. well i have planted two lots but they are very old and haven't come up yet (nearly 3 weeks). shouldnt matter, we can always buy little plants ready hardened off in a coupel fo weeks if no joy.