Growing toms from a growbag...but no Greenhouse!!!

[PaninoPan]

A friend has very thoughtfully bought me a growbag and two little tom plants. I think she has overlooked that I don't have a greenhouse.....
Is it poss. for them to grow in a large shed with big windows?? ( but little/no ventilation). Or could they just grow al fresco? the plants are about 8 inches tall at the mo.

what a nice present. they will be very happy in teh garden. as much sun as you can give them and they will need to be a bit bigger and put out during the day but brought in at night to get used to it. look at rhs for more info.

Could they grow in pots on my bathroom window sill. It's very big and west facing....

It depends on what kind of summer we get and the aspect of your garden, Pan - I tried it once, against a bit of south-facing wall, but the sun goes behind the house by about 4.30 in high summer and it wasn't a very good summer anyway.

If you have a spot that gets sun all day (or most of it) you might find it works

many thanks!!

The garden is just about perfectly west-facing. The sun dips over dead-centre of the drystone wall at the end. (Derbyshire, see). There is a spot against a wall that gets sun (when we have it) all day, well from 11am onwards.
It IS a lovely present and I'd hate for it to be wasted.

they might grow on sill but are really quite large plants and you'd have to pollinate them. have you no outside area? my garden is in shade for most of the day, but early mornings and late afternoons seem to do tomatoes ok. my main problem is watering.

xpost. they will be very happy there.

fishie - the garden is MASSIVE!! Just thinking of them getting enough warmth to keep on growing, and them not getting too cold, until they are 'ard enough to go out..

i'll have a look....

just says "beefsteaks"..

oh i see. yes on your windowsill while it is still cold (?northernweather?), so they can carry on growing

then outside during day and either into shed or back to windowsill at night until they are ready for growbag. this is when they produce flowers.

yes, I shall try keeping them on the sill, then taking them out on warm days to the sunniest spot. Watering will be a prob. in the bathroom(oddly), but I'll see how it goes.
And consult rhs.

mine are still small and won't be going out for a couple of weeks (london).

a slug got in and ate a lot so i have had to start again with some of them slugs don't even like tomatoes grr

nastie wee beasties.

Will have to check out what other predators there are for toms. Prob. lots due to the bright colouring. Hopefully.

I have a suggestion. Rather than using the growbag horizontally and having one plant at each end, fold it in half and cut across the middle. Then stand the two halves on their ends and use as large pots, one for each tom plant. This method will make the plants easier to move about - they may well fit on your windowsill until it's warm enough to go outside and they will keep their moisture better (tom plants are very thirsty and need watering lots). You can also space them out as much or as little as you like (generally they should be far enough apart that the leaves don't touch.

genius snorkle!!

tbh, it's been a warm day in the bathroom, light all day..and they DO seem to have grown since last night!!

Can I ask the next question?

There are little yellow flowers growing. My friend says this is too early and they need removing. Others say leave them as this is where the fruit will be growing and to remove them means no fruit at that site. Enquiries on the t'internet doesn't cover this at all. They are in a grow-bag in a sunny position.

So, the flowers. Do they stay or do they go?

thanks.

my earlyu indoor plants are growing tomatoes already, I don't think you need to pull the flowers off. The only bits that you shoul dbe pulling off are side shoots.