Tomatoe questions!

[mummybunny]

Hi all me again  ;D

My toms are doing really well about  18" now but are starting to fall over! They look healthy so im not worried so i have just popped a pea stick into the pot! Is this the right thing to do? There in 4inch pots and i havent got a greenhouse to put them in so what do i do?

How do you grow yours without a greenhouse im guessing that some people do!

Thanks lucy

[mummybunny]

[saddad]

I'm strictly under glass here... are you sure they aren't tumblers? 18" is about right to droop for them. Others should be developing some rigidity in the stem.

[mummybunny]

I have tumblers growing to and they look fine not as high yet and not tumbling  ;D. The stems to look quite thick so i'm a bit confussed  ???

[cacran]

Could you have got them mixed up?? ???

[mummybunny]

I have placed the pots in different colour seed trays so i dont think so  ???

[Barnowl]

18" tall is a fair bit for a 4" pot to maintain - if the roots are showing through the bottom of the pots (and I'd be surprised if they are not) you really should be potting them on into a 7" or 8" pot, since you don't yet have the option of putting them into their final positions.

I would also support the stalks by tying them loosely to bamboo or thin sticks.

Tumblers always seem to have quite thick stems early on - I suppose to take the strain of the branches all drooping down.

[SilverApple]

Wow, mine are way behind this year. Can you post some pics that I can use to threaten them with? :)

In past years I have grown outside in the back yard, sun in the morning and evening and shaded the rest of the time.  I have done both pots half stone cobbles and half compost and also pots into a grow bag.  Both worked and were more affected by the weather than the pots.

Would probably move yours up a pot size now as Barnowl says they are probably ready.

Have always just put a stick in and loosely tied onto that.

Good luck

[mummybunny]

Ok thanks all will move them to a bigger pot this evening until its warm enough to put outside.

SilverApple that sounds like a good plan what size pots do you put them in and how many per pot? Only wish i had the space and the money for a greenhouse  ::)

Lucy

[SilverApple]

Around 8 inch diameter pots usually about 10/12 inches deep, though the standard size (6-8") work just as well, and only one per pot, I'm maybe too generous, but I like them to be able to spread out!

What sort are they?

[Tee Gee]

I agree with the others get them into  larger pots.

I don't grow in pots as such but I do use the ring culture method which is similar.

The rings I use for ring culture are around 10" in diameter and about a similar depth. But florists buckets would do equally as well.

I don't have any pictures of pot grown tomatoes but the link below will give you an idea of final pot size and spacings.

To give you an idea of size the greenhouse is 8ft long.

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Tomato/Tomato%20culture/tomato%20culture.html

ps the first few pictures are for greenhouse border or outdoor culture.

[cacran]

Would it work  if I got some of those long thinish growbags, took the bottom out of some florists black pots,  and squiged them down into the soil of the growbag. Rather than filling the black pots with compost? If so, how many would I get to a grow bag?

[1066]

Cacran, thats basically what I do most years (without taking the bottoms of the pots off) so yes  ;D
As to how many you can fll about 2 to 3 per bag (if memory is working today!) - but with bottoms on  :P  So more without  ;D
1066

[cacran]

Thanks for that  :)