Early tomatoes

[allaboutliverpool]

Last year I noticed that a plotholder had a greenhouse full of 4 foot tall tomato plants bearing small green tomatoes.

At the end of the greenhouse were 2 spindly plants on the shelving that were still in 3 inch pots about 18 inches tall.

All he had done was water them as they were originally destined to be spares, but each one had 2 or 3 ripe tomatoes on, they were about the size of small plums.

It is obviously important not to feed (which would encourage green growth) and keep the roots restricted in order to make the plants concentrate on reproduction.

I think that this is a ploy worth trying.

http://allaboutallotments.com/index.html

[allaboutliverpool]

[Ian Pearson]

Some plants respond to stress by trying to reproduce (fruit). Providing a low level of nutrients is one way to stress them, and it is well known that tomatoes should not be overfed with nitrogen, as they tend to just make more foliage.
The downside of early fruiting is that there will be a light crop, because the plant is weaker than a well-fed one, which will produce a heavy crop, but later.

[chriscross1966]

Hmm... this might be a good technique for me next year. I intend having a large (20x10-12 feet or so) greenhouse, it'd certainly be possible to grow a few extra plants (I reckon I can get 30 tomatoes adn 30 peppers/chillis/aubergines etc in there)..... if I started them early, got them into say 5" pots by early April and then stop them and stressed them for everythign except water and potash then they should copr through fast.... bovious choices would be the quick ones anyway, cherries, Black Krim, sub-arctic plenty might be worth a shout too.... get the early crop off them and pull them out as the main ones overgrow them.... might be worth a go.....

chrisc

[Wilder]

this is fascinating as I've been a bit too successful with the tomato seeds and wondered what to do with the excess. Only problem now is the greenhouse

[Spudbash]

Tiny Tim tomatoes grow quite happily in a small pot.  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you plant too many toms, use the biggest and chuck the rest.

[plot51A]

If you plant too many toms, use the biggest and chuck the rest.

Easily said but harder to do I find!

[Vinlander]

What's wrong with planting the surplus outside in odd corners?

We might get a decent summer this year :-X, and when we do the outdoor toms always taste better to me - probably because they can survive with less watering.

I suspect the mechanism goes like this - less water in deeper soil and lower temps means the plant can adjust itself to a much more even kind of water-stress - which means less water in the fruit - which means more salts and flavour per gram.

I'm not so worried about blight now because I think that the traditional 'binary' recipe of bordeaux mixture from 2 solutions makes more effective 'nanoparticles' of copper - but I need another 'middling' year to test it again. In really bad years (07/08) nothing works at all outside the greenhouse...

Cheers.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Nothing, but if you want a decent outdoor crop you need early varieties, and no blight.

[Vinlander]

Nothing, but if you want a decent outdoor crop you need early varieties, and no blight.

So you sow late varieties of tomato?

Apart from Green Zebra I've never tasted anything better than Gardeners' Delight, Sungold, and Green Tiger. As for the bigger ones they all seem much alike so I prefer Black Krim for the smoky taste.

All these (except GZ of course) grow well outside unless it's an appalling year.

In the last appalling year even my pals with big greenhouses were fighting a losing battle with blight.

I have a small greenhouse with a few toms for an early crop, but mainly it's for peppers and aubergines.

Why use a greenhouse to produce late indoor crops not much earlier than outdoor ones?

Put me straight here!

Cheers.

[lillian]

You could give February Jewel ago http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/vegetable_seeds/tomato_seed_february_jewel/

[Rixy]

If you plant too many toms, use the biggest and chuck the rest.

Or better still, offer them to someone who may not have tried that variety or has for whatever reason been unable to plant any seeds of there own.

I'm in the fortunate position that I've had a healthy germination rate on my tomatoes, chillis and peppers with the culmination that I have 24 seedlings of each.  I only have room for 8 of each plants in the greenhouse though but the others won't be wasted, my next door but one plot neighbour has had some personal problems to attend to and is way behind in her seedling schedule, she'll be the recipient of some of my spares with the others going to one of the other plot holders (who happens to be my next door but one house neighbour) who recently suffered a bereavement and is way behind with his planning and seedlings too.

In return (nothing asked for I might add) I know I'll get quite a few Willow Withies to finish off some screening I'm making and also free access to some of the most succulent and tastiest rhubarb out of all the plots on the allotment site.

[tonybloke]

Nothing, but if you want a decent outdoor crop you need early varieties, and no blight.

Or, grow short season disease resistant american varieties, these reach maturity in 75days  ;)

[Jeannine]

Some as early as 55.

There are many short season ones that are bred for just this problem which is why it is important to find out what you are planting before you do. Many of the long season ones can't really make it outside in the UK unless it is a very good summer.  Many of the short season ones are determinate ones which need no pruning and ripen more or less at the same time so a few longer season ones will extend you season maybe. Also many of the short season ones are parthenocarpic which simple means they don't need pollibation to set fruit.

ones to consider are.

Stupice.60-65 days ( this is from setting out plants not from sowing by the way)
Glacier 65S
Sashas pride 60
Celebrity 70
Gold Nugget 60
Juliet 60..a fantastic tom by the way
Moskovitch 60
Oregon Spring
Taxi a good yellow
and all the Polar ones, there are 4


There are many more toms in this range which is much shorter than many of the others which are 85 -90 days


XX Jeannine