I always grow my tomatoes undercover as I believe dry foliage and good air flow is the key to a blight free crop.
Planted outdoors a week of cool, wet weather in june and their leaves turn blue from the wet and cold leaving them at the mercy of blight. They are always a disapointment as they never seem to recover.
However this year some of my plants will have to take their chance outside so I was wondering if anyone has any tips on growing tomatoes outdoors to give them chance to produce at least some fruit.
Forgot to mention I'm on the Somerset/Dorset border so quite a warm part of the country.
We always grow most of our tomatoes outdoors ,both on the allotment and in the garden.We have lost some to blight in the bad years.
Hubby is the main grower so I'll watch the thread and add to it later.We're in North Somerset on the coast and have always grown outdoors for 30 years with splendid crops.
I am in Brittany so it's hardly the south of France. Everyone here grows toms outdoors. They are already growing indoors for me, in April I harden them off, then plant them out, except for exceptionally bad weather, in the first days of May usually. Rich soil, regular watering, plant them at a reasonable distance apart, a bit of Bordeaux mixture. Some years you get blight, some years you don't, that's just how it is. Got blight last year so maye this year will be luckier. I actually find that they are pretty hardy, as long as they are quite big when you plant them out. I even get some self seeded ones, usually, that come up around April and I find that they are usually good producers and very resistant to a bit of bad weather.
Is your growing place very exposed? Here in the East Midlands, I always put my spares outside - Ailsa Craig, Roma, and some cherry sorts. I plant out first week in June usually, stake and sideshoot as long as I can be bothered, and although they start a little later and the skins are a bit tougher, I get good crops - last year we couldn't move for Gardeners Delight, grown against a North-facing fence! Maybe if you can keep an eye on the forecast and pop some fleece over if a cold night is predicted?
Thanks everyone for the advice. You give me more confidence that as long as they are strong when they go out they will be ok, using whatever shelter/common sense I can provide. ;)
I'm far from new in growing tomatoes, good crops too. It's just that I don't usually plant them outside. Shows no matter how much you grow you are always learning. :)
I grow outdoors in London and have pretty good results.
I make sure they are well hardened off before planting outside, plant so there is a decent gap all round, good firm staking to reduce damage and a spray of copper sulphate twice once blight hits the site (as it always does) - works for me!
Some of mine are going outside this year too and our blight is bad. We are erecting a cover with hoops and plastic as am umbrella, not a hoop house as such as it will be open at both ends and it will not go down to the ground at the sides. Easily erected and pulled down and low cost.
This should help as the rain will not go directly on to the foliage, We are planting through black weed block fabric too.
XX Jeannine
Yes Jeannine I too think planting through black polythene is good for tomatoes. Not only does it attract heat to radiate to the toms but I believe blight spores can splash up from the ground onto the tomato foliage.
The black plastic acts as a physical barrier.
One of the reasons we remove the lower leaves.
Last year I was a bit lazy and didn't use the black plastic but I will go back to it this year. Too many weeds and if the tomatoes fall onto the plastic they last a bit longer before rotting as they stay dry. I too think they get more heat that way.
Mine go in my back garden under the summerhouse canopy roof, as the tommies on our lottie all get blight, bar the Italians who spray their glowing radioactive sprays. :-X ;D