Tomatoes. What next?

[Deleted User]

I used to use a powder that you mix with water and painted it on the greenhouse glass, that`ll reduce the temperature a fair bit

Hippeechiq

Thanks for your replies Lotus-eater & Kittie

I was only saying to my OH today that my Grandad used to whitewash his greenhouse glass to keep the temperature down - mine isn't glass though, its UV protected green Polyurethane, so am not sure how successfully it would adhere. Also, reading up on whitewashing, it says to use white matt emulsion, quicklime or white latex paint.....none of which I have.

Money is an issue for me, so I was hoping for a cheap and cheerful solution. Alas I don't think there is going to be one.

[Deleted User]

net curtains from a charity shop. Dye them green or soak them in gallons of tea They will be like mesh shading fabric and you can drape them over. Windowlene or powder shading is no good for none glass. What about trying a sheet tomorrow and see how you go

Lotus-eater

I use windbreak/shade netting on my greenhouse, not that cheap, but not bad and can be used for many years. I can't remember where I got mine from now.

[Deleted User]

I got windbreak shading from gardening naturally

[Deleted User]

I spent a couple of hours pottering amongst the tomatoes and I`ve just finished. I fed 22 plants as they are all bearing fruits and then I went around all the plants and took off ties that were getting too tight, then I re-tied and added more ties. One plant partly snapped so I make a note to myself to tie more frequently ie when the tops are still thin. At the same time, I decided to expose the fruits to the light as so many were hidden behind lots of leaves, so I now have lots of leaves ready for the compost bin and I can see the tomatoes. I even took off a few tightly curled leaves

My next problem is to work out how to support the heavier tomatoes because they will get big and heavy. I am thinking nets of some sort or even a crocheted hammock type of support. I have alicante and they got pretty big last year, even though they suffered a lot because of our house move

No diseases or insects to be seen and every group of plants has a full trough of marigolds next to them

Hippeechiq

No idea on how to support your tomatoes I'm afraid kittie, but then it's my first year of growing.

It's not been anywhere near as hot down south this week as it was at the weekend, although today has been very warm, and the (dust) sheet did seem to be helping the temperature

If I'm successful at growing anything this year, I'll look into saving for some windbreak shading next year. So thank you for that suggestion.

mrbadexample

kittie wrote: »

My next problem is to work out how to support the heavier tomatoes because they will get big and heavy. I am thinking nets of some sort or even a crocheted hammock type of support.

I don't think you'll need to support the fruit. Just make sure the plant itself is properly supported. I grew a 15oz tomato last year - no idea what the whole truss weighed but it was fine.

lizzyb1812

Don't take off too many leaves this early in the growing season - it's the leaves that gather energy from sunlight to grow the fruit. Air circulation shouldn't be a problem for outdoor plants and indoors good ventilation is the answer.

And until it's really late in the growing season don't take off leaves to encourage tomatoes to ripen - they don't ripen by getting a "suntan", it's just a natural and fairly lengthy process. Late in the season it's OK to take off some leaves but if you only have a couple of trusses per plant the plants have got a lot of growing still to do and need the leaves.

morg_monster

My tomatoes went crazy during the warm weather of April and start of May (obviously I was watering copiously!) but now it's cooled down & they've been potted into their final position (morrisons buckets) the cordon ones (Ailsa craig & sungold) have stopped growing UP, they still look healthy enough, and there are a few flowers appearing, so hopefully there's nothing wrong, they'll just be a bit short. Last year my Alicantes got massively tall, I didn't really stop them properly or stay on top of the side shoots so they were very unwieldy, masses of yield though!

My Amateur bush tomatoes already have plenty of fruit, they are supposed to be early, some are getting to a really good size. I think I am going to need to add a thick stake to each of them if they are to have any hope of supporting themselves when in full fruit.
My Red Alerts however don't seem to be aware that they are bush, and are still stubbornly growing up!!

Kittie you shouldn't need a sling for them. I grew beefsteak toms last year and some were getting on for 1lb and they were fine. A good stake up the stem should keep them OK.