Tomatoes - outdoors?

officeguru

Hi all,

I've always grown my tomatoes etc in the greenhouse but as it gets chock-a-block in the summer, I wondered if there was any point in growing some of the tomato plants outdoors. Most of the varieties are either or.

Do you think it will be too cold/too short a summer to consider this?

(Fife, Scotland)

Cheers

liney

I'm in the Midlands and I grow mine up against a wall which holds onto the summer heat and provides some support. Last year they were great but I find it's abit hit and miss. If I were you, i'd just put out a couple and see how they do.

sarah1972

I have only ever grown my tomatoes outside and I usually do cherries, normal ones and beefsteak and they have thrived every year to the point that I eat them all summer and then make chutneys and sauces with whats left over.

Admittedly I am in the South though so maybe someone nearer to you can give you a better idea.

Sorry that doesnt really help you.... North/Side divide makes all the difference as they say :beer:

jammy_dodger

i cant speak from any experience but am having a bash at cherry type toms outside this year and have one of those plastic greenhouse thingies too to put a grow bag in and see how a coulpe get on in there too , i'm up in moray and agree our summers can be on the cold and short side i watch beechgrove but dont recall jim plantinng toms outside but am giving it a go

GreenTricky

got a tomato house from morrisons for £8, was marked as £10 but scanned at 8, should fit 8 plants and keep them abit warmer

valk_scot

I'm in East Lothian so not far from you at all. I grow tomatoes outside and find the outdoor cherry type do perfectly well, though I suspect the yield isn't quite as high as it would be in a greenhouse. Bigger tomatoes do better with a bit of shelter so I grow them inside a frame covered in Environmesh. This gives them a tiny bit of protection but good air circulation You do have to leave a couple of gaps though, for pollinating insects to get in.

faerie~spangles

I'm near Stirling and have a tiny corner which gets sun for most of the day. I planted tomato plants there last year and surprisingly had quite good crop. I also planted marigolds, basil and garlic close by to deter the nasties.

royg_2

I've tried to grow some outside over the last 4 years with very little real success in the West Lothian area.

My garden seems to catch the winds so I've struggled to find a spot that both catches a lot of sun and is also well sheltered and even the hanging basket type ones have always looked very unhappy and have caught blight by mid August thanks to recent wet summers.

Those pop up tomato growhouses worked ok but no matter what I tried any strong winds end up breaking and taking out the plants, so would again need good shelter.

Current plan is to use any decent spare plants left from greenhouse in case we get a good summer and will have a few cherry ones in baskets and tall pots that I can bring in during wet spells.

mazza111

I'm in Lanarkshire and was planning to do the same as above, play the waiting game and see what the summer is like

aliasojo

GreenTricky wrote: »

got a tomato house from morrisons for £8, was marked as £10 but scanned at 8, should fit 8 plants and keep them abit warmer

Was this recently? I could do with a couple of those but grudge paying silly money for what is little more than a bit of plastic and a few tubes. I would cough up £8 though.

faerie~spangles wrote: »

I also planted marigolds, basil and garlic close by to deter the nasties.

I knew that marigolds were good companion plants but I didn't know basil and garlic were the same. I have some basil I started from seed that I'll plant out once the weather gets better.

Thanks for the tip.

pondskater_2

I live up on the edge of the Clyde Valley and the winds howl across and blast my back garden. I have tried one of those little plastic greenhouses fastened to the fence but it got trashed two years running. This year, I am thinking of making a sturdy framework in one of my raised beds that gets a bit of protection from a hedge and using it to create some kind of shelter, maybe using fleece or summat. What with the cost of the mini greenhouse and replacement covers and now fleece maybe I would have been cheaper just buying tomatoes