Before I had this garden with its greenhouse, I had a small garden with enough room for two tubs of green beans and four tubs of tomatoes. That was it full. It was an east/west facing one so only had one place to put a blow away on a patio. My first attempts ( without blow away) ment lots of unripe fruit by September, at which point the cold got to the plants. With some cover they could go out a month earlier, and survive till end of September, maybe six extra weeks. Which ment more ripe at seasons end. So for me it worked really well, so I would never tell anyone they are useless.
Interesting. Perhaps most useful for toms at the end of the season rather than the beginning.... It would be interesting to know what kind of heat differential they do confer as night temps rise or fall.
I think that planting out at end April instead of end May gives the toms time to settle in with root growth before the heat makes them grow upwards. Yes the temperature varies, but the blow away keeps the frost and rain off the plants stressing them less. Then on warmer days they get full light with it open. At the end any heat left in the September sun is held in giving that extra time. Inside or out you never get them all to ripen.😁
I bought a 6x4 walk in blowaway plastic greenhouse last year. I hammered in some metal poles (ex trampoline!) and strapped it to those. I then built containers that sit on the floor on the frame under each shelf unit (2 sides and back wall) which also anchor it. I raised all my veg seeds and flowers in it and once they were planted out I removed the shelves and planted tomatoes, cucumber, aubergine and Padron peppers into the containers. Everything grew and had fantastic crops! When the tomatoes were done in September ish, I brought in the chilli plants that were growing in pots outside to finish off ripening the last fruits and then in October I planted pak choi, komatsuna and mizuna in the containers. I replaced some of the shelves and sowed sweet peas and have a few cuttings in there. The leaf crops have stayed alive although not grown much (to be honest I have barely looked at them all winter, so perhaps would have done better with some fleece. It has survived 60mph winds (garden is exposed surrounded by fields) and we get severe frosts. I wouldn’t be without it now. If she can afford a walk in I’d recommend it, the smaller plastic things I think are a bit small. I sow my tomatoes in April- last frost date here is end of May.
Thanks for that @Flinster. With my friend's situation, I think the hanging baskets won't work. But as she has a south facing patio, I think pots are ok. It was more, for her, the question of whether she could start the seeds early. After discussion, she is going to wait until March.
I sow mine in January in the northfacing kitchen window sill,they are now potted on and in the conservatory also north facing, Will be going into frost free green house,next month.Have always done this, the green houses are all glass though,one is bubble wrap insulated,has a tubular heater,and has my hanging baskets which contain plug plants
I started my tomatos off in February, quite early but inside the house to keep them warmer at night, all germinated fine and after about a month they got potted on and put in the greenhouse where they have been doing well, already growing string and looks like the first little bids are starting to show.
This is only my second year, so will be trying some out in the garden and greenhouse, some with halo some with growbags and some in pots to see what works. We are in Cornwall so its quite mild here.
I think its really a good idea to just try things and see what works in your area, garden or even in certain areas in the garden/under cover. We all have different results, dependant on the area, soil, weather conditions, temperature, time, care and resources you can give to plants.
We also started a few last month to see if they catch up or are better etc... so we can compare. Doing so many means we can afford to make a few mistakes, and i expect to otherwise my garden is going to be overflowing with tomato plants!
True Kirsty,I am in the SE UK only 10 minutes from the sea, sheltered by the south downs,but tomato 🍅 won't be staying out overnight or planted out till at least the end of may
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My first attempts ( without blow away) ment lots of unripe fruit by September, at which point the cold got to the plants. With some cover they could go out a month earlier, and survive till end of September, maybe six extra weeks. Which ment more ripe at seasons end.
So for me it worked really well, so I would never tell anyone they are useless.
At the end any heat left in the September sun is held in giving that extra time.
Inside or out you never get them all to ripen.😁
I wouldn’t be without it now. If she can afford a walk in I’d recommend it, the smaller plastic things I think are a bit small.
I sow my tomatoes in April- last frost date here is end of May.
This is only my second year, so will be trying some out in the garden and greenhouse, some with halo some with growbags and some in pots to see what works.
We are in Cornwall so its quite mild here.
I think its really a good idea to just try things and see what works in your area, garden or even in certain areas in the garden/under cover. We all have different results, dependant on the area, soil, weather conditions, temperature, time, care and resources you can give to plants.
We also started a few last month to see if they catch up or are better etc... so we can compare. Doing so many means we can afford to make a few mistakes, and i expect to otherwise my garden is going to be overflowing with tomato plants!