No photos @ShepherdsBarn and no time for the next couple of days but I'll try next week.
The seep hose is particularly good as I can wind it round the plants that need it and not water the whole bed and I don't get water on tomato foliage. I can also time the water flow so it's consistent and that helps with blossom end rot and fruit splitting which come from irregular watering.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
South side bed - 21 toms and 2 cucumbers From the west end
And lastly the work area The plastic covered metal shelving is from IKEA and, as well as providing a bit of extra shelter in late winter, early spring, protects early seed trays and seedlings from the chooks who spend wet days in there all thru winter and spring till I close off the doors with wire mesh to protect my toms.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
It's a lovely polytunnel ... I wish ours had the straight sides, it would make it much easier when growing taller plants like tomatoes. I like the curly metal climbing rods - I have never seen them before. It all looks very professional and your plants are all looking very healthy. Thank you for sharing your photos.
@ShepherdsBarn we bought the polytunnel online in our first year here and I deliberately looked for straight sides although they're only straight up to my chest height so the taller toms get planted nearer the centre path. It cost less than 1000€ and has been great. You can find the curly support poles online if your local shops don't have them. They usually come in bundles of 10.
It was a long, cold, dark winter and early spring for here so I didn't sow my own tomatoes this year but bought small plants from a heritage variety specialist at a fair in mid March. I then grew them on and then up a pot size before planting them in the PT beds. I just have a couple of home sown chillies left to plant but they'll have to live in pots as there's no space left in the PT beds.
The Beechgrove gardening programme on the Beeb usually features quite a bit of growing in PTs as Aberdeen can be too cold for some crops to do well outdoors. Worth a watch.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Some of my tomatoes in the polytunnel are not looking at all happy ... and I don't know why, due to my lack of experience. Does anyone know of a good site which shows and discusses the various tomato problems from over/under watering, lack of nutrients, too cold, too hot etc etc?! There seems to be SO many different tomato problems and I never know whether to be concerned or not. The many tomato questions that are asked on the forum are often met with 'that's normal - tomatoes do that - nothing to worry about'. But us novice tomato growers DO worry and we need a handy reference doctor so that we know what to do, if anything! 🤷🏼♀️ Not sure if this is allowed, but I have also posted in Sheps greenhouse thread. 😊
Not an expert as have only been growing them 5 years now - previous garden in Belgium not a good tomato site as surrounded by potatoes and subject to vagiaries of weather. I find tomatoes can be a mystery. A lot depends on variety but also growing conditions.
I have 30+ tomatoes, 2 of each variety, in my polytunnel, all growing in the same soil, same levels of soil improver and fertiliser and all watered by seep hose and some are galloping away, others look a bit slow. Some have curled up leaves and most don't. Some have made it to the top of their curly wurly supports and some have flopped in an indeterminate fashion. Some have fruits in an advanced stage and others are still just flowering.
However, the ones we've picked already have great flavour so stick with it.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
My tomatoes (Sweet Millions x 4) are in a 4' square raised bed. 1 plant has black spots, 1 looks fine and the other 2 look dry and shrivelled. I water them every evening and feed them once a week. I have another bed with same set up and they all look fine. 🤷🏼♀️
@ShepherdsBarn feeding them every week maybe why they are not doing so well in a polytunnel where it does get HOT!. Our plants have not being doing so well this month with the heat and yes we do water but only in the later part of the day. We don't feed apart from our own compost put down when the seeds/seedlings are put in.
Okay, thanks ... I'll not feed them ... but perhaps when the fruits are a bit bigger - maybe? Interestingly, the healthy looking plants that are in a different raised bed has been fed with comfrey tea rather than commercial tomato feed - I was experimenting to see if there was any difference! Time will tell. 🙂
Posts
The seep hose is particularly good as I can wind it round the plants that need it and not water the whole bed and I don't get water on tomato foliage. I can also time the water flow so it's consistent and that helps with blossom end rot and fruit splitting which come from irregular watering.
From the east door side -
North side bed - 11 toms and a row of basil
South side bed - 21 toms and 2 cucumbers
From the west end
And lastly the work area
The plastic covered metal shelving is from IKEA and, as well as providing a bit of extra shelter in late winter, early spring, protects early seed trays and seedlings from the chooks who spend wet days in there all thru winter and spring till I close off the doors with wire mesh to protect my toms.
It was a long, cold, dark winter and early spring for here so I didn't sow my own tomatoes this year but bought small plants from a heritage variety specialist at a fair in mid March. I then grew them on and then up a pot size before planting them in the PT beds. I just have a couple of home sown chillies left to plant but they'll have to live in pots as there's no space left in the PT beds.
The Beechgrove gardening programme on the Beeb usually features quite a bit of growing in PTs as Aberdeen can be too cold for some crops to do well outdoors. Worth a watch.
There seems to be SO many different tomato problems and I never know whether to be concerned or not. The many tomato questions that are asked on the forum are often met with 'that's normal - tomatoes do that - nothing to worry about'. But us novice tomato growers DO worry and we need a handy reference doctor so that we know what to do, if anything! 🤷🏼♀️
Not sure if this is allowed, but I have also posted in Sheps greenhouse thread. 😊
Not an expert as have only been growing them 5 years now - previous garden in Belgium not a good tomato site as surrounded by potatoes and subject to vagiaries of weather. I find tomatoes can be a mystery. A lot depends on variety but also growing conditions.
I have 30+ tomatoes, 2 of each variety, in my polytunnel, all growing in the same soil, same levels of soil improver and fertiliser and all watered by seep hose and some are galloping away, others look a bit slow. Some have curled up leaves and most don't. Some have made it to the top of their curly wurly supports and some have flopped in an indeterminate fashion. Some have fruits in an advanced stage and others are still just flowering.
However, the ones we've picked already have great flavour so stick with it.
🙂