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Outside protection for plants

EB123EB123 Posts: 23
in Fruit & veg
I am about to repot some tomato plants into bigger pots and I'm getting to the stage where I am running out of room inside, and assume that as the weather gets better I'll need to move them outside anyway. I am wondering whether I need to get some kind of temporary greenhouse or growhouse for the patio, or whether I can just put the pots outside as they are. I also have 2 strawberry plants and I will need to cover them in some way to stop the birds eating the fruit!

Does anyone have any recommendations for anything, if this is what I need?

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You can certainly net strawberries if birds are eating them, but you need to make sure it's sturdy, and well secured, with the net far enough from the fruits, so they can't reach them or get caught up in it. I had more bother with slugs eating them than birds though.
    Toms can go outside on good days, in a sheltered site, if they're sturdy/big enough just now, but inside at night until there's no danger of frosts, and temps are in double figs reasonably consistently. At that stage, you don't have to be so fussy with the indoor site if they're happy enough going out for most of the day, but good light is an advantage. 
    I only grow undercover because that's the main problem here - temps at night can still be dodgy all through summer, and the weather isn't always ideal during the day, but it's always an experiment if I put a few outside, and I accept they may not do well.
    It depends on location/climate as to whether you can grow them outdoors reliably or not, but those little plastic growhouses are fine for a basic cover through the day if it's wet and windy, but they're no use for giving cold protection, and can get seriously hot, so they're best kept open   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    My tomatoes are outside during the day and back in at night, at night they live on top of the freezer since it really doesn't matter where they are!
    I call them (and the other seedlings) the hokey cokeys, In, out, in, out

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Yes indeed, it's hokey-cokey season. 20 deg. C outside today just now which is fine for the tomatoes, but forecast dropping to 9 overnight which would be OK-ish if they were already hardened off and grown on some more, but not right now.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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