My tomato plants (grown from seed) are already approx. 12'' tall but as yet show no sign of flowering. Will it be ok to transplant them to the grow bags (in an unheated greenhouse) now, or must I wait for the first flower truss to appear !!
Heather: Tomato blight is the same as potato blight, the two plants being quite closely related. It's caused by a fingus, Phytophthera infestans, whose airborne spores tend to be around in late summer. They're particularly good at infecting the leaves when the weather is warm and humid, as it sometimes is in July-August. The spores land on the leaf and germinate, the hyphae growing in through the stomata and then throughout the plant.
It can be discouraged (but not usually comletely prevented) in both tomatoes and potatoes by not having them too close together, so air can circulate freely, by keeping the humidity down in the greenhouse (difficult) and by spraying the foliage with Bordeaux mixture (copper hydroxide, I think, made on the spot by mixing copper nitrate or sulphate with calcium hydroxide, I think. Doesn't really matter coz I believe it's illegal now). You can't spray tomatoes anyway coz they'll be covered with fruit; maincrop spuds are usually done in early July, just before the risky period. Sorry, were done.
David - yes, go ahead and transplant if there are significant roots showing through the holes in the bottom of the pot. It doesn't matter whether they have flowers yet or not, but you don't want them to get pot-bound.
Plant them nice and deep - at least up to the seed-leaves; deeper if they're a bit leggy. The buried stem will develop extra roots, which is all to the good.
It's also a good idea to put a bottomless 6 or 8" pot of compost on top of each hole in the bag, which gives a lot more rooting space, and plant into that.
Oops - just notice the date on Heather's post. Bit late.
David - are your tomatoes already in the unheated greenhouse or are they somewhere warmer? If they're not used to the cold then I should wait until the current cold snap is over before moving them if I were you.
Thanks for the replies, I have been standing the plants outside for a couple of hours the past few days, but looking at this weeks temperatures was thinking of waiting another week before putting them in the greenhouse (which is lined with bubble wrap by the way). One other thing, as I am going to use plant rings on the (tomorite) grow bags should I grow 3 plants in each bag or limit them to just 2.
I have been given a number of Gardeners' Delight tomato plants which I intend to plant into growing bags. Could you please advise me into which category, either bush or cordon, this variety falls to enable me to stake the plants correctly as advised in your article. MAny thanks.
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My tomato plants (grown from seed) are already approx. 12'' tall but as yet show no sign of flowering. Will it be ok to transplant them to the grow bags (in an unheated greenhouse) now, or must I wait for the first flower truss to appear !!
Heather: Tomato blight is the same as potato blight, the two plants being quite closely related. It's caused by a fingus, Phytophthera infestans, whose airborne spores tend to be around in late summer. They're particularly good at infecting the leaves when the weather is warm and humid, as it sometimes is in July-August. The spores land on the leaf and germinate, the hyphae growing in through the stomata and then throughout the plant.
It can be discouraged (but not usually comletely prevented) in both tomatoes and potatoes by not having them too close together, so air can circulate freely, by keeping the humidity down in the greenhouse (difficult) and by spraying the foliage with Bordeaux mixture (copper hydroxide, I think, made on the spot by mixing copper nitrate or sulphate with calcium hydroxide, I think. Doesn't really matter coz I believe it's illegal now). You can't spray tomatoes anyway coz they'll be covered with fruit; maincrop spuds are usually done in early July, just before the risky period. Sorry, were done.
David - yes, go ahead and transplant if there are significant roots showing through the holes in the bottom of the pot. It doesn't matter whether they have flowers yet or not, but you don't want them to get pot-bound.
Plant them nice and deep - at least up to the seed-leaves; deeper if they're a bit leggy. The buried stem will develop extra roots, which is all to the good.
It's also a good idea to put a bottomless 6 or 8" pot of compost on top of each hole in the bag, which gives a lot more rooting space, and plant into that.
Oops - just notice the date on Heather's post. Bit late.
David - are your tomatoes already in the unheated greenhouse or are they somewhere warmer? If they're not used to the cold then I should wait until the current cold snap is over before moving them if I were you.
Good point. I'd assumed that they were already in there.
Mind you, at this rate we could be waiting till July.
Thanks for the replies, I have been standing the plants outside for a couple of hours the past few days, but looking at this weeks temperatures was thinking of waiting another week before putting them in the greenhouse (which is lined with bubble wrap by the way). One other thing, as I am going to use plant rings on the (tomorite) grow bags should I grow 3 plants in each bag or limit them to just 2.
I've always grown 3 plants per bag using these and it's always been fine.
BB