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Tomatoes indoors too early?

cxgcxgcxgcxg Posts: 7
in Fruit & veg

Hello,

I bought some 3-4 inch tomato plants from a garden centre in early March and have them growing indoors in 5 inch pots. It's the start of April and they are now about 12 inches high, with flowers starting to appear (but not quite open yet). I have no greenhouse and as it's about a month until the frost risk passes, I'm not sure if I just let them flower indoors, whether I should pinch them off, whether I should leave outside on sunny days and bring in overnight, whether I should pot on.....

So, in summary, a bit unsure on next steps! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,697
    Do not pinch them out.....tomatoes aren't grown that way. If you have a very sheltered spot outdoors, put them out during the day (if it isn't windy) and that will toughen them up and stop them growing tall and leggy. Maybe you could fashion a tent for them with plastic sheeting. I would stake them with small canes so that they don't bend and snap. Bring them in at night until the risk of frost has passed.

    Are you intending to grow them in pots or in the ground? What variety are they?
  • cxgcxgcxgcxg Posts: 7

    Thanks for your reply. I intend to grow them in the ground. They are 'Sungold' which I believe to be indeterminate. There are currently small stakes that are helping them grow upright, although they are leggy. I have been removing sideshoots.

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,697
    Ah, Sungold. The best tomato ever. I've grown them in the greenhouse and in the veg patch and they do well in both situations.
  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    I'd take off those early flowers, let the plants put all their energy into developing. You'll get plenty of flowers and fruit later. Sungold are prolific. Leave the sideshoots for the moment.

  • cxgcxgcxgcxg Posts: 7
    Thanks Italophile. What is the reason for leaving sideshoots (and at what point would you remove them)?
  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Take them off once the plants are in the ground and growing. You remove sideshoots to stop the plant developing too many headers - ie, main stems that will produce more branches producing more fruit. Rule of thumb is two headers - ie, two main stems producing branches producing fruit.

    One tip with Sungold. The fruit is prone to splitting as it approaches maturity. Keep a close eye on them. Even harvest them a couple of days early.

  • cxgcxgcxgcxg Posts: 7

    Thanks Italophile, much appreciated.

  • GillygeeGillygee Posts: 28

    thanks italophile for your tips - tomatoes were my biggest failure last year. have only had success with bush variety. I did hear to cover outdoor toms in fleece till mid-end May/ use a coldframe if you have one till then. (I cobbled tog a coldframe-like structure out of old bits of wood and an old sash window - does the trick!)

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    If you can grow bush types, you can grow any tom, Gillygee. Apart from as much sun as possible - 6 to 8 hours a day is ideal - it's all down to temperatures, especially overnight. Planting out when overnight temps are in single figures won't hurt the plant - within reason, obviously, I'm talking about 8 or 9C - but their development will be retarded. You're better off waiting.

    As an experiment, I once planted out a couple of plants with overnight temps of around 8C. A month later, I planted out the rest with overnight temps of 12-14C. They matured at the same time. The early plantings took that much longer.

    Fleece doesn't really compensate. 

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