They need to be planted out, Bf, they're just going to get lankier and lankier. 7C overnight will not hurt them.
You're going to have to bury them very deeply after taking off the branches and foliage up to the canopy. Take off any flower buds, too. Plenty more will come later. Let the plants put all their energy into establishing themselves for now.
I planted mine out today and took some photos. They will show what I mean about taking off branches and foliage up the canopy. All the stem that is buried will develop into root structure.
Now saying a few nights of 4C lows possible this week... So I may hold off a little. The indecision!
Italophile, is it the lack of light or being in 3" pots that's the issue? I could put them into my small coldframe, which would give them more sun (although early summer here has given way to autumn!) but if they go into their 20 litre pots they'll need to be outside fully.
It's a bit of both. They're very mature seedlings and very lanky. How old are they?
Even 4C won't damage them. Frost would. Have they lived all their lives inside? If so, they're going to need to be hardened off. If they were mine, and if they'd been hardened off, I'd plant them out now regardless.
If they haven't been hardened off, I'd stick them in the coldframe for both natural light and the beginning of the hardening off process. Then get them into their permanent home ASAP.
20 litre pots? I'd go a bit bigger. And look for depth in the pots to (a) let you bury them as deeply as possible, and (b) provide a stable base for stakes.
It was 6 weeks ago today that I sowed them as seeds...
Yes, they've been in my living room that whole time. I'm actually quite pleased with their progress, believe it or not! In previous years, they've been even lankier and by this stage have needed support to stop them flopping, plus the leaves have been pretty yellow and paper thin. Generally, they seem to recover incredibly quickly once planted out. I do follow your advice about stripping off the lower leaves and burying up to the canopy. Works really well.
Ok, I'll get them into the coldframe and hopefully this cool snap won't last too long here. I think it will need to be 20 litre pots as that's what I've got and have space for.
Thanks as ever for the advice... we're due to move somewhere with a 'proper' garden later this year (if it goes through) where I'll be able to plan it from scratch! Here I'm having to make do with a fairly small central London garden...
Six weeks? Crikey, they've done mighty well. If you're stuck with 20 litre pots I'd put the plants into the bottom of the empty pot and fill in the mix around them to the top. Can make staking a bit tricky - you don't want to skewer the root ball with the end of a stake - so maybe insert the stake at the same time as you insert the plants.
I don't quite understand how / why they've grown so quickly! I guess it has been spring, even summer, -like on SE England for the last three weeks really.
Yes completely agree with advice on potting out. I found putting canes in tricky last year for that reason so will definitely bury them in with the plants.
House purchase a bit daunting (as ever) but will be a much bigger garden than I've ever had, South facing and with plenty of room for proper greenhouse etc. I suspect I won't be allowed to focus on the garden for a while though as the house itself needs a lot of work!
I've taken the plunge - finally. Bank holiday Monday has actually given me a spare hour or so to put the toms out. Much as I thought I was too lazy to bother, I have actually been hardening them off last week - outside by day and inside at night. An then last night I left them out overnight in the coldframe and they seemed fine for it. Milder nights forecast are most welcome. Temps this week shouldn't be a problem but a fair bit of rain and wind on its way so hope they don't cause any difficulties.
Per Italophile advice, I stripped off most lower branches and buried them deeply into big pots, burying canes with them. I've 'only' potted out 12. Still have 10 of the lesser ones in the coldframe that I may give away...
Hah, yes should keep us going. Wanted to grow a range of varieties this year and have ended up with a mixture of sungold, black cherry, black opal, gardeners delight, tigerella, green zebra and sweet aperitif.
They're buried deeply and in a pretty sheltered spot so hopefully the rain won't do them any harm. They're certainly getting a good soaking!
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They need to be planted out, Bf, they're just going to get lankier and lankier. 7C overnight will not hurt them.
You're going to have to bury them very deeply after taking off the branches and foliage up to the canopy. Take off any flower buds, too. Plenty more will come later. Let the plants put all their energy into establishing themselves for now.
I planted mine out today and took some photos. They will show what I mean about taking off branches and foliage up the canopy. All the stem that is buried will develop into root structure.
Italophile, is it the lack of light or being in 3" pots that's the issue? I could put them into my small coldframe, which would give them more sun (although early summer here has given way to autumn!) but if they go into their 20 litre pots they'll need to be outside fully.
It's a bit of both. They're very mature seedlings and very lanky. How old are they?
Even 4C won't damage them. Frost would. Have they lived all their lives inside? If so, they're going to need to be hardened off. If they were mine, and if they'd been hardened off, I'd plant them out now regardless.
If they haven't been hardened off, I'd stick them in the coldframe for both natural light and the beginning of the hardening off process. Then get them into their permanent home ASAP.
20 litre pots? I'd go a bit bigger. And look for depth in the pots to (a) let you bury them as deeply as possible, and (b) provide a stable base for stakes.
It was 6 weeks ago today that I sowed them as seeds...
Yes, they've been in my living room that whole time. I'm actually quite pleased with their progress, believe it or not! In previous years, they've been even lankier and by this stage have needed support to stop them flopping, plus the leaves have been pretty yellow and paper thin. Generally, they seem to recover incredibly quickly once planted out. I do follow your advice about stripping off the lower leaves and burying up to the canopy. Works really well.
Ok, I'll get them into the coldframe and hopefully this cool snap won't last too long here. I think it will need to be 20 litre pots as that's what I've got and have space for.
Thanks as ever for the advice... we're due to move somewhere with a 'proper' garden later this year (if it goes through) where I'll be able to plan it from scratch! Here I'm having to make do with a fairly small central London garden...
Six weeks? Crikey, they've done mighty well. If you're stuck with 20 litre pots I'd put the plants into the bottom of the empty pot and fill in the mix around them to the top. Can make staking a bit tricky - you don't want to skewer the root ball with the end of a stake - so maybe insert the stake at the same time as you insert the plants.
Best of, um, British with the real estate!
Yes completely agree with advice on potting out. I found putting canes in tricky last year for that reason so will definitely bury them in with the plants.
House purchase a bit daunting (as ever) but will be a much bigger garden than I've ever had, South facing and with plenty of room for proper greenhouse etc. I suspect I won't be allowed to focus on the garden for a while though as the house itself needs a lot of work!
Per Italophile advice, I stripped off most lower branches and buried them deeply into big pots, burying canes with them. I've 'only' potted out 12. Still have 10 of the lesser ones in the coldframe that I may give away...
12? Crikey, are you going into the veg business?
I should talk. I've planted out 16.
They'll be fine. They shouldn't be big enough yet to be bothered by wind in terms of blowing them over but keep a watch.
They're buried deeply and in a pretty sheltered spot so hopefully the rain won't do them any harm. They're certainly getting a good soaking!