thanks bob, yeah think I will just hold on a bit longer. there are signs (famous last words!) of warmer weather from next week i just want to make sure they're not 'held bck' by being in small pots but guess so long as watered enough should be ok? until mrs bf really has enough of plants taking over the house
Bf, keeping them in smaller pots won't hold them back in the slightest. Toms are perfectly happy with their roots a bit restricted early on.
Nah, Dove, I think he's doing a tortiose-crawl through France and nothern Italy on the way home. Which ones did you end up starting?
All of them - and I'm sharing them with a friend who has a proper greenhouse, so we do stand some chance of getting something - they're looking good so far - we just need the weather to warm up so we can have our house back - hopefully it should be ok to put them out when we come home from our hols in June.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I planted out the first of my lot nearly four weeks ago. Great daytime temps, overnight is still fluctuating.
Anna Russian:
Brandywine OTV (with its Potato Leaves):
Camp Joy (the cherry):
A couple of days ago I planted out a Doctor Neal - a large red beefsteak - in the back right corner, with 3 sweet chillies and two hot chillies:
And here's evidence that toms will live happily in small containers till they're ready to be planted out. I started these for a friend down in Umbria, they'll be planted out towards the end of this week:
V useful on the small pots tip, italophile - thank you! The fact they'll be in small pots fr longer, would you still pot up to an intermediate size pot before they go into their final large containers? I know potting up several times, burying part of the stem, is a good idea but if they're already v tall by the time they go into say 6" pots is there any point?
Verdun, spring has taken its time here but it seems to have settled in. Daytime temps are 20-25C, overnight still gets down to 10C, but it's warm enough during the day for it not to impact too much on their development.
Bf, toms only really need two transplants - from where they germinate into little pots, then to their final destinations. The main benefit of transplanting is to give the root systems a wee shock. It stimulates them. I'd keep them in their small pots. Being a bit pot-bound doesn't hurt them in the slightest. In fact it probably does them more good than any root stimulation an extra transplant would achieve.
Here's a clearer picture of one the toms in its little pot. It's perfectly happy and will go into the ground later this week.
The three lowest wee branches will come off leaving only the canopy and it will be planted deeply so that the canopy is almost sitting on the top of the soil. All the buried stem will develop into root structure.
Posts
The front cover of one of the tabloids today said; experts forecast another awful summer. I refuse to believe it until it happens
I'm with you artjak
Italophile - I have to look after them properly, after all, that tortoise brought them a very long way - is he home yet?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Bf, keeping them in smaller pots won't hold them back in the slightest. Toms are perfectly happy with their roots a bit restricted early on.
Nah, Dove, I think he's doing a tortiose-crawl through France and nothern Italy on the way home. Which ones did you end up starting?
All of them
- and I'm sharing them with a friend who has a proper greenhouse, so we do stand some chance of getting something - they're looking good so far - we just need the weather to warm up so we can have our house back - hopefully it should be ok to put them out when we come home from our hols in June.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I planted out the first of my lot nearly four weeks ago. Great daytime temps, overnight is still fluctuating.
Anna Russian:
Brandywine OTV (with its Potato Leaves):
Camp Joy (the cherry):
A couple of days ago I planted out a Doctor Neal - a large red beefsteak - in the back right corner, with 3 sweet chillies and two hot chillies:
And here's evidence that toms will live happily in small containers till they're ready to be planted out. I started these for a friend down in Umbria, they'll be planted out towards the end of this week:
V useful on the small pots tip, italophile - thank you! The fact they'll be in small pots fr longer, would you still pot up to an intermediate size pot before they go into their final large containers? I know potting up several times, burying part of the stem, is a good idea but if they're already v tall by the time they go into say 6" pots is there any point?
Verdun, spring has taken its time here but it seems to have settled in. Daytime temps are 20-25C, overnight still gets down to 10C, but it's warm enough during the day for it not to impact too much on their development.
Bf, toms only really need two transplants - from where they germinate into little pots, then to their final destinations. The main benefit of transplanting is to give the root systems a wee shock. It stimulates them. I'd keep them in their small pots. Being a bit pot-bound doesn't hurt them in the slightest. In fact it probably does them more good than any root stimulation an extra transplant would achieve.
Comforting info Italophile, thank you
Here's a clearer picture of one the toms in its little pot. It's perfectly happy and will go into the ground later this week.
The three lowest wee branches will come off leaving only the canopy and it will be planted deeply so that the canopy is almost sitting on the top of the soil. All the buried stem will develop into root structure.