When I planted mine out yesterday I only buried the stem about 4cm; I was being cautious. A neighbour gave the toms to me; he learnt to grow them about 50 years ago from an old Italian guy near London; he had never heard of burying the stems and thought they might rot. I am always impressed by this neighbour's toms; they stand like sentries about 6' high and produce masses of tomatoes. Mine look like the aftermath of a good party, sprawling all over the place
Verdun, sorry, but I never foliar feed tomatoes. Damp/wet leaves are an invitation to fungal problems. I know people do foliar feed in the mornings to let the sun dry the leaves but I wouldn't. Dry leaves and as much air circulation as possible are about the only natural aids against fungal problems.
Haven't heard of milk preventing deficiencies. Some claim milk is a guard against fungal problems. I've seen it argued that milk changes the pH of the surface of the leaf making it less comfortable for the fungal spores. But there's no scientific evidence, purely anecdotal.
artjak, toms will certainly grow without their stems being buried at planting time. The benefit of burying is the extra root structure. The stronger and more extensive the root system, the healthier the plant.
Full fat or skimmed Verd? Does it make them bigger if you use Gold Top
Mine have just started producing little fruits so I'm keeping them indoors where they'r esafe. The little bargain ones can go outside once I've got something to put them in.
Do you find foliar feed better than doing it the conventional way Verd?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks all. Here's a progress report on mine if you're interested. Well, this is half of them! There's a sunnier windowsill in another room I'm rotating these with, but here gets plenty around midday.
Italophile, re your helpful post, do you remove those lower branches or bury them? Presume the former? And I should be fairly ruthless in stripping them?
Verdun, decent soil, etc, aside, weather's really the key to a good crop. Temps from low 20sC upwards are the go. And don't pamper them. They thrive on controlled neglect.
The common fungal diseases - Early Blight, SLS, etc - don't really impact on either the quality or quantity of fruit providing sensible housekeeping is practised. Nip off the diseased leaves at the earliest opportunity, etc. With reasonale care, these common fungal problems rarely kill a plant.
Cripes, Bf, you've got a forest there! They look desperately in need of sun, too. You'd be hard pressed to dig holes deep enough to bury them down to the canopies. I'd aim for burying down to half way. Nip off the wee branches with sharp scissors, dig deeply and plant.
They're definitely under-sunned, I agree. I've got a decent south facing windowsill in another bedroom which has got some other plants on it and I'm trying to rotate them. The problem has been the bloomin' weather! Yesterday was the first sunny day in our part of the world for ages. Clearly they'd get more outside - but temps got down to low single figures by night the other day, on Friday daytime temp didn't get above 10C!
So, have been working on the basis that I hold out for better weather and keep them inside for longer. Avidly watching the weather forecasts and they suggest from mid-week things could finally start to approach summer conditions... I think I'll definitely for for it this week.
Bf, put them outside during the day even if it's 10C. The sun will do them more good than the temp will harm them at this stage of their lives.
To help them along, invest in some bubble wrap. Put the pots in a crate or similar, erect props of some sort in each corner (higher than the tops of the plants) and use the bubble wrap over the top to create a mini greenhouse. It will add at least 5º to the temps inside the bubble wrap.
Posts
When I planted mine out yesterday I only buried the stem about 4cm; I was being cautious. A neighbour gave the toms to me; he learnt to grow them about 50 years ago from an old Italian guy near London; he had never heard of burying the stems and thought they might rot. I am always impressed by this neighbour's toms; they stand like sentries about 6' high and produce masses of tomatoes. Mine look like the aftermath of a good party, sprawling all over the place
Verdun, sorry, but I never foliar feed tomatoes. Damp/wet leaves are an invitation to fungal problems. I know people do foliar feed in the mornings to let the sun dry the leaves but I wouldn't. Dry leaves and as much air circulation as possible are about the only natural aids against fungal problems.
Haven't heard of milk preventing deficiencies. Some claim milk is a guard against fungal problems. I've seen it argued that milk changes the pH of the surface of the leaf making it less comfortable for the fungal spores. But there's no scientific evidence, purely anecdotal.
artjak, toms will certainly grow without their stems being buried at planting time. The benefit of burying is the extra root structure. The stronger and more extensive the root system, the healthier the plant.
Full fat or skimmed Verd? Does it make them bigger if you use Gold Top
Mine have just started producing little fruits so I'm keeping them indoors where they'r esafe. The little bargain ones can go outside once I've got something to put them in.
Do you find foliar feed better than doing it the conventional way Verd?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Italophile, thank you.
Thanks all. Here's a progress report on mine if you're interested. Well, this is half of them! There's a sunnier windowsill in another room I'm rotating these with, but here gets plenty around midday.
Italophile, re your helpful post, do you remove those lower branches or bury them? Presume the former? And I should be fairly ruthless in stripping them?
Verdun, decent soil, etc, aside, weather's really the key to a good crop. Temps from low 20sC upwards are the go. And don't pamper them. They thrive on controlled neglect.
The common fungal diseases - Early Blight, SLS, etc - don't really impact on either the quality or quantity of fruit providing sensible housekeeping is practised. Nip off the diseased leaves at the earliest opportunity, etc. With reasonale care, these common fungal problems rarely kill a plant.
Cripes, Bf, you've got a forest there! They look desperately in need of sun, too. You'd be hard pressed to dig holes deep enough to bury them down to the canopies. I'd aim for burying down to half way. Nip off the wee branches with sharp scissors, dig deeply and plant.
Hasn't made me very popular with mrs bf...
They're definitely under-sunned, I agree. I've got a decent south facing windowsill in another bedroom which has got some other plants on it and I'm trying to rotate them. The problem has been the bloomin' weather! Yesterday was the first sunny day in our part of the world for ages. Clearly they'd get more outside - but temps got down to low single figures by night the other day, on Friday daytime temp didn't get above 10C!
So, have been working on the basis that I hold out for better weather and keep them inside for longer. Avidly watching the weather forecasts and they suggest from mid-week things could finally start to approach summer conditions... I think I'll definitely for for it this week.
Bf, put them outside during the day even if it's 10C. The sun will do them more good than the temp will harm them at this stage of their lives.
To help them along, invest in some bubble wrap. Put the pots in a crate or similar, erect props of some sort in each corner (higher than the tops of the plants) and use the bubble wrap over the top to create a mini greenhouse. It will add at least 5º to the temps inside the bubble wrap.