Most tomatoes stop setting blossoms and producing fruit during the heat of summer and once they begin to fruit again the remaining season is short and there end up being unripened tomatoes when the first frost comes.
I started my first round of tomato sets too early, even for a greenhouse, and some of them were stunted by the wide temperature swings from too hot at midday to too cold by early morning. A second round a few weeks later proved much healthier and grew well once they were transplanted into garden soil.
By the end of May, all the plant starts had been moved out of the greenhouse and planted in the garden. The time was right for starting a new crop of tomatoes to extend the growing season beyond the first frost.
First, I had to deal with the problem of daytime heating by adding shade cloth and an exhaust fan. The results were immediate and surprising. Even on the hottest days the temperature was comfortable for me working in the greenhouse. Back in March I could only work for an hour or so before I had too much heat.
My seed stock included cherry tomatoes, Homestead, Roma and Beefsteak. I started the seeds in three inch nursery pots in Nature's Care organic potting mix. In about a week the seeds germinated. Once they had their first set of true leaves, I repotted the seedlings to one gallon pots.
I prepared ten gallon food-grade plastic tubs and five gallon buckets by first drilling multiple holes into the bottoms and another four to six holes along the bottom edges of the sides. For growing medium I mixed finished compost, Kellogg raised bed and outdoor container mix and Nature's Care potting soil.
When the plants were about a foot tall, I transplanted them to the containers. I put four to five plants per ten gallon and three to a five gallon bucket. In some I mixed pepper and tomatoes in the same container and I added basil, marigolds and chrysanthemums for companions.
I started my first round of tomato sets too early, even for a greenhouse, and some of them were stunted by the wide temperature swings from too hot at midday to too cold by early morning. A second round a few weeks later proved much healthier and grew well once they were transplanted into garden soil.
By the end of May, all the plant starts had been moved out of the greenhouse and planted in the garden. The time was right for starting a new crop of tomatoes to extend the growing season beyond the first frost.
First, I had to deal with the problem of daytime heating by adding shade cloth and an exhaust fan. The results were immediate and surprising. Even on the hottest days the temperature was comfortable for me working in the greenhouse. Back in March I could only work for an hour or so before I had too much heat.
My seed stock included cherry tomatoes, Homestead, Roma and Beefsteak. I started the seeds in three inch nursery pots in Nature's Care organic potting mix. In about a week the seeds germinated. Once they had their first set of true leaves, I repotted the seedlings to one gallon pots.
I prepared ten gallon food-grade plastic tubs and five gallon buckets by first drilling multiple holes into the bottoms and another four to six holes along the bottom edges of the sides. For growing medium I mixed finished compost, Kellogg raised bed and outdoor container mix and Nature's Care potting soil.
When the plants were about a foot tall, I transplanted them to the containers. I put four to five plants per ten gallon and three to a five gallon bucket. In some I mixed pepper and tomatoes in the same container and I added basil, marigolds and chrysanthemums for companions.
Some of the cherry tomatoes fruited earlier than the others. While it was cooler in the greenhouse than before, midsummer was still hot enough to suppress flowering somewhat.
As tomatoes in the garden are winding down and dying off, the plants in the greenhouse are thriving and putting on clusters of blossoms and young fruit.
Both Fat Cherry and Small Cherry varieties are doing well.
The Romas are less prolific right now, but still producing fruit. They continue to put on blooms.
Next year I plan to try some more compact varieties, but right now it's time to clean and organize the greenhouse and insulate it for winter.
Stephen
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