A Conversation for Seasonal Gardening Timetable

Tomatoes

Post 21

John the gardener says, "Free Tibet!"

Perhaps we should apologise to Dr St Justin for hijacking his tomato post. smiley - blush

I suspect slugs are more of a problem in places where the summers tend to be damp. Otherwise, is there somewhere close by where they shelter, a retaining wall, fence, something like that?

Verbena - I cheat... I pick it up in flats of 48 at the municipal greenhouses smiley - winkeye. It self-sows here quite reliably, so you could probably just direct seed it; otherwise start it indoors... might be safer to try it indoors the first year.


Tomatoes

Post 22

The Researcher formally known as Dr St Justin

That's quite alright John! The topic hasn't drifted too far yet... smiley - winkeye


Tomatoes

Post 23

Cloviscat

First attempt at sow indoors failed dismally. Wioll try again though - I've got 2,000 packets of seeds in my conservatory, so I can afford to throw them about a bit!

Token sop to St J - I have tomato seeds in that lot as well smiley - winkeye


Tomatoes

Post 24

The Researcher formally known as Dr St Justin

smiley - ok


Tomatoes

Post 25

Mina

The tomatoes that I grew didn't really go red, at best they got to orange. smiley - blue But they were plants given to me quite late in the year.
This year I already have seedlings in the propagator. smiley - smiley

Although thanks for the tip about keeping them in until May. I hadn't realised they would take that long.
I need a bigger greenhouse! And extra time, as I have a load of violas that need planting out that I didn't get around to at the weekend. They're flowering. smiley - biggrin (Sorry for the huge grin there, but the violas were among the first seeds I ever sowed, so I think it's a blooming miracle. smiley - winkeye)


Tomatoes

Post 26

The Researcher formally known as Dr St Justin

smiley - groan


Verbena Bonariensis

Post 27

Cloviscat

Just a quick message for John:

You know I said my attempt to grow verbena bonariensis had failed miserably? Well I spoke too soon. I'd sown them in a celled tray with something else in the other half, and because the something else had come up, I hadn't ditched the vb. Lo and behold, three weeks later, there they are! And I'm the one who tells other people to be patients.... learnt my lesson, now all I have to do is keep them going till they're not quite so *tiny*....

smiley - smiley


Verbena Bonariensis

Post 28

John the gardener says, "Free Tibet!"

Wonderful. Well done. smiley - ok

They come along quite quickly once they get going. Verbenas are pretty tough little things, as a rule; so I'd be surprised if they don't take care of next years seeding themselves. You're likely to find them popping up all over the place, which is certainly no hardship.

JTG smiley - cheerup


Back to tomatoes

Post 29

Pheroneous

As your tomato plant grows, be sure to pinch out the little branches that appear in the 'joints' of existing branches, thus allowing your plant to grow upwards and not into a bush. Unless you are a big fan of green tomato chutney there is no point in letting more than six sets of tomatoes develop. The later ones will never ripen before the frosts get here, so once you've got your six sets of flowers, pinch out the growing tip. Also, as fruits develop, don't be afraid to take off excess leaves, thus allowing the sun to get at the fruit.


Back to tomatoes

Post 30

Cloviscat

Depends on the variety, surely? Some make a point that they don't need pinched out, and I certainly get more than six trusses! What variety are you growing, Pheroneous? Perhaps you're growing to show...


Back to tomatoes

Post 31

Pheroneous

When I was at school - which admittedly far too long a time ago to remember details such as long latin names! - I spent a couple of easter and whit holidays employed solely as a 'pincher-out' of tomatoes with a commercial greenhouse grower of said fruits. I was detailing their techniques, which, I now remember, also included the thinning out of the sets to about eight tomatoes, and, perhaps much more importantly, an abundance of water and faecal matter mixed with straw from a nearby stables. It has also to be said that that the most successful crops I have grown myself employed the same method. Now I no longer have the patience, and have to say that my perception of shop bought tomatoes, as with so many things - is that they lack perfume and taste. Whoever first put a tomato in a fridge deserves to be castigated severely. Which is a splendid argument for growing your own. No, I would never grow for show, only to eat. And I have heard of bush tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes, so I am not blind to the possibilities, merely passing along advice for those who want big juicy red fruits from, say, 'Moneymaker'.


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