Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I would not try and move the plants as the roots system of your 6-year old plants would be extensive and you would damage them and it could take years for the plants to fully recover. Better to start a new bed with new crowns and harvest what you can from the old bed until the new bed is fully established…this way you will have some continuity of harvest.
Try using a dibber and make a hole 10 cms deeps, drop a seed into the hole and then stamp on it with the heel of your boot. Should grow…I have sown miles of rows of beans using this technique and it has worked every time. Double row with 15cm spacing either way.
Alan
Do you have a max-min thermometer in your greenhouse? I would suggest you use one as a guide, tomatoes do not like temperatures much below 10 degC in the evening. Also check the soil temperature in your greenhouse beds…ideally this should around 10-12 degC. If you can keep your young plants in good light and warm then I would wait until mid- May before planting out. Some growers I know would not plant out until the first flower truss had appeared…they reckoned that by waiting until the first truss had formed the plant then puts most of it’s energy into fruit production rather than vegetative growth. May I suggest you do a few trials and perhaps plant out some( same variety) plants now, hold some back and plant later and see what happens. I am planting some of my plants in straw bales this year for the first time in the hope that the extra warmth from the straw may help somewhat!
I,like Charles, have had a good crop in spite of low evening temperatures but if you are only growing a few plants then I would try to maximise your yield by holding on until evening temperatures stabilise. Also don’t forget that light levels are often more important than temperature.
Alan
Charcoal finings are a great slug deterrent and I dress the base of my young cucumber and courgette plants with it.
Alan
Have you contacted your local council for permission to erect a greenhouse on your plot? My wife and I had the same problem with growing tomatoes outdoors and so we contacted our local council and they agreed that we could erect a greenhouse so long as it was not permanently fixed ( i.e. no concrete base or foundations) and was not constructed of glass. We bought a lovely 8×6 polycarbonate traditional styled greenhouse for just under £200 and this has been on our plot for 2 seasons now and has given us a great crop of tomatoes and cucumbers.
Amac