Secrets Of Growing Tomatoes In Cold climates

The Secrets Of Growing Tomatoes In Cold climates

The area is cold and you don’t have a greenhouse so growing tomato plants at higher elevation and or in cold weather is difficult. So knowing that tomatoes are a popular home garden crop and is easy to grow is not too helpful. Nevertheless, even though there are a number of limitations on growing tomatoes in cold, there are ways to overcome them.

The two main limiting factors in cold weather are late spring frosts and low nighttime temperatures in summer. You have to plant tomatoes early enough so that the fruits can ripen by fall but not too early or they will be damaged by a late spring frost.

Follow These Six Steps Below and Successfully Grow Tomatoes In Cold Climates.

Short Season Varieties

Go for small-fruited quick growing varieties of tomatoes in cold weather conditions. The count of the days start with the planting of a six-inch healthy plant in the garden till the first fruit is ripe. Varieties like Cold Set, Sweet 100, Galina, Olympic, Early Girl, Pixie, Hybrid and Stupice produce good yields.

Planting Tomato Plants Early

Plant six-inch tomato plants by early June. Sow seeds in late April and grow tomatoes under protection from cold. Approximately it will take six months to grow good tomato plants from seeds.

Soil Warming And Soil Preparation

Tomato plants need soil that is moderately fertile but not too high on nitrogen because tomatoes grown on soil rich in nitrogen content will be green and lush but will bear few fruits. After planting tomatoes, water the plants with a starter solution, which has a higher percentage of phosphorous than nitrogen and do not let the plants dry out.

For growing tomatoes select a wind sheltered, warm and sunny part of your garden. Cover the soil with plastic and warm the soil. Surround the newly planted tomato plants with any of the following to create greenhouse effect:
- A plastic milk jug whose top is open and the bottom is cut out
- Keep three to five plastic milk jugs filled with water around the plants
- Surround the plants with a ‘Wall-O-Water’
- A clear plastic wrapped tall cage made up of construction wires

You can get flexibility if you grow tomatoes in five-gallon cans or tubes. You can move the plants into the sun during day and can move them to a protected spot during night.

Flowers To Fruits

Flowers of tomato plants do not set fruit when night temperatures are below 55 degree F. You can prompt fruit setting by covering the plants at night or by spraying young blossoms with “Tomato Bloom Set”. If the flowers can be manually shaken by gently tapping the stem it will help self-pollination.

Improve growth By Covering The Plants With Floating Row Cover And Slitted Clear Plastic

The optimum temperature for growth and development of tomatoes is 65-80 degree F. You can improve tomato growth by using row covers like Tufbell, Agryl, Remay and Kimberly Farms. These row covers help to keep nighttime temperatures up to 10 degree F warmer. You can also use clear plastic but then you must slit or remove it daily to let the hot air out.

Proper Watering For Better Growth

Frequent watering is required when the tomato plants are young. When flowers come, it is best to lessen the frequency but increase the quantity. When the plant bears the first fruit reduce both the quantity and frequency. If the plant is wilted then add water. For starting tomatoes Multi pack pots are good but you can use other containers too.

You can also make a suitable container for starter plants by cutting off the side of a milk carton and punching some drainage holes in the base. Fill the carton with equal parts of sterilized houseplant soil mix and coarse building sand. Soak the mix in water till water comes out of drainage hole and the soil is settled. Now make ¼ inches deep hole in the soil and sow two seeds in each hole. Now cover the seeds with soil and keep it moist and maintain a warm temperature (60-85 F). The seeds will take 5 to 14 days to germinate.

The young plants need more light so choose the site for the seedlings carefully. You can add bright light for 24x7 with a fluorescent or incandescent light, you can get best results if you put the artificial light source 12” to 18” above the plants.

Follow these methods and see how growing tomatoes in cold become easier.