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Re: Early Tomato Experiment

John,

great idea for a science fair project!  (Or are we beyond that?!)
Anyhow, I think it's good to know that even in warm areas (I'm at the Central Coast) we have our challenges with temperature conditions.  I have planted two tomato plants I bought at small size and I'm getting blossoms, but like you said, it is too cold at night to have them thrive.

Are you planning to leave your potted plants in the containers?  It would probably be difficult to plant them later on.

Thanks for the info,

Heidi

----------
From:   John Orwick[SMTP:oldjohn@JUNO.COM]
Sent:   Friday, April 25, 1997 7:29 AM
To:     Multiple recipients of list SQFT
Subject:        Early Tomato Experiment

A little over six weeks ago I started an experiment in an effort to
obtain a few early tomatoes while I am waiting for my first Early Girls
to mature. So far, the experiment has proven so successful that I thought
it might be of interest to others on the SQ FT list.

Any good text on tomato growing will tell you of several climatic
conditions which must be met in order for tomato plants to set fruit. Two
of these conditions, which apply to the current experiment, are: 1.) Warm
days with at least six hours of sunshine. 2.) Minimum average night time
temperatures above 55 degrees F.

At my location in Southern California, condition 1 is met on almost any
day of the year. Condition 2 presents a problem. Average night time
temperatures have not yet reached 55 degrees F.

I grow a few Pixie tomatoes each year as insurance against failure of my
other varieties. I have found Pixies to be highly dependable. While I was
transplanting my Pixies into the soil this year, I planted two plants in
10 inch diameter plastic pots using soil from the block in which I was
transplanting.

These pots are placed in the garden beside those planted in the soil
during daylight hours. Each night the two potted plants are moved into
the house where the temperature never falls below 60 degrees F.

The 6 plants in the soil are beginning to show a few blossoms this
morning. The plants in the 2 pots have a combined total count of 55
tomatoes this morning !!!! They range from pea size to about 1 1/2 inches
in diameter. (Pixies usually are much not over 2 inches at maturity.)

The plants were transplanted on March 11. I saw the first tomato on April
6. The potted plants, including tomatoes and a light wire cage, weigh
under 20 pounds so they are quite easy to move in and out daily.

So it appears that the authors of the books which tell us that minimum
night time temperatures of 55 degrees F. are necessary for tomato
production know what they talking about.

oldjohn@juno.com
John Orwick
El Monte, CA (about 20 mi. east of Los Angeles)

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