Rain! Yes, I am hardening off one flat now, and plan to plant them out under tunnels soon. I just got a greenhouse that is some shelves with a plastic cover, and am trying it to harden off but may still leave the plants on my porch some to get more sun first.

What do you use to cover your plants? What tomatoes are you growing?

You might want to check the forecast and wait until next weekend--they're forecasting 21 degrees at our house Wednesday night. GAH!

Thanks for the response! A family emergency took me out of town this weekend, so didn't end up planting out after all.

My tomato line-up is:

Azoychka
Black Krim
Chocolate Cherry
Cuostralee
Isis Candy
Juane Flamme
Lime Green Salad
Marmande
Pearl
Sun Gold and
St. Pierre

Might end up buying some insurance in the form of a sturdy Stupice from Molbak's.

What are you growing this year, Hemnancy? Did you plant anything out this weekend? Lucky you with a greenhouse of any form. I am using row covers for the first time this year, and will also set out WOWs, although am not convinced they are really worth the hassle of filling up all of those tubes, having them collapse on top of the young plants, etc.

Such winds and heavy rain. GAH! as Lucretia1 would say. March is really living up to the old, "In Like a Lamb, Out Like a ..." well, you know the rest.

Rain

You might try warming the soil with covers before planting. Otherwise I would think the soil (and air) would be much too cold for this tropical plant.

A friend grows his tomato plants north of Seattle under cover just about the whole season. They really like it hot, do not like to be chilled at all.

Rain- this is my list for this year, much shorter than the last few years, my best yielders last year.

Bloody Butcher
Gogosha
Japanese Black Trifele
Jetsetter
Juliet F2
Legend
Marvel Stripe
Nepal
No id round red
Plum Giant Ukraine
Roughwood Golden Plum- from trade, doesn't fit internet photos
Sochulak
Verna's Orange Oxheart

I decided to have 2 rows together and one path between them and the single longer row, small paths on the outside, so managed to get all 3 rows in the bed, and got the tunnels set up to keep the ground dry until I can plant. This was my squash-cucumber bed last year and is smaller than the bed where I grew tomatoes last year. I just rotate every other year at this point.

I've set out tomatoes for around 10 years now in April under tunnels, they have tomatoes earlier than those planted later. The tunnels are double-walled and make a big difference in plants underneath compared to those in open ground. Squash do great under them too, set out in May instead of June. I'm still using my first tunnels, though one had a bent wire and when I tried to straighten it, the wire broke, so they may not last much longer, though I could try to cut wire and put in new ribs, if the plastic continues to hold up.

Last year I also made a large cover over the whole bed from pvc pipe and covered with plastic sheet, in late summer, to try to prevent late blight and keep the tomatoes warm in fall. It was great for a while, until the wind caught the edge of the plastic which didn't extend to the ground and blew it up and over a number of times, so it was a lot of work to put back together. Toward the end I covered just part with the plastic going to the ground and didn't lose it, but it was too late to do much good. This year I'm making individual cages out of the pvc pipes from last year and putting the plastic just over the cages so it may be pretty hard to pick tomatoes but shouldn't blow as much.

Is black plastic the best way to warm up the soil? I don't like using it as I feel guilty just tossing it at the end of the season and it is a hassle to scrub off, attempt to re-fold and store in the shed for next season, all the while hoping no critters -- crawling or otherwise -- make a home/nest in the stuff.

Hemnancy, I see you're a fan of the blacks, too. I loved JBT last year! A gorgeous, productive tomato with rich flavor. Hmm, now trying to think why I didn't give it another go this year.

Rain

Rain- Black plastic is supposed to warm the soil but I haven't used it because of what you mention, having to throw it away afterward. I put soaker hoses down the rows and cover the root zone with mulch, mostly dried grass clippings. I got some more mycorrhizal fungi and glacial rock dust (Concentrates) this year to see how they do. I had some very green and tall plants last year.

Here is my tunnel setup, I have to use fences for deer.

Here is my Roughwood Golden Plum that doesn't look correct.

Some other tomatoes, Gogosha, Jetsetter, Black Sea Man, Herman's Yellow, Nepal, Verna's Orange Oxheart in the middle. You can see how Gogosha would be my top yielder since it kept pumping them out. I favor thick skins for no blemishes.

I'm proceeding with hardening off half of the plants and will keep some in the house a couple more weeks before planting them out to compare results. They are all too tall this year, it doesn't seem like I started them any earlier...

I'd use clear plastic for that.

If there is any alternative to plastic (black, clear or otherwise), I'd like to try it.

That Gogosha looks amazing!

Rain (miffed because no one has fallen for her AFDJ)

Grass clippings keep moisture in and cut down watering and suppress weeds, but they won't warm the soil, probably the opposite. I will try to do some thermometer readings on soil under my tunnels and out in the open to see what the difference is, but the tunnels are only 18" tall so can't stay on for very long, especially starting with tall plants, though I plant the tomatoes as deeply as possible when setting them out.

Not about tomatoes but my mother had those same Corelle dishes with the green flower border in the 1970's. :)

Noticed a local garden center has "too cold for tomatoes" on their reader board.

Guess they got tired of people asking for them this early.

Same place does not provide a restroom for customers.

buyorsell- I love Corelle, if I find it at a garage sale or thrift store, like that plate, I get them. Too many cold rainy days, I haven't set any tomatoes out yet.... but it is amazing how much better they do in real sunshine under the tunnels, instead of under lights.

What is really distressing is watching my pear trees bloom too early in cold wet weather, it may be another pearless year if we don't get some warm sunny days soon.

I cheated, kind of.

I planted one of the Pearl tomatoes in a basket and have set it out on our southwest-facing deck next to the stone fireplace. It really isn't braving the elements as is quite protected. I just wanted to give it a go and see what happens.

Only the "usual suspects" are growing in the potager: Petit pois, sweet peas (the flower), lettuces, marigolds, shallots, potatoes, alpine strawberries, regular strawberries and violas. So much for my get 'em in early ideas (and so much for the Almanac's "warmer than usual" April prediction).

Hope Hemnancy's pears will be okay and that the "Too Coolcolor=blue> for Toms" sign goes down soon.

Rain

Rain- I got half planted today. I had to use the mattock to clear off weeds. I am putting them farther apart than previously and I'm supposed to make pvc cages this year. I'm using lava rock, rock powder, mycorrhizal fungi, rabbit manure, and some 3 way nursery mix in the holes. I planted them about 9" deep so hopefully they can grow some before they hit the top of the tunnel.

I'm thinking of removing my old fence on the left and putting up trellis netting to get in a row of runner beans there.

Hemnancy,

Your plants must be huge if you've put them 9" under!

Have you measured the soil temps to see if your tunnels warm the soil in addition to keeping the plants comfortable?

I decided to try to warm up the beds a degree or two by laying out my flat WOW's rather than purchasing more plastic for the landfills. Have them out on some of the beds destined for tomato glory and have a set of row covers (my first attempt with them) on other beds to see if either have any discernable effect on soil warmth.

Rain

Rain- I usually set plants out at about 11+ inches when they hit the lights but I think because of having such good and fast germination in ziplocks with all my seeds from last year, they got bigger faster this year and were too tall. I think Juliet might have been tallest at around 20". The root ball is included in the 9" in the ground. I may wait a few days for the other half just to compare, but I don't know if it would make any difference at this point since most of my seedlings are out in my little greenhouse, so also exposed to cold temps, though I do have a flat in my aquaponics grow bed that are not so I could just plant them out.

I did some measuring, last week with all the cloudiness and showers the soil two days were 49 & 50*F in the open ground and 52 & 54*F under the tunnel. Yesterday after sun all morning the soil was 60*F in the open ground and 64*F under the tunnel. This doesn't measure the differences in the air temperature which would also be affected by the tunnels.

Rain- I planted the rest of my tomatoes today. The tunnels had dried the soil to a nice crumbly consistency in spite of all the recent rain. The weeds under the tunnel were fantastically overgrown when I pulled it off.

I looked at the first group of tomatoes and the first one in the bed, Bloody Butcher, was starting to flower!

Hi, Hemnancy.

I'm thinking of swapping out the planted tomatoes with my second-runner-ups that are still living the good life under lights indoors. They are large and many of them are flowering. The ones already planted under row covers are alive but not thriving. I know I started seeds too early and took a chance in planting out early, but was fooled by the Almanac's prediction of unusually warm weather in April/May. Althooough, it is supposed to warm up this weekend, finally.

Good luck with BB and the rest. Keep me posted!

Rain

An update, I got the first ripe tomato on Bloody Butcher June 30, here is the second along with my first ripe cucumber, Armour, a parthenocarpic cuke from Johnny's, 10 oz. So, not much fruit yet but hopefully soon, as Gogosha is cranking out a few green ones.

Here is part of my bed at present, my current project is to make pvc cages for every other plant and then cover them with plastic at some point. First attempt in photo, I plan to experiment with some cross pieces.

I'm allowing some Borage to grow too, the bees like it.:-)

Didn't mean to ignore you, Hemnancy. My SO suffered a fall and I've been pressed into service as nurse, chauffeur and general dogbody for him over the last few weeks.

Tomatoes are not doing too well for me this year. Weather weirdness aside, I "won" a load of Zoo Doo this Spring and dumped a lot of it in my veggie beds. It looked well composted, but I still think it was a bit hot. Plants are weak in appearance even now towards the end of July. Have harvested a few Sungolds and Juane Flammes, but that's it.

If you haven't already thought of it, sprinkle a few borage flowers on your cucumber salads. The colors look great together and the flowers have a faint cuke-y taste to them.

All the best,

Rain

Thanks, rain. I hope your SO feels better soon. I fell last Nov. and broke a rib, I sometimes feel a little something still in my back when doing a lot of bending and weeding.

My plants look good but I'm still waiting on more tomatoes to get ripe. I got another pvc cage made with a cross piece, it is stronger. I'm hoping planting them farther apart this year will make them bigger plants that yield more. Remains to be seen. I'm about to mulch with a lot more grass clippings, too.

Ouch! Hope that rib is well mended.

Rain