In This Week’s Newsletter …
Air Flow
Keeping plants healthy and fed.
Feeding Tomatoes – Part Three
Nutrient Transporters!
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Air Flow
Good aeration around plant leaves has many benefits
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Feeding Tomatoes – Part Three
Beam me up Scotty!
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Have your say!
Do let me know if you have any ideas or would like to make a contribution in some way. Free seeds if you tell of your tomato growing experiences or have an interesting story to share – please email me here. Comments can also take place at Facebook or in the comments section below.
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stephen clark
hi Nick,
Nick do i need to remove side shoots on, tiny tim and totem tomatoes
thanks Nick
John Ferrier
Hi Nick,
I was talking to Izzy from the centre the other day about your latest tips concerning airflow.
With three plants to a growbag my plants do look a bit congested. Izzy tells me that her mother used to reduce the length of the leaves by half, thereby allowing better airflow around the plant and more goodness going to the fruit. Niether of of us came to a conclusion to this and I promised to contact you about it. We would appreciate your comments.
Best regards,
JohnF
douglas
Hi,
I have several ailsa craigs I need to put in their final pots.Im sure I read somewhere that one of the keys to success is to break off lower leaves and to. plant deep.Is that correct? How deep is deep enough and how deep is too deep? for example all of these ailsa craigs have flowering trusses maybe 4-6 inches higher than the base of the plant above the compost . KIND REGARDS
Nick
Hi Douglas,
I usually go down to about seed leaf level but if your trusses hang down to only 4-6 inches above the soil, it’s best to plant them to about the same depth as they are now, otherwise the toms will be resting on the soil.
Cheers,
Nick
Derek Stones
Had the same problem as Douglas with the Money Maker but will now carry on . Have been given a Tumbling Tom and a Sweet and Neat,would really appreciate some of your expert advice on how to get the best from them either in greenhouse or outside.Many thanks,Derek
Nick
Hi Derek,
Tumbling Tom is a trailing variety and doesn’t need support. Sweet and Neat, although a bush variety, does need a few support canes to stay upright once the fruit begins to grow otherwise the main stem won’t be able to cope with the weight. S&N doesn’t trail like Tumbling Tom.
Regards,
Nick
alan pyper
After 8days the nettle tea looks ready to go into containers with the weather being warm. Do u have to leave for 14days?
Nick
Hi Alan,
I would leave it for the 14 days – some gardeners will brew it for three to four weeks before use, but it can get very smelly!
Cheers,
Nick
douglas
Hi Nick
I put 2 moneymakers in small pots in unheated greenhouse,probabley a bit early and it seems the cold got to them at night. Several leaves on both plants turned yellow and wilted.However growing tip seems ok and perhhaps 50% of remaining leaves dont look too bad.The shoots (1 on each) bearing the flowers seem ok,should I keep or get rid?Also cleaned greenhouse out with jeyes fluid 3 days ago ,left open but smell (fumes) of jeyes fluid remain ,will that affect any plants I put in greenhouse?
kind regards
Nick
Hi Douglas,
They should be OK … just remove the yellow leaves.
Jeyes fluid is very smelly but it does the job very well!
I would be a bit cautious about strong chemical smells around tomato plants. Try spraying the inside of the greenhouse again with warm water and washing up liquid – it may reduce the small of the fluid once it dries.
Regards,
Nick
mary norcott mrs
DO NOT DO WHAT I DID WITH FIVE TOMATO PLANTS, PUT THEM IN 5″ POTS AND LEFT THEM UNTIL THEY WENT ALL SPINDLY AND LEGGY, WITH NO SIGNS OF FLOWERS TO COME, TOOK THEM OUTSIDE (IN THE VAIN HOPE OF RESCUE)TO POT THEM INTO THEIR FINAL LARGE POTS (TO NO AVAIL) AND WAS SO DISAPPOINTED I THREW THE LOT OF THEM INTO THE GARDEN BIN, I DID VERY WELL LAST YEAR GOT LOADS
Nick
Hi Mary,
Sorry to hear that you have had a plant disaster.
I came back from holiday Friday to find that a lot of my young plants had been over-watered by the watering system and keeping them in half shade produced some leggy plants.
I shall re-pot them as low as possible and hope that their stems will thicken-up.
Regards,
Nick