I STILL have tomatoes growing! Yikes?

[Glassonion91168]

Hi all!

I still have tomatoes growing in my zone. Should I pick them now before the next frost or just wait? See below.


Also curious, when do you like to start seedlings again?

Thanks!
Lisa

[rainbowgardener]

I am in zone 6. I pulled tomato plants yesterday. They were still doing fine. I pulled 3 dozen green tomatoes off of three plants and I didn't bother with any that weren't more than golf ball sized. The only reason I pulled them was to make room to plant other stuff.

If you aren't going to replant, you can leave them. Just keep an eye on weather report and pick off all the green tomatoes of any size before a frost. But if you leave the plants, IME they will keep producing even after light frost. I have picked off all the good sized, blushed green tomatoes off before frost and then had more get pickable size later.

[Glassonion91168]

Thanks rainbow! The ones in the pictures are about golf ball sized, so I think I will pick them today. Then I'll just let nature take its course. I do plan on replanting new tomatoes next year, so should I pull these plants out when they're through?

[Glassonion91168]

Glad I went out there!

[digitS']

What you do with your 2012 tomato plants depends on how concerned you need to be about tomato diseases. I may run the tiller over them but usually do nothing other than try to get them against the soil once they are frost-killed so that they begin to decompose. I've been known to show up out there with the lawn mower set up high .

Starting the 2014 plants? I go for too early and tolerate the bother. Twelve week old plants are usually what I set out after I've removed any green fruit that may have gotten a start in the greenhouse. Really, I should "up-pot" them to 6" but have them in 4" pots. There are space problems in the greenhouse after awhile. Staking in the pots with bamboo then setting the plants out deep enuf where more roots can grow from the stems, helps.

. . . just what I do . . .

Steve

[rainbowgardener]

I cut the plants off at the base. Leave the roots to decompose in the soil and remove the plants. Any diseased looking parts go in the trash. The rest gets chopped up and put in the compost pile. Tomatoes are too prone to diseases that can be harbored in the soil, for me to want to let them stay where they are.

I start tomato seed indoors in my basement seed starting operation somewhere after Valentines day. I used to say on Valentine's day, but I was ending up with plants that were too big for the space too early to put them out, so now I wait another week or so. My average last frost date is mid-April, so I am starting them only about 7 weeks ahead of that. I don't have a greenhouse. If I did, I would probably start earlier too.

[evtubbergh]

I plant peas in the tomato place over winter and I would have to start them at the equivalent of now for you. But then we don't get snow and stuff. They like the cold.

[Glassonion91168]

Thanks all, as usual VERY helpful!