How/When Start Tomatoes in a Short Growing Season?
Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 9:18 am
Hey so I have a couple questions.
I live in northern Canada and was told march 31st was the day to plant tomato seeds. I planted them and now they are about a month old. The average last frost date is June 1st. It could very well be before or after this date, we have a very short season. The tomatoes in question are Beefsteak. By the time I can transfer them into the ground they will be almost 2 months. Is this too old to be transferring them? I did not expect them to grow so fast they are about a foot tall and quite thick.
My next question is, the leaf branches on some of them are starting to almost wilt downwards. I move the plants in and out every day as the day time temps are nice and the night temps drop below freezing. Is the wilting due to environmental stress of moving or is there something else going on? Perhaps overcrowding? (I have them planted in a pro-mix soil with some compost and a little bit of worm castings, I've only fertilized once a mild dose when I noticed the flowers)
Which brings me to my last question, the tomatoes putting out flowers. I've read and read about this and it's different everywhere. Should I top the plant or only the flowers. OR should I allow them to grow knowing they probably won't be pollinated by anything at this point.
I live in northern Canada and was told march 31st was the day to plant tomato seeds. I planted them and now they are about a month old. The average last frost date is June 1st. It could very well be before or after this date, we have a very short season. The tomatoes in question are Beefsteak. By the time I can transfer them into the ground they will be almost 2 months. Is this too old to be transferring them? I did not expect them to grow so fast they are about a foot tall and quite thick.
My next question is, the leaf branches on some of them are starting to almost wilt downwards. I move the plants in and out every day as the day time temps are nice and the night temps drop below freezing. Is the wilting due to environmental stress of moving or is there something else going on? Perhaps overcrowding? (I have them planted in a pro-mix soil with some compost and a little bit of worm castings, I've only fertilized once a mild dose when I noticed the flowers)
Which brings me to my last question, the tomatoes putting out flowers. I've read and read about this and it's different everywhere. Should I top the plant or only the flowers. OR should I allow them to grow knowing they probably won't be pollinated by anything at this point.