Vanisle_BC
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Tomatoes; up-pot now or wait to set out?

My tomatoes are getting a bit big for their 4-inch pots, but it's another 3 weeks till our frost-free date.
Tomats.JPG

Will the roots be badly affected if I keep them in these pots till then, or should I pot them up? The overnight weather has become unusually warm and it's tempting-but-risky to set them out now. In prior years I've used waxed-paper milk cartons to give them deep roots before transplant-time; split the carton corners & fold down the sides at the start, up-folding & up-filling with soil as the plants grow. Worked well but a big nuisance so I just used 4" pots this year. Maybe a poor decision (Starting under lights I don't have room for wider pots - unless I started less plants. Haha.)

Maybe I'll compromise & set out a few; hold the rest back 3 week & study the eventual results.

PaulF
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Mine are much like yours this year. I made a note to begin a couple of weeks later next year. This year I think would be OK to wait until planting time and bury the plants deep, up to the first branch. You could plant some now as long as you have enough in reserve to replace the ones killed by cold weather (if it happens). I am about a week from planting outdoors and the weather seems to be co-operating but then, we had snow a week ago. Soil temp is still about 50 degrees F and we need 65 F to be safe.

I am hoping by May 10 we are OK and I will be digging deeper holes. Good luck.

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applestar
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3 weeks is a little too long I think. The trouble is, if they get too root bound, they will dry out too easily and you are in more danger of letting them dry out while trying to harden them off. Also, roots escaping from the bottom can dry up, which in itself is not entirely bad if simply being root-pruned, but if top growth is relying on escaped roots, then they get killed, then the plant will be stunted.

It seems to me you could easily drop these in milk cartons (4” square) — put a little dry-ish potting mix in the bottom, slide them in, shake to settle, add water and thump bottom on ground, then add more mix on top and bury the stem as needed.

...the other option is to come up with more protected outside areas or automated/even watering.... or put up protection and plant out — like Wall-o-water or low tunnels.

imafan26
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I agree. The problem I have with them being in small pots is that they dry out and they also start showing signs of phosphorus deficiency. Sometimes they do set back and take a while to catch up once that happens. They are more apt to be attacked by pests and disease when they have been stressed. If you don't have space to pot all of them up, you can pot up some of them. In another month they should be flowering and they need to be primed to be able to do that.

Vanisle_BC
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Thanks all, for the suggestions, advice & info.

applestar, good idea about the milk cartons but I'd suddenly need twenty-plus of the 2L size (got rid of my saved ones when I decided to start in 4" pots :(. And I'm not too worried about letting the plants dry out. They're already being hardened off; we keep a good watch on them and sometimes have to protect them from the rain. The bed they'll be planted in is already high poly-covered but has no side protection. Totally enclosing or tunneling the whole bed would be a bother - my options are curtailed by my own frugality & laziness :roll:.

imafan, what would phosphorus deficiency look like; what symptoms? As you said, if I don't have room to up-pot all the plants I could just do some of them. Duh, too simple for me to have noticed! Thanks.

I'm 'trending' towards a compromise combo: growing some on in the 4" pots, up-potting some, planting some out with protection, and setting some out in the unprotected bed. How's that for being indecisive? The risk having the biggest consequence is letting frost hit them but I have enough plants to expose a few to that risk. Should be interesting.

It's cool & raining again, after two days that reached an unheard-of-in-April 32C. (No that's NOT freezing - a hair's breadth away from 90F.)

imafan26
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Tomatoes are heavy feeders especially when they are young for both nitrogen and phosphorus. The roots also have to be expanding to accommodate the demands of the plants. Nitrogen will help if the plant yellows but if the roots don't have enough room, they may still be stunted. Phosphorus deficiency makes the stems and undersides of leaves especially have a purplish color. Cold damage can also cause color changes.

https://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/tomatoes.htm
https://www.haifa-group.com/knowledge_ce ... _symptoms/

Vanisle_BC
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Vanisle_BC wrote:.... about the milk cartons I'd suddenly need twenty-plus of the 2L size (got rid of my saved ones when I decided to start in 4" pots
No wait!! Just found those cartons in the trash. Not enough to go round, but enough for the plants most in need of them. Up-potting tomorrow if not later today.

PaulIf, you mentioned maybe starting a bit later next year to avoid the problem I'm having. I wonder if there's any research on whether & how quickly later started catch up to earlier ones. Maybe not only started late but also set out late; I.e. is there much advantage to getting them into the ground ASAP after frost danger, or, set out 2 weeks later (in warmer ground) will similar-size transplants catch up and produce equally well?

Trying to clarify what I mean: If we grow 2 plants of the same variety and plant out when 6" tall, one reaching that height ~May 24, the other ~Jun 7, will there be much difference in the maturing date and productivity of the two plants? (May 24 being the traditional T/P date around here.)

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applestar
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Yay to finding the milk cartons. You are re-confirming one of my established Murphy’s Law — whatever it is you have been saving, don’t give up on needing them because you will need them AS SOON AS you throw them out/get rid of them. :lol:

Vanisle_BC
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applestar wrote:Yay to finding the milk cartons. You are re-confirming one of my established Murphy’s Law — whatever it is you have been saving, don’t give up on needing them because you will need them AS SOON AS you throw them out/get rid of them. :lol:
apple, there's a corollary to that which says you won't find what you're looking for till you stop looking (and the need for it is past.) Besides which I have a personal poltergeist who moves things from where I know I left them and puts them back later which is when my wife finds them - after my need for them is past, of course.

Murphy's Ultimate Law: If everything that could have gone wrong didn't, it will probably turn out that it would have been better if it did.

Now back to those tomatoes ......



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