Troubleshooting- Opinions needed-Overwintering tomatoes in a greenhouse

alamo5000 · January 8, 2011

This is my first year using a greenhouse. As an experiment I have tried to completely over winter some tomatoes and to grow a bunch from seed.

So far here are the results. I have more than 40 great looking tomato plants. My plants are looking good and are all around chest high. No major problems.

So far the plants have been flowering and many have so far set fruit. The plants are big and green and lush. However the fruit is developing so slowly.

I am kind of stumped as to why its taking so long for the fruit to develop.

It can only be a few factors...1) temperature--At nights on the absolute coldest nights of winter my inside temps were mid 40's. Average though is much higher by at least 10 degrees.

2. Light. I used an online calculator to show exactly how much longer the days are in summer vs winter.

http://sunposition.info/sunposition/spc/locations.php#1

Now in the dead middle of winter my plants are getting a good 6 to 7 hours per day (on a good day). In the summer this is much more by several hours.

I personally think its almost equivalent to growing sort of in the shade when you truly over winter a plant (with the shortened days).

If this is the case though, why are the plants big and green?

3. Before I had the plants pretty crowded in the greenhouse. I only had one heater wired up so I sectioned off the greenhouse. Now, as of today I spread the plants out a lot more and have installed another plug so I can run a second heater.

Could that make the whole fruit development thing slow down?

I am trying to troubleshoot here...what's your opinion?

I have 5 plants that I started in August that have consistently been producing fruit. Even those have a lot of tomatoes hanging all over them... but they are growing at a snail's pace...

Its all a learning experience... but obviously December and January are not 'prime' growing season... Like I said, the plants themselves have grown like mad, but it seems as though the pace for the fruit has just all but stopped. I have tons of pollenated flowers (shrivelled up yellow) still attached, hanging on and definately making a tomato... but just staying stagnant...

Any comments? Hypothesis? Anyone?

RinTinTin · January 8, 2011

Most tomatoes will not produce fruits of size/flavor without x many hours of 80* temps.

alamo5000 · January 8, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by RinTinTin

Most tomatoes will not produce fruits of size/flavor without x many hours of 80* temps.

During the day time I am averaging between 70 and 85 degrees...sometimes even hotter...at night on occassion it gets cold but the day time temps... they have regularly been up to the 80's...at least... I have to open the greenhouse up because it gets too hot... even in december...

snappybob · January 9, 2011

Temps is what I was going to say also. That was not based on any real knowledge but just a gut feeling. I'll bet it's because they are getting colder than they like at night. Hopefully someone with more real knowledge than me can chime in with a better explanation.

alamo5000 · January 9, 2011

Since my greenhouse is relatively far away from my house I had to physically run another electric plug out to a barn where I can plug things in.

I did that yesterday and so far the differences are stark.

Before I had the greenhouse partitioned off at a little more than half and used one heater.

Now I have two heaters using the full 30 foot long greenhouse... now the temp differences between inside the greenhouse vs outdoors is much greater than before.

David Marek · January 16, 2011

The greenhouse tomato people must be out in their greenhouses.

A friend grew some tomatoes in his greenhouse over the winter up here and said the few fruits that set were not very good. Have you shaken/electric toothbrushed the flowers? Hopefully you will be rewarded for improving the accommodations for your plants by giving them more space.

Neat book:
Tomatoes by Ep Heuverlink:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qwM...opment&f=false

Not sure if it will help, but I learned about the bitter steroid glycoside tomatine levels in green vs. ripe tomatoes.

alamo5000 · January 16, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Marek

Hopefully you will be rewarded for improving the accommodations for your plants by giving them more space.

I have already noticed some good improvement. My plants are filling out even MORE than they did before. When they were all compacted right next to each other they were competing for light. The stronger taller plants would shade the smaller ones.

Now my plants are becoming more 'bushy' than before. The plants look healthy as ever.

One other thing I did is we had a cool front blow through and the temps outside were pretty cold. Some nights were mid 20's. Its also been really overcast and rainy with temps in the mid 50's during the day.

I left my heaters on all day and I can tell the plants really like that extra does of warmth. I was maintaining about 80 degrees for a few days straight and the results are noticable.

vermiit · March 26, 2012

Alamo, how did your tomatoes turn out? Did the heat help? I'm considering a small portable greenhouse, and wondering about the uses and advantages for more hot weather climates. I'm in CA in Sunset zone 14.

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January 8, 2011	#1
alamo5000 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: near Houston Texas, zone 8b/9a Posts: 114	Troubleshooting- Opinions needed-Overwintering tomatoes in a greenhouse This is my first year using a greenhouse. As an experiment I have tried to completely over winter some tomatoes and to grow a bunch from seed. So far here are the results. I have more than 40 great looking tomato plants. My plants are looking good and are all around chest high. No major problems. So far the plants have been flowering and many have so far set fruit. The plants are big and green and lush. However the fruit is developing so slowly. I am kind of stumped as to why its taking so long for the fruit to develop. It can only be a few factors...1) temperature--At nights on the absolute coldest nights of winter my inside temps were mid 40's. Average though is much higher by at least 10 degrees. 2. Light. I used an online calculator to show exactly how much longer the days are in summer vs winter. http://sunposition.info/sunposition/spc/locations.php#1 Now in the dead middle of winter my plants are getting a good 6 to 7 hours per day (on a good day). In the summer this is much more by several hours. I personally think its almost equivalent to growing sort of in the shade when you truly over winter a plant (with the shortened days). If this is the case though, why are the plants big and green? 3. Before I had the plants pretty crowded in the greenhouse. I only had one heater wired up so I sectioned off the greenhouse. Now, as of today I spread the plants out a lot more and have installed another plug so I can run a second heater. Could that make the whole fruit development thing slow down? I am trying to troubleshoot here...what's your opinion? I have 5 plants that I started in August that have consistently been producing fruit. Even those have a lot of tomatoes hanging all over them... but they are growing at a snail's pace... Its all a learning experience... but obviously December and January are not 'prime' growing season... Like I said, the plants themselves have grown like mad, but it seems as though the pace for the fruit has just all but stopped. I have tons of pollenated flowers (shrivelled up yellow) still attached, hanging on and definately making a tomato... but just staying stagnant... Any comments? Hypothesis? Anyone?

January 8, 2011	#2
RinTinTin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Seattle Posts: 581	Most tomatoes will not produce fruits of size/flavor without x many hours of 80* temps.

January 9, 2011	#4
snappybob SETTFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 214	Temps is what I was going to say also. That was not based on any real knowledge but just a gut feeling. I'll bet it's because they are getting colder than they like at night. Hopefully someone with more real knowledge than me can chime in with a better explanation.

January 16, 2011	#6
David Marek Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: St Charles, IL zone 5a Posts: 142	The greenhouse tomato people must be out in their greenhouses. A friend grew some tomatoes in his greenhouse over the winter up here and said the few fruits that set were not very good. Have you shaken/electric toothbrushed the flowers? Hopefully you will be rewarded for improving the accommodations for your plants by giving them more space. Neat book: Tomatoes by Ep Heuverlink: http://books.google.com/books?id=qwM...opment&f=false Not sure if it will help, but I learned about the bitter steroid glycoside tomatine levels in green vs. ripe tomatoes.

March 26, 2012	#8
vermiit Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: z 14, California Posts: 137	Alamo, how did your tomatoes turn out? Did the heat help? I'm considering a small portable greenhouse, and wondering about the uses and advantages for more hot weather climates. I'm in CA in Sunset zone 14.