Homegrown Tomatoes

Posts Tagged ‘weather for growing tomatoes’

Getting an unexpected frost can be a sad thing if you have tomatoes out in the garden. Sometimes trying to cover them up just doesn’t work.

So what do you do when life hands you frosted tomatoes?

Know Your Zone

Do you know what USDA plant hardiness zone you live in?  It gives you an idea of the kinds of plants you can easily (at least relatively easy) grow.  If you don’t know, check out this interactive USDA zone map.

Alas, even when you know your zone (example, I am in 10a), you can still get unexpected frosts and freezes, which can wreak havoc on your tomato plants!  Unfortunately, I got a freeze last week and totally lost 3 of the plants.  Three pretty much survived and one is iffy.

So what happens when you have a freeze, your plants die but you still have green tomatoes on them?  My favorite recipe is green tomato pie — very yummy.

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough green tomatoes to make that pie.  But fortunately, the three plants that did survive all have some tomatoes.  Not sure why they survived when the others didn’t, but I am grateful.

Meanwhile…

Fortunately the weather has warmed up and I seriously doubt we will be getting another frost/freeze this winter.  I have some seedlings that went out in the garden yesterday — they were getting awfully big on the windowsill.  And I still have more that I am hardening off — including the three plants for The Great Tomato Experiment.

Maybe the moral of this story is to have “back-up” plants if you get an unexpected freeze after you’ve put your tomato plants out in the garden.  Seedlings that you started a couple weeks later, maybe.  That way if the worst happens and you lose most of your crop, then at least you’ll have a few to restart.

It’s time to learn about tomato growth requirements — what they like, in order to grow best.  While individual varieties may be better for warmer or cooler climates than you average tomato, you still need to know the basics.

With that thought in mind, here are the basic requirements for growing tomatoes.

Tomato Growth Requirements

Like most fruits and vegetables, tomatoes require at least 6 hours or direct sunlight a day.  Tomatoes also require warm weather — frost will kill them.  The ideal temperatures for most (not all!) tomatoes is the upper 70’s to low 80’s during the day, with nights in the 60’s. (Temperatures in degrees Farenheit.)

However, tomatoes will grow and set fruit in warmer weather, as well as in cooler weather; they just won’t be quite as productive.  Keep your local temperatures in mind when selecting tomato varieties.

For example, a grower in the cool Pacific Northwest would be better off with early tomatoes (those that mature in 67 days or less), as well as tomatoes that are bred for cooler weather.  On the other hand, someone in the desert Southwest would be well-advised to select tomatoes that have a good track record of bearing fruit in hot weather.

So, keep your local climate in mind when selecting tomato varieties. Oh, and an adequate water supply is essential for tomatoes to produce fruits; an average of an inch of water per week is considered optimal, but if you live in a dry climate, you might want to provide a bit more; tomatoes can get thirsty!

And if you live in a hot and humid climate (like me) — be especially careful with your fertilizing schedule, and know the tomato diseases that thrive in a hot, humid environment.