Forcing tomatoes to set fruit?

[Dace]

I know that tomatoes need night time temps of 55+ to set fruit. My friend and I were talking about that and how much longer we would have to wait for the temp to come up a bit so we can get some fruit.

Since I have my tomatoes in pots, she suggested bringing in one or two for a couple of nights and see if they set fruit.

Any thoughts on this? Drawbacks?

 

[lesa]

Do you see any blossoms yet? Patience just never seems to be a popular personality trait among gardeners! I say, leave them where they are-
You can make yourself feel better knowing those of us in zone 4, have just recently planted seeds and won't have fruit for months!!
Happy Gardening!

 

[Dace]

Haha....patience? What is that?

Sigh.

One plant has blossoms and one is in bud stage, I guess it is no use to bring in the one that is not blossomed huh? We are due for lows in the mid 40s this week.

Maybe I am a dork......but I am going to bring the one in for the next two nights as an 'experiment'

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, there's no possibility of setting fruit til they first set FLOWER

If you are supposed to get night lows in the 40s then if it is possible to bring them in to somewhere slightly warmer -- dunno as I'd bring them into household warmth, but perhaps a closed-door garage? -- it would not be a bad idea IMO. Those temps won't kill them but it can delay their growth.

Once you do get blossoms, you need two things, acceptably-warm nighttime temps AND bees (or Blossom Set spray).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[hoodat]

Bees are helpful but not a necessity in tomatos. They self pollinate whenever the wind stirs them. Some gardeners go out and give the plants a good shaking once in a while to help them set fruit. Blossom set will make them set fruit earlier than they normally would by altering the hormones and getting them into the "set fruit" stage earlier.