Which tomatoes for me?

[dinnertym]

Thanks all! Gold Country for you NorCal folks... Will look some of the suggested maters up and give em a try. I have plenty of room and lots of hungry mouths to feed, so the experiment begins. Finally decided to make a designated garden area where the dogs won't be the first ones eating!!!LOL. Between this and the new chicken coop we just finished last month, we should be in for a busy summer. Thanks again and will look for those listed.

 

[dinnertym]

So, here is what I ended up with on first trip to the nursery: Yellow Pear, German Queen, Black Krim, Black Prince, Pink Brandywine, Red Beefsteak, Early Girl. I am thinking of putting in the ground today and maybe putting some black plastic garbage bags over the wire cages for extra protection. They are all 3" pots. If I do cover the tops of the cages...should I pull the bags all the way down toward the bottom of the cages???

Oh well, any thoughts?

 

[digitS']

Are you thinking of protecting them from the sun with the black plastic, dinnertym? Cold?

I have used clear plastic around cages for cold protection. The top can be left open during the day.

Newspaper tents have also done a good job for daytime shade of new transplants. It can just be set up on the south side and be open to the north. One stake and several rocks to hold the newspaper is all it takes.

Steve

 

[dinnertym]

To protect them from the cold as it's early spring in Norcal foothills right now. Do I need to protect them from sun????? and newly transplanted? Thoughts

 

[digitS']

Any covering of the cages should help overnight. I don't think leaving black plastic completely covering them during the daytime would be a good idea.

Yes, they get a little shocky when 1st set out so a bright sun can damage or even kill them. Probably, just transplanting on a rainy day will be all they need but before being put into the garden . . . you need to "harden them off."

Don't count on the nursery to have done that for you. They may have gone straight from being coddled in a greenhouse, to a plantstand at the nursery, to your car - all in a day. Your new little plants need time to adjust to their new, outdoor environment.

I set plants in a filtered sunlight location where they are protected, at least somewhat, from the wind. They are only out there during the very nicest part of the day. After about a week and still in their containers, they can hang out is a more open area of the backyard. Every night, they are somewhere protected, indoors. About another week with that kind of an arrangement -- and then, they can go out into the open garden.

The more you baby them, the better start in life they will have but you have to slowly wean them off of that as they take up life in the garden.

Steve