The beautiful garden tomatoes to be harvested from mid-June, or even earlier, is the “dream” of any self-respecting gardener! But unless you have a large greenhouse to keep these heat-hungry fruit vegetables sheltered from the cold and humidity, it is better to wait until mid-May to install the tomatoes outdoors.
Except that this year, the opportunity is given to me to achieve a new experience. Pouss’vert, manufacturer of greenhouses and polypropylene bells, indeed provided me in mid-April with three high culture tunnels (modul’o model) under which I hastened to transplant into the ground, on this morning of April 20 , six different varieties of tomatoes.
Forcing tomatoes under a tunnel, does it work?
I have already been able to appreciate the qualities of these Modul’o greenhouses. I currently use a copy leaning against a wall of the garden shed facing east to preserve and grow my flower and vegetable seedlings in pots before final transplanting in May. Squash, watermelon, cucumber, basil, etc. are thus in excellent condition. Understand by this that I am satisfied with the result obtained, both from the point of view of the growth observed and the impeccable sanitary condition of the vegetables.
On a nice day, the greenhouse stores heat. It is then useful to half-open the wide hatch that covers it to ventilate it and completely renew the air inside. Then when the coolness falls, I close the lid to keep as much sweetness as possible at night.
My new experiment taking place in an open environment (the seedlings are transplanted into the ground in the vegetable garden), however, a few questions arise which I am curious to obtain answers to: will the setting up of greenhouses be enough to protect them from the cold? tomato plants, reputed to be chilly, knowing that night temperatures still sometimes drop below 10°C? Won’t the watering be too tedious? Will the opening and closing of the greenhouses not be binding either? Will the tomatoes, which I refuse to treat, be spared from disease?…
So many questions that I will gladly answer in a few weeks, when I will be able to give you some results through beautiful photographs…
Why choose to plant a sample of 6 different varieties of tomatoes?
Because some are earlier than others. It is thus interesting to observe if only early tomatoes can be forced in this way or if the same result is also appreciable on later varieties.
The seedlings are transplanted following the advice already given in this previous post. Only the placement of the tutor differs, due to the low height of the greenhouse. A low bamboo stake is placed temporarily next to the plant to support its growth. It will be replaced later by a rebar stake when the greenhouses are removed, in May or June depending on the evolution of the weather.
The 6 transplanted tomato plants
- The mid-season Pineapple tomato produces large yellow-orange fruits striped with red.
- The Black Zebra tomato comes from a cross between Green Zebra and a black variety. The fruit has a beautiful purple-red color with green notes.
- Toro ‘s Heart Tomato is a larger variant of the classic Heart of Beef. I had already planted it last year.
- Zebrino is a vine tomato producing medium-sized fruits with an original dark red color streaked with green. A tomato that will be appreciated this summer, like Black Zebra, in salads.
- Fuji Pink develops round fruits, more pink than red. This tomato of Japanese origin is presented as more resistant to cold than the others. We’ll see…
- Tiverta offers a yellow fruit streaked with dark green. Ideal for coloring salads differently.