I think I have. After I lost the first lot of seedlings to frost in the greenhouse - I re-sowed, and I re-sowed BIG TIME. Far more than I need, far more than I have ever sown before. I normally plant about six for the greenhouse and three for outdoors - that is plenty for us, enough to eat fresh, cook with and freeze. But for some reason I got a bit carried away and have grown more double that, they have all taken and are growing well - and I can't bear to get rid of the surplus - so, what to do with them all.
Well, here are the six for the greenhouse all planted up.
Then there are another three in the greenhouse.
Three in a growhouse outside
Three in a trough outside protected with acrylic sheets, plastic and clothes pegs to hold it all together. At the side is a container of runner beans given the same treatment. And the rest are at the plot covered with a plastic 10ft. long tunnel cloche. That makes about twenty four tomato plants. If they all survive to produce fruit I will be inundated with tomatoes - ratatouille anyone?
Three planted in a large hanging basket but kept in the greenhouse till the weather improves a bit.
As the weather was so good at the weekend I got loads of planting out done - I didn't want to have to pot everything on again so they will have to take their chance against the elements now.
Courgettes in containers protected with bell cloches, the others for the plot haven't gone in yet.
As the weather was so good at the weekend I got loads of planting out done - I didn't want to have to pot everything on again so they will have to take their chance against the elements now.
Two cucumbers in the greenhouse, the other three outside - I don't normally grow them outside but this year the plants are strong and they have all grown really well, but if the slugs get at them I won't be too bothered as two plants is plenty.
Did you manage to get plenty of gardening done over the holiday weekend?
The weather was a real bonus - something that doesn't happen
very often on a Bank Holiday - shame it didn't last.
24 tomatoeplants is not that much - at least not for me. I planted out 23 yesterday and have another 8 which will go in pots to put closer to the house. Last year - my first real gardening season - I sowed a whole packet of seeds and ended up with over a hundred seedlings... I'll never make that mistake again.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you plant marigolds with your tomatoes?
Have a look at my blog, you can see the tomatoes and my other plants in yesterday's post. It's in German though and Google translations are horrible...
Greetings from Austria!
Planting french marigolds with the tomatoes keeps away the white fly who don't like the smell of them.
DeleteI daren't risk doing too many tomatoes as they all have to grow outside. Just lost my cucumber to stem rot so will have to start again. Tomatoes not outside yet, going to wait until this weekend and hope that from there on, things improve.
ReplyDeleteI usually lose cucumbers to stem rot too - but did you know that if you cut the rot off and just stick the part of the plant that is left in a pot it will re-grow.
DeleteYou can never have too many tomatoes. I'm hoping that my outdoor tomatoes will do well. I don't think a cucumber would do well here outside though I have two inside.
ReplyDeleteI only plant cherry tomatoes outdoors and even with last years attrocious weather I still harvested plenty.
DeleteHello! Trust me you can never have to much tomato seedlings. We've started with 50 seedlings few years ago and now we plant 200 seedlings. You can always make ketchup, puree, sauce, salsa, pelati... :D :D
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have enough room to plant that many Leanan.
Delete(whispers) 45 and counting in the polytunnel, and more waiting to go outside...
ReplyDeleteyours look really good and very tidy.
I have small fruits on the Latah, Roma and Salt Spring Sunrise :-)
Small fruits already! Never heard of the Latah or Salt Spring Sunrise varieties - but then there are hundreds of different types I haven't tried yet.
DeleteI could send you a couple of seeds of each to try next year ? Salt Spring Sunrise is a HSL variety - I grow a number of early varieties as I like them and they crop a little earlier in the polytunnel :-)
DeleteThat's very kind of you - yes please.
DeleteMaybe you should sell the surplus? Especially if you grow unusual varieties. People love growing tomatoes, but often can't grow them from seed.I sell a lot of plants and grow about 200 plants to sell, as well as the 50 or so I keep.
ReplyDeleteAs you may have guessed, we love tomatoes!
I suppose I could have taken them down the car boot but I never gave it a thought.
DeleteToo many tomatoes? Surely not! No such thing. You have to find room for them somewhere - even if you have to give them away, it is heartbreaking to discard good plants. P.S. I have the same problem. I started with 30, and I think I will end up with 19.
ReplyDeleteI have managed to find room for them but I may 'stop' them before they get to full height to just a couple of trusses - we'll see.
DeleteCrumbs. I have only 9 plants and thought I was overdoing it... but they are all for just one person!
ReplyDeleteSoup?
Nine is usually my limit which, generally, is plenty.
DeleteYes you can have too many tomatoes Elaine :) I've set aside some for myself, sold some at our garden club plant sale and have given some to friends yet still have some to spare. I think that it's about time that I realised after all these years that I must stop erring on the side of caution and sow fewer seeds.
ReplyDeleteI think we all get a bit over-enthusiastic where tomatoes are concerned.
DeleteI would say no you can never have too many, you will have to be very creative later on in the year though!! We have got 3 tomato plants all of which I bought as small plants from the garden centre. One is in a hanging basket as its a tumbler type and two are in growbags in the greenhouse. I am hoping I get better results than I did last year.
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on how space you have doesn't it - when I eventually get rid of the allotment the number I grow will have to be minimal.
DeleteWow, Elaine....apart from all the tomatoes,your greenhouses look soooo tidy :) I have about 24 toms also....8 in the big tunnel and 12 in growbags in the "Sheebeen" also 6 more small ones for "spares". Every year I say I won't grow so many, but I always do!! 1 pumpkin in a pot to put out somewhere later, I melon will go in the old hothouse and 1 cucumber my neighbour got me will climb up the trellis we made for the grapevine which is so small,I don't know if it will survive or not. I had 3 toms in a hanging basket, but they got so big and thick I had to put them in pots....oh yea...that's 3 more I forgot to count. It's great to see the veggies growing at last.We ha a brilliant warm,sunny day today,and hoping the same for tomorrow!!
ReplyDeleteIt's pouring down here Catherine but I suppose it's good for the garden but a bit more sun would be welcome.
DeleteIf you have space for them, then you don't have too many tomatoes...well that's my theory anyway.
ReplyDeleteI am sure they will all get used one way or another.
DeleteYou can't have too many tomato plants, but you can have too many of one kind. We like the small cherry-type tomatoes to add to our salads. We have a kind here in the US called 'Sweet 100' It is an indeterminate tomato that continues to grow and bloom until the weather gets cold. From just two plants I had more than we could eat (just two of us). I gave tomatoes to friends and relatives. The tomatoes kept on producing and producing - too many little tomatoes! If only I could get that many tomatoes from the large slicing kind!
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Mississippi, USA
I grow several different types from really large beefsteak to tiny cherry tumblers - what don't get eaten get frozen.
DeleteThe answer to your title is YES. Last year I was dumping them by the barrow-load. This year I have planted just 8 plants, and I guarantee I'll still have far too many (even with all the preserving I do). Still, better to have too many than too few!
ReplyDeleteWith your climate you get far more ripening more quickly than we do - I still had green tomatoes in October.
DeleteWell you'll just have to make ketchup and I'm sure you'll find friends who will welcome a tomato gift!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember ever making ketchup - may give it a go this year.
DeleteOf course you can't have too many tomatoes! I wanted to have a few varieties but eventually I participated in a seed exchange in one of the Polish gardening message boards and I got lots of new tomato varieties seeds! I couldn't resist and I planted them all :) I'll be worrying later what to do with big crop of tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteGrowing tomatoes is like an addiction!
You're right it is a bit of an addiction trying different types - hope all your different varieties do well for you this year.
DeleteIt's so hard to dump healthy seedlings but then you end up inundated and have to find homes for them all. You should get a great harvest with all those plants though, we just need some sun to ripen them.
ReplyDeleteI know Jo but I always manage to squeeze everything in.
DeleteLol, I'm just the same Elaine, I always sow too much and then can't bear to get rid of any. I have about 10 plants this year and that will be more than enough for us. You can always make chutney with any surplus :-) By the way, I love how you've planted a marigold in the pots with them. I usually pot mine separately and dot them around the tomatoes, but your way seems more sensible,and less work.
ReplyDeleteI usually do it the same way as you with the marigolds but thought I try it differently this year.
DeleteI plant a salad or herb plant around the base of each of mine - saves on space and I can go and collect salad leaves and tomatoes :-)
DeleteSurely you can't have too many Tomatoes. If you can't use them all I'm sure friends and nieghbours can, or use them early when they are greenish for chutney etc.
ReplyDeleteI may not get any at all if blight strikes - so I won't be worrying about a glut just yet.
DeleteBetter too many than too few surely! I'd just like to be able to grow a handful of plants on the plot and get ripe fruit off them before blight invariably strikes.
ReplyDeleteI was plotting Monday but not since, with better weather forecast I hope to over this coming weekend.
Flighty xx
I have just been to the plot to check on everything - loads of slug and snail trails over everything - looks like we are going to have to be vigilant again this year.
DeleteSomeone is going to be making lots of chutney in a few months time!! I really must get out and put mine in their growbags. I also put marigolds next to the tomatoes. Have a good weekend. Chel x
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right Chel - good job I like chutney.
DeleteYour veg is looking good and one can't have too many tomatoes! I could really use some cloches as my courgettes suffer every year from the wind and cold.
ReplyDeleteOnce the courgettes have grown a bit I will remove the cloches the plants will just have to take their chance with the elements.
DeleteI always end up with too many tomatoes. I get carried away with all the varieties. This year I've also got far too many chillies - Hungarian Hot Wax Yellow. I got some seeds (about 100) from ebay, and the few I sowed first didn't germinate very well (probably too cold on my windowsill in March this year). So I threw the whole of the rest of the packet into a tray, and now I've got loads. And I won't be able to throw a single one away.
ReplyDeleteHi CJ nice of you to visit and leave a comment. I know what you mean about not being able to throw seedlings away - it is a like a gardeners affliction - but somehow we always manage to squeeze everything in somewhere.
DeleteI always plant too many tomatoes because I love them so much. I end up giving many of them away, freezing them, and making lots of sauces. This year, I decided to try growing fewer...it will be interesting to see how that works. I really like the way you have set everything up in your garden.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started growing tomatoes it was just three plants - but then I wanted to try new varieties and so on - the numbers just grew and grew - oh dear I think it has become an addiction.
DeleteI also think you cannot have too many tomatoes - they are easy to give away. But we all have too many tomato plants and those are not so easy to place. By the time you know for sure you won't need some of them, your friends usually have all the tomato plants they want to grow!
ReplyDeleteIf it is any consolation, remember that Nature wastes a lot more plants and seeds than you do!
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment Alain. I agree, nature is very wasteful but she doesn't have to go to all the trouble of potting and transplanting etc. I am sure I will be able to find space for them all.
DeleteI think you will have to get canning and freezing and making from all those Tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to wait and see what the harvest is like first.
DeleteIt must be catching, I have way too many too, if it is possible - and in my case I have no idea where I am going to put them all as the last raised bed won't be built in time! They all seem to be at different stages too, Gold Nugget is setting fruit while Rosada seems to be sulking big time, despite being snuggled in the main greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteCan't you sneak a few in the flower borders Janet - I have done this before now.
DeleteAm intrigued by the outdoor set-up you have with acrylic sheeting. I've been wondering about ways to grow tomatoes outdoors and that looks like a solution I might like to try.
ReplyDeleteThe acrylic sheets were left over from a job that my husband designed so I am not sure if you could buy something similar commercially - I must say I find them really useful as cloches with canes to hold them in place - proof once more that I can find a use for most things. lol.
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