Is it warm enough to put in tomatoes?

I know the day temperatures are fine, but I am worried about the night temps in the coming forecast in the 50's.  Am I being too nervous?

Although many people do it earlier, I have never put my veggies in before Memorial Day weekend.  May 15th is the usual "gardeners' date" but I always give it a little extra time.  Never had a problem getting a good crop as a result.  Enjoy -- this will be the first year in ages that I haven't had a summer garden (I'm moving).  :sniff:

I agree that May 15th is the safe date to plant, but I decided to live on the edge and went ahead and planted three tomato plants last weekend. It looks like the temperature will not dip into the 30s over the next 10 days, so I think you would be fine if you want to plant.

I put some in today and more will go in tomorrow. I have some smaller plants I started from seed a bit late this year, so, I'll likely have to wait on those.

If you were to purchase one tomato plant for a large container on a very sunny all day spot, what variety would you choose?

I tried tomatoes years ago and never thought the crop was worth the effort and expense. I also think I wasn't diligent in caring for them But I somewhat believe I have a moral obligation to plant something edible to offset the $$$$ spent on flowers!

Not too crazy about cherry tomatoes although the perk up a salad. Any suggestions.

mtierney said:

If you were to purchase one tomato plant for a large container on a very sunny all day spot, what variety would you choose?

I tried tomatoes years ago and never thought the crop was worth the effort and expense. I also think I wasn't diligent in caring for them But I somewhat believe I have a moral obligation to plant something edible to offset the $$$$ spent on flowers!

Not too crazy about cherry tomatoes although the perk up a salad. Any suggestions.

 I think it depends on what you want to do with them. If you want to make sauce or can them, San Marzanos have been great for me. Otherwise, I like Better Boy, Rutgers or Heirloom varieties like Cherokee Purple - great alone, in salads or with some Mozzarella and Basil.

I have had good luck with the Rutgers variety.  I get my plants at The Great Swamp Greenhouse.

http://www.njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/WhatabouttheRutgersTomato.htm

Believe it or not, I've gotten the best veggie plants at the Shop-Rite in Millburn.  Like Tigerlilly, I would get the San Marzanos for sauce, and any version of a Beefsteak for regular eating.  Good luck!

We've put tomato plants in the ground for the past 4 years in mid-April and they've done very, very well. Tons of tomatoes, really tasty.

our plants went in three weeks ago, we also planted seeds about 4 weeks ago. Both are live and well.

Can we talk about the specifics of tomato plants? I've never grown veggies and my kid came home from preschool with tomato seeds. We planted them in a pot inside and the darn things are actually sprouting. I don't know what to plant them in when they get outside. And animals!! How do I keep squirrels and stuff off them? I'm afraid I'm going to have to create a contraption and I don't like tomatoes enough for that.

Thanks for any tips!

aga - here are some helpful tips. Depending on the size of your plants, you can likely skip to step 6 or 7.  You can buy tomato cages at Home Depot to give your plants support.  Be sure to plant them in a sunny location.

If the squirrels start snacking on your tomatoes, you can pick them before they are fully ripe.  They will continue to ripen if you leave them on your counter.  

http://www.instructables.com/id/Grow-Tomatoes-from-Seed/

We've never had an issue with any critter snacking on the tomatoes or other things we grow.

We did. Squirrels ate 'em green, red, and everywhere in between.

Our new house has a dog in the yard for most of the day and is amazingly critter-free.

As to the temperatures, I have had good luck with putting them out early if I build a wood frame with plastic stapled to it.  Each night I tent the plants and each AM I pull the tents off.

Problems, forget and leave the tents on all day, a sunny warm day and you cook the plants.

Take them off, go to work and a Chill blows in and you can have damage as well.

I always used a large or over size cherry tomato plant.  The fruit was about the size of an Apricot,  Grew fast and would ripen quickly.

The I would do a couple of Beefsteaks.  However, they take the entire season to grow to any useful size, but I always did a few.  That way I had product for most of the season, and the big boys for burgers or just steaks at the end of the summer.

Oh, and if you are growing for price, forget about it and go to the Store.  Growing them is all about the love, no chemicals and the joy of seeing the results of your work.

Later, 

Da

The UPS Store

George

Planted a grape tomato plant last weekend and it's still alive.  Actually everything I've planted so far looks good, some of it's been in the ground about 3 weeks so far.  Stuff that we had hanging didn't survive the cold snap a while back, but everything in the ground is still good.  Best looking plants at the moment are a pair of jalapeno plants and a blueberry bush.  Never really grown anything beyond some indoor basil, so I'm excited to see what actually survives.  Pleasantly surprised at this point!

In the past I was very successful keeping the tree rats away by either sprinkling blood meal around the veggie garden, or fastening long strips of aluminum foil to the bottom parts of my tomato cages.  After the first year of my Maplewood garden, no more gnawed tomatoes!

@mumstheword thanks for tips on keeping the tree rats away from tomaotes- definitely have run into this problem from time to time. Right now, concerned about a HUGE rabbit that has taken up permanent residence in our backyard - will be there hours on end every day. Concerned will go after the lettuce I just got at the Mplwd plant sale. Want to plant it, just need to think about how to protect it. I have never had problems with lettuce before, but never saw a rabbit every day in my yard...FYI Metropolitan Plant exchange has these collapsible green plastic cages which store easily when not in use. Use those as well as tall stakes to keep tomato plants vertical and fruit supported. Someone commented about not less money. If you are doing organic/heirloom etc, it does tend to come out even or ahead vs buying Anything else agree, but taste from garden beats store bought. Only farmers market can be close/same.

We have our vegetable garden in an enclosure surrounded by heavy nylon mesh.  I spray the wooden uprights of the enclosure with deer/rodent repellent at least once a week and after every heavy rain.  We also have one of those vibrating gopher scarers stuck in the ground inside the enclosure.  

I started some Italian seeds for small cherry tomatoes from Metropolitan Plant in WO about 6 weeks ago. Left them on the back wall for a bit this week and then put some into a BIG planter on the front porch and 2 into the ground. Miracle grow for tomatoes always gives me an abundant crop!