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| Hi all, I keep on reading to plant out tomatoes 2 weeks after the last frost date, however, I live in a frost free zone. So when do i plant......when the soil reaches a certain temp, or minimum temps are greater than, or.....?? Thanks in advance! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by cold_weather_is_evil Tucson 9a/b desert (My Page) on Fri, May 23, 14 at 0:27
| Here we had our last frost about sixteen months ago, but it's very dry. I planted eight week old Tomatoes in mid-February and they have grown like mad. The heat here, not the frost, brings the killing season. We thus get two (very short) pollen viable seasons a year. To orient you, these are USA southern desert seasons with February usually the coldest and July to early August usually the hottest, with heat break coming about mid September, and the month of July being the monsoonal wet season. We have had about 2 cm rain since January 1, and temps will hit 100/38 this week. edit: just to be safe, I'm going to start germinating some plants at intervals in July for the second half of the season, but am also practicing rooting some snip-offs. When in doubt, plant everything in succession and don't stop. |
This post was edited by cold_weather_is_evil on Fri, May 23, 14 at 0:32
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| If frost is no issue for you then heat becomes the focus. Either (a) planting out early enough to beat the worst of the heat so you can get fruit to set becomes your focus or (b) planting out after the worst of the heat is over. As cold_weather said above you may have 2 growing seasons or you may have only 1 in the fall to early winter. But exact planting dates would all depend on your actual geographical location - Australia according to your member page but where in Australia? For example I know that in S, Australia folks usually start seeds in August and plant out in September but I don't know about the rest of the country, sorry. Dave |
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- Posted by antipodean 10b (My Page) on Fri, May 23, 14 at 11:06
| Thanks Cold Weather and Dave, I'm on the west coast (perth) but have pretty much the same weather as South Australia (hot temperate) and September is generally the month people plant their summer veges. I've done this in the past but the heat has has arrived just as they are starting to produce so I'm going to try to plant to them out earlier and then go for a fall crop later (as suggested). So my question was more geared to how early can you go, and I was curious as to what minimum environmental conditions must exist for a plant to grow (ie: soil temp, daily temperatures etc).....I'm not necessarily after a date. I do plan to put some black plastic down to warm the soil. |
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- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Fri, May 23, 14 at 11:34
| At least 13 degrees C (soil temperature) for tomatoes, but given that you have a long growing season, I'd question whether it's really worth planting early. And if you use black plastic, you'll have to take it off when it heats up which won't be easy when the plants are growing. Instead, I'd suggest planting in the spring and mulching well with organic materials to keep the soil cool. Tomatoes don't really like hot soil. |
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