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michael1846

does any1 else bring there tomatos in

michael1846
10 years ago

Hello everyone I talk to let's there tomatoes and peppers die like annuals no one wants to bring them in when I tell them that they are perennials they just look at me like "do I care" then I just say so u won't bring them in when they reply no I ask to keep them in the winter >:) does any1 care that there letting there tomatoes die?

Comments (12)

  • digdirt2
    10 years ago

    Do you bring your tomato plants inside in the winter? Where do you live that encourages you to do that? Do you have a greenhouse to care for them in? I assume they must be in containers rather than in the ground and that they are some small variety?

    Only indeterminate varieties are perennials and even then only in certain tropical climates. In much of the US they are killed by disease or frost by season's end.

    My plants in the garden are 8-12' tall and 4-5' wide and there is no way I could dig them up without killing them and move them inside even though I do have a greenhouse. Plus by the end of the season they often have disease or pest problems and have already produced the majority of the fruit they will make. So I gain nothing by bringing them inside.

    JMO

    Dave

  • jadie88
    10 years ago

    I don't think "letting their tomatoes die" is anything negligent or wasteful...in nature, in my zone, tomatoes are non-hardy. They are annuals. Like all living things, they grow in the growing season and die in the dying season.

    I could bring a massive, usually disease-weary tomato plant indoors in October and try to limp it along on artificial life support through the winter, but no way could I give it the light it needs. If I could get it through, it would be a zombie of a plant, and probably incapable of producing to the level we expect from tomato plants.

    I don't bring the tomatoes in for the winter, and I sleep with a clear conscience. :) I'd be interested to hear the benefits you see in doing it, though!

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    I don't think that any thing with vines like potato, tomato, cucumber etc can be considered perennials, even in the tropics. Perennial would be something that you can cut them back and they regrow new foliage. I have heard that peppers are perennials because they can regrow branches.

  • fcivish
    10 years ago

    One year I set up a tomato growing area on some concrete in my basement. I planted about 15 tomatoes into 3 to 5 gallon containers and covered the ceiling with fluorescent shoplights on timers. I also set the shoplights on adjustable chains, so I could lower them to hang just right over the tomatoes. I put in some fans to stimulate the tomatoes and encourage pollination.

    It worked, but not great. I got all my tomatoes through the winter, and many of them were in decent shape, though a few of them didn't look so great by the end.

    Tomato production in the winter was sparse and flavor wasn't as good as I would have expected. Very average. When I planted all the plants in my garden the following Spring, they continued to produce tomatoes sparsely, and by midsummer they were passed by the newly planted tomatoes that year.

    It was a bit of a mess, a lot of work, the greatest expense was buying and putting in all the shoplights and I just decided it wasn't worth it again, even now that I had the setup to do it.

    So that was my experience.

  • SylviaGrace
    10 years ago

    I tried once. It didn't put out any tomatoes (it never did, actually) but it sure made the house look pretty.

  • digdirt2
    10 years ago

    Hmmm thought we might hear back from this new member by now since these replies are getting sent to him.

    Dave

  • lgteacher
    10 years ago

    I've had some overwinter outdoors, but I don't see the point in bringing them in. As jadie noted, bu the end of the season, they are looking pretty sad. When the leaves start getting brown from the onset of cold weather, it's time to say good-bye. I prefer to start the year with fresh plants and maybe try some new varieties.

  • ddsack
    10 years ago

    I guess if you were growing them in pots, you could cut them back and bring them in - if you had used up all your seeds for a variety that was hard to get, or a favorite hybrid now out of production. Most people would have a space problem in their house for many big pots, and banks of artificial lights would be expensive. It would be easier just to take a few sucker cuttings and grow those over the winter if you knew you'd have problems getting new seeds.

  • ryseryse_2004
    10 years ago

    I brought ornamental peppers inside last fall and what a mistake that was!!!!! I fought fungus knats and aphids all winter long -- then they got into my tomato seedlings in the early spring. I used Knock-Out Knats but it just didn't get rid of them all.

    I have always starting planting indoors in winter and this was the first winter I had bug problems. From now on, outdoor plants stay outdoors.

  • michael1846
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I bring g mine in no I do not plant them in pots you can dig them up but you have to go a foot from the tomato plant then dig around I benefit from beeping my tomato indoors because I bring them in early LIKE early September instead of October I just enjoy them indoors They make the occasional tomato but they are really good for cuttings and I enjoy the smell I also don't let them make tomato on the first try I cut the flowers off unroll the second or third try to encourage growth so ya.....

  • michael1846
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Untill not unroll spell check

  • lucillle
    10 years ago

    Tomato plants bought in the spring or started from seed are relatively inexpensive here compared with the work of bringing them in. I have had sweet potatoes as perennials left in the ground, and the occasional pepper plant. But I no longer have plants in the house except a few in a small aquarium, and that would include tomatoes.

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