Help me save my tomatoes!!

[JK710]

I live in Shreveport, LA and I tried to do fall tomatoes, so I bought Sweet 100 seedlings from Home Depot and put them in the ground the first week of August. They are really just now flowering, and I’m afraid it will be too late. I bought a clear plastic greenhouse I was going to try to put on top of them to protect them if the nights threaten to get below 60. Will this save them, or will this year be a bust?

 

[DirtMechanic]

I live in Shreveport, LA and I tried to do fall tomatoes, so I bought Sweet 100 seedlings from Home Depot and put them in the ground the first week of August. They are really just now flowering, and I’m afraid it will be too late. I bought a clear plastic greenhouse I was going to try to put on top of them to protect them if the nights threaten to get below 60. Will this save them, or will this year be a bust?

You will likely kill them in a greenhouse now. Far to hot for that yet during the day inside a plastic dome. And yes you might soon need warmth at night. The idea of incandescent light bulbs might be the way. You will stop pollination with a shelter so you get to do it manually.

 

[JK710]

Can I just throw the greenhouse (which basically looks like a tent) over them at night and take it off in the morning once the evening lows hit 60 in a few weeks?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Can I just throw the greenhouse (which basically looks like a tent) over them at night and take it off in the morning once the evening lows hit 60 in a few weeks?

Only if you use a thermometer to actually stay in control of it. I mean that the low temps will slow the chemistry of the plant and it will not regain its momentum the next day. Its not built for that range of lower temps nor the up and downs, so it is best to have a therm so you are not larking about too much.

 

[Chuck]

55F is the temperature tomatoes stop or slow down their growth but this temperature has to be continuous and prolonged, not just a couple of hours below 55F. If you are going to have 3 or 4 days of continuous below 55F then put them into the greenhouse. Now is about the time and temperature for blooming and fruit set, just fertilize and leave them alone.

 

[Chuck]

I live in Shreveport, LA and I tried to do fall tomatoes, so I bought Sweet 100 seedlings from Home Depot and put them in the ground the first week of August. They are really just now flowering, and I’m afraid it will be too late. I bought a clear plastic greenhouse I was going to try to put on top of them to protect them if the nights threaten to get below 60. Will this save them, or will this year be a bust?

It is ALWAYS a gamble when planting tomatoes for a fall harvest. Your average first fall frost is Nov 16, which if this is an average year will give you almost 2 months to produce tomatoes. Two months is plenty of time for tomato set and ripening of cherry tomatoes. And remember, not only are the temperatures a challenge, but the amount and the degree of sunlight diminishes daily too. I set out my fall tomatoes around July 7-15. But by doing this I also run the risk of burning them even with shade cloth. This year I lost all of my tomatoes due to excessive ambient heat