Daily Improvisations

  • Inside the Homestead
    • Sewing
    • crochet and knit
    • Playing House
    • In the Workshop
    • Cooking and Food
    • Helpless Female
  • Out in the Garden
    • In My Greenhouse
    • Gardening in Southwest Idaho
    • Straw Bale Garden Project
  • Out with Animals
    • Chickens
    • Goats
    • Horses
  • Around the Globe
    • Adventures with Wild Greg
    • Chocolate Shops Around the World
    • Life in Taipei
    • About Town
      • My Blogs
  • The DI Store
    • DI Gardener’s Shop
    • How to Build a Backyard Brick Oven From Scratch (Book)
    • Custom designs
  • DI Memberships
    • Log In
    • Sign up to be a DI Sewing Room Insider
    • Dream House Members Area
      • Dream House Eyewitness Login
      • Your Account
      • Dream House Project
    • Become a Dream House Eyewitness!

Returning Potted Tomatoes to the Greenhouse for Winter

October 19, 2013 by Laura Blodgett 1 Comment

When it was time to put my greenhouse tomato plants back in the greenhouse for the winter, the plants needed some help first. They had gotten rather tall and narrow from their first winter, which was last winter. I planted them from seed last mid winter and they only knew life in the greenhouse for the first few months. I kept raising the greenhouse lights as they grew, until it was warm enough to put them on the patio for the summer. We did eat fresh tomatoes from them in May, long before the outdoor tomatoes were producing. However, once the outdoor garden was in full swing, these tomatoes may have been neglected some. They did get regular watering and I even fertilized them with fish emulsion a couple of times, but branches had dried. One pot had been sitting straight down from the edge of the roof gutters, which overflowed during a massive thunderstorm. A lot of soil was washed away and the roots were exposed. Amazingly, both plants were still giving me the occasional tomato.

The greenhouse to summer patio tomato plants look bedraggled, but they are showing some signs of new growth close to the base.
The greenhouse to summer patio tomato plants look bedraggled, but they are showing some signs of new growth close to the base.

 

 

When I went to prune the tomato plants, I saw that they each had some new, robust growth down near the base. This encouraged me that their roots were good, despite the gangly appearance of the top growth. It also made me think that it might be a good idea to prune them shorter than I had planned. Maybe I could train them to grow lower. This might make better use of my greenhouse lights, enabling more of the tomato plant foliage to receive optimum light.

 

 

So, I set to snipping away. I used basic pruning techniques. I cut branches about ¼ inch from the main stem, so as not to accidentally injure what I wanted to save. I cut off dead matter first. Then, I pruned for approximate height. Lastly, I made small adjustments for balanced form. I wasn’t going for beauty, but thinking it might help the plants grow straight. I did lean toward saving branches with a healthy looking blossom on them, if they were close enough to the rest of the plan. I did pick a tomato, too.

This pot need some soil, but it is still growing nicely.
This pot need some soil, but it is still growing nicely.

 

The soil in the pots is the same soil that I use for starting seeds for all of my plants. I knew that it would be a huge headache if I put it in the pot dry. Instead, I mixed it with water to the consistency of cooked oatmeal before I filled in where I needed to. It is always so handy that tomato plants are not sensitive to how high up their stems the soil goes. I’ve even had some in my outdoor garden take root where a branch was touching the soil and got covered by a little mulch.

 

The next order of business was some low-tech, low-budget support for the still semi-flopping plants. Other chores were calling, so I didn’t want to put a lot of time into this right then. I came up with snapping a couple of bamboo stakes into 3 pieces each and placing 3 pieces around each plant. Next, I found some string that I had saved from chicken feed bags. This I wound cage-like around the stakes, trying to make sure it wasn’t cutting into the plants anywhere. It seemed to work, and has now stayed in place for about 3 weeks.

With all this to upset their equilibrium, and a few more warm days on the horizon, I then watered them well and left them in a protected spot on the south facing patio. That close to the house, they would be safe from a light frost even if I forgot to bring them in for the night.

But, finally the day came when they needed to come in to the greenhouse for good. I adjusted the greenhouse lights down to match the current height of the plants. Now, I have to remember to turn the lights off and on again every day, as well as gently shake any blossoms that appear, for pollination. I plan to keep the plants at least this short, and possibly prune them shorter, depending on how well the lower growth is doing. I have lots of canned and dried tomatoes for various types of cooking and snacking, but it will sure be nice if I get some fresh tomatoes from these plants once in a while.

My original greenhouse tomato plants have moved back to greenhouse, and are supported and under lights. The photo was taken around 8 PM on an October evening.
My original greenhouse tomato plants have moved back to greenhouse, and are supported and under lights. The photo was taken around 8 PM on an October evening.

Filed Under: Gardening in Southwest Idaho, In My Greenhouse, Inside the Homestead Tagged With: southwest Idaho gardening

If you want to read a heartwarming story about how a mother deals with a daughter's death, read this book.

If you have ever wanted to cook pizza in a brick oven in your own backyard, this book is for you!

Basic Facts Guides to Gardening in Southwest Idaho

a list of blog articles covering the basics to help you with your garden in southwest Idaho

My Other Blogs

  • Fun Fitness After 50
  • Fun Learning Chinese
  • LauraBlodgett.com
  • The Happy Homeschool

Blogroll

  • Anemone Flynn
  • Fine Gardening
  • Gourmet In The Field
  • Sew 4 Home

About me

 

 

Daily Improvisations is a project by Laura Blodgett

If you want to know more about what I’m up to and where to read about it, here is a summary!

Making sure you know that:

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, including affiliate links to amazon.com. See disclosures here.

Contact Me

Contact Me
First

All pictures and content including the name and logo “Daily Improvisations” are Copyright (c) 2019 by Laura Blodgett, unless otherwise noted. Please contact the author with any questions or comments.

Tags

animals Backyard Oven backyard weeds book reviews Chef Betharoni chickens Cori Lou Costa Rica crochet and knit decorating even I can do dehydrating fabric stores around the world flowers flowers from seed Gardens Around the Globe helpless female homestead injuries insects interview Maui music organizing poems PVC Pipe Projects questioning the establishment recipes restaurant reviews sew sewing southwest Idaho gardening sprinklers stock market diaries Taipei Taiwan technology know-how The Best Little Chocolate Shops tools and equipment underground house unimpeded parenting Wild Greg Adventure

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in