Is this the beginning of tomato blossoms?

[luigiwu]

This plant is Maglia Rosa.
I think I planted too early. Its about 2 weeks before I am suppose to plant out and all my green babies are getting HUGE... tell me these are not blossoms! I should pinch them off, right?

[RootLoops]

Yep! Those should be flowers soon

[luigiwu]

They are still in 18oz red party cups! I should snip those blooms off, right??

[kath]

Some people do- I don't. I've had plants set fruit and transplanted them outdoors later.

kath

[KarenO]

I'd leave them on and I would expect them to set and ripen fruit on those first blooms. Many here on TV would disagree with me and remove them.
If you are planting out in two weeks, they need to start hardening off. I get razzed sometimes here for talking about my large transplants that go into the garden already blooming but the reason I am successful and my plants do well in my zone 3 garden is That they are well and truly hardened off before they go into their pots or beds and they do not suffer much in the way of transplant shock. It's a process that takes 10 days + to do it well and that combined with not jumping the gun and planting out too early, waiting until the soil is warm, planting out well watered seedlings on a cloudy day,and waiting until the night temp does not go below 10 degrees celcius is how you can get away with minimal transplant shock to big transplants that will produce early in a northern garden. works for me.
Karen

[luigiwu]

KarenO, teach me to harden off my plants well! The thing is I work a full day. I can probably fit in 1 hour of daylight (like right now, the sun isn't out yet but its light but its 43 degrees out.) Is that temperature okay? when it get to 60s around noon - I am not home!
And then at night I can probably fit another out outside - again, it'll still be light but probably the sun has gone down?
How do you do it?
I was thinking of getting a shelf, covering it with 2 layers of 2mil (to make 4mil) of plastic sheathing and then clip the sides a bit to give some protection but allow aeration.

[nnjjohn]

i won't be home to baby sit my plants this weekend.. so guessing it best to keep them indoors on the window , nobody keeps a good eye for sun scolding /freeze/ etc. and so while I'm away I think it best my trays stay indoors. This should slow them down from budding i remind them to water daily.

[JamesL]

Luigiwu,
Still too cold out IMHO. Our long term forecast still stinks.
I usually start the process on a weekend so I can be on hand to monitor it.
Then I have a spot that I know will get dappled sun and only a few hours of direct morning sun, shaded at noon. An old plain white sheet as a shade cloth would work too.

The blossoms forming - stress response from being in the cups.
I have removed some and left some in the past observing no real difference in overall plant health.
If you can pollinate them you will get some early toms, but they might not be good ones depending on the weather.
Your choice to remove or not.

[KarenO]

Hardening off seedlings does require time and attention and certainly the weather needs to cooperate . I work shift work and mostly nights (12 hours 7-7) so I manage fairly well by getting them out in the morning and back into shelter in the greenhouse before I leave for work. I guess working graveyard shift in intensive care is a good option for a gardener. Good luck with yours. Take the advice of those who " work a full day"
Kareno

[Doug9345]

If it was me I'd do a mix of the two . A few plants I'd leave the flowers others I'd remove them. If you are going to save seed I'd definitely save at least on plant with flowers. As soon as they opened I'd make sure I shook the plant, vibrated it with a tooth brush, or do what I did and set it for a minute on the pump to a nebulizer. You'd have at least a couple of tomatoes to save seed from even if the plant died of something later.

[bower]

KarenO,

I for one am delighted to hear that this has worked for you - I did put a couple of plants out last year that were just about to flower, and into really adverse conditions: cold soil, damp cloudy weather, and a low the same night of 41 F. No, they didn't like that a bit, but I didn't see any blossoms dropped as a result. Some drop blossoms in cold and others don't, it's variety specific afaict. I could have waited but didn't know it. I have tried the same thing with peppers (potting up after they set) and it didn't work - they dropped their fruit. But peppers are different. Much more droppy than tomatoes, overall.

My plants are also forming buds precociously here this year so I've been trucking them out to the greenhouse each day this week whenever the temp reaches 60 F, and leave them out until it drops to 55 or 50. Lows at night are still low 40's at present so I don't want to leave them out just yet. It is a gross amount of work though doing the shuttle and I feel like an ICU nurse trying to tend the individual needs of tomatoes in beer cups. Not sure if I can resist the urge to plant em and be done, cold or no.

There are options for home growers which can be done for a few plants, which become impossible at a farm scale. That gives the home grower an advantage, be it ever so humble. I have potted up a couple of plants into 3 or 5 gallon pots to let them set indoors, then moved them out later for some very early fruit.

Luigiwu, could you maybe adjust your thermostat where the plants are growing indoors, and cool it off a bit? That would slow them down and help them to adjust. Then take them outdoors on the weekend when you're home? Every bit helps, I think, even if you're not consistent.

[KarenO]

Hardening off, however it`s done has the result of thickening the cuticle of the leaves which results in less water loss through transpiration and therefore increased tolerance to the variable conditions outdoors compared to the still and climate controlled circumstances indoors. The gradual acclimation to full sun and outdoor conditions combined with a little carefully controlled `drought conditions in the form of waiting to water until plants are quite dry, (not quite wilting but close) will result in this cuticle thickening I speak of. I am fortunate to have a small greenhouse and I use it in this way to assist with the hardening off process.
This is how I personally do it. you need a small greenhouse or a cold frame to do it my way.
1. start seeds indoors and grow to 2nd leaf stage under lights at room temperature
2. pot up into 4 or 6`pots big is better for my method.
3. move out to greenhouse. heated at night so low of no less than 12 degrees. tends to be about 25 in there in the daylight. This wide variation and increased light is sort of step one in hardening off
water as needed.
4. once they are strong and growing well, in about two more weeks if the outside temp stays above 5, I just leave the heat off with the greenhouse closed up and it stays about maybe 10 in there
5. next step is to leave the greenhouse open at night and during the day with the associated big swings in temperature
6. last step , the last few days before planting out is to take them out into part shade gradually increasing to full sun and air flow-circulation-breezes but not out in heat or bad weather. reduce watering and allow to dry out almost to wilt then water well.
7. when the ground is warm, certain of no frost at the end of May with big strong plants 8-10 weeks old and often blooming or even with a few fruit set already. water well the day before transplant. try to pick a cloudy day with minimal wind and plant out deeply, stake and cage, fertilize the hell out of them and watch them take off.
KarenO

[luigiwu]

KarenO, are you talking about celcius or F?
James, I had no idea blossoms means they are stressed. I think I let them go too dry before rewatering... their bottoms leaves go super limp and sometimes never bounce back. EEP.

So I'm thinking, my seedlings are all on a restaurant shelving system. If I roll it outside and shroud it with either 6mm film or greenhouse film? that can work as a cold frame, right?

[bower]

You lucky dog!

Without a rollout system, I gotta get a leave out system.

And by the way, your plants are puny compared to mine. There's something wrong with my house....

[luigiwu]

Bower, puny?? zomg, I am already stressing at how tall the guys on the bottom shelf are! 13-inches ABOVE the top of the soil. I am thinking I need to pot up if they have to wait until mid to end of May to go out!