General light requirements

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Last year I grew my tomatoes in what could best be described as suboptimal conditions.

Presently I am constrained by the lack of a sunny patch of tilled ground. I've had to garden in containers, in a parking lot.

In 2004 I was able to negotiate for a patch of asphalt where I could keep the plants over a set period of time. Result: Healthier plants (though they all eventually got the local blight) and higher yields.

Last year, unfortunately, I had to keep moving the plants around (some of them spent a week in the garage while the building was being painted). Result: Later yields, less fruit, more disease, less flavor.

Most tomato varieties require 6-8 hours of good sunlight. I've found in my particular garden climate (Sunset Zone 16/17) that 4 hours or less of sunlight results in a diseased and weakened plant, 5 hours is borderline, 6-8 hours is best. Some varieties (Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red, Marianna's Peace) are more tolerant of borderline light conditions than others, also. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but generally the late-season varieties (Lithuanian, Prue) won't produce well under low lighting conditions, and the fruit will lack in flavor.

Just my observation. I hope I can negotiate for better gardening conditions this year.

Have you found some varieties to be more fussy about the amount of light they receive?

GTG