Yes, there are a few more of us tomato freaks lurking here.
I have not been too noisy, as I wanted to get a feel of the list
and the interest of the members.
One or two mentioned temperatures, so I dug around until I found a
few references that make the tomatoes happy.
I though this might be of interest to everyone.
--------------------------------------------------------
Effect of Temperature on Tomatoes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Temperatures above 55 deg for at least part of the
night are required for FRUIT SET.
2. Night temnperatures above 75 deg inhibit fruit set.
3. It takes 50 hours or more for pollen to germinate
and the tube to grow down to the pistil to the ovary.
4. When Night temperatures are below 50 deg the germination and
tube growth is so slow the blossoms drop off before they are
fertilized.
5. When flowers fail to set in a few days, an abscission layer
forms and in a week or do they drop off.
Blossom Tear Deformation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
is a growth defect that begins shortly after
the setting of fruit. This occurrs when cool wet weather
prevails during flowering periods causing the corolla to stick
to the small ovary. As the ovary expands the cololla eventually
breaks loose tearing away a small amount of the wall tissue.
The hole enlarges as the fruit grows.
Rough Fruit
~~~~~~~~~~~
may be caused by low temperature. Temperatures in the 50's ( F )
cause flower distortion and results in ROUGH fruit similar to
Cat-Facing.
Temperatures below 50 will not cause rough fruit because flower
growth has completely stopped.
Beware
~~~~~~
of faulty thermosatats and GAP in degrees between the time
that temperature reaches upper 50's and the time the furnace
( HEAT ) comes on.
You may need to set thermostat between 65 and 68, instead of
the expected setting of 62 degrees. ( BEWARE again, likely
this cost careless and hap-hazard growers many DOLLARS ! )
Location of Thermostat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flowers may be low on the plant. The thermostat location that
is several inches or feet higher will result in seveal degrees
difference. Fruit set and overall production will suffer
due to the reasons mentioned above.
CO2 Importance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CO2 is as important as fertilizer. Make sure you are getting
fresh air into the greenhouse in the early am.
========================================================================
Information courtesy of:
Growers Supply Center
3000 South Hwy 77 Unit-214
Lyn Haven, FL 32444
Typed and Formatted by Wayne Fugitt, March 29, 1996
( any typos are likely mine as are spelling errors )
=========================================================================
Wayne Fugitt
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