Hi Wayne,glad to see some activity on the 'ol list and have a couple of
rebutals for you to consider.
Regarding the below items.
Read on as I have the response by each numbered item.
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Effect of Temperature on Tomatoes
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> 1. Temperatures above 55 deg for at least part of the
> night are required for FRUIT SET.
>
I live in high desert of Idaho and its common for us to have a 40deg
(sometimes more)f.differential.I.E.lets say it was 85deg day temp it is
average for it to cool to 45deg (sometimes rapidly)that night.Keep in
mind that we have very long daylight hours sometimes until 10:30 at the
peak of summer.Granted by that time the soil has gained heat it off sets
the air temps for part of the night
> 2. Night temnperatures above 75 deg inhibit fruit set.
>
This I agree to completely.If tom.plant is in full summer heat it will
slow down for that interval.But since we're such dry heat ,if the soil
is covered/mulched which I always do and has some shading for part of
the day out of the full sun often it continues undaunted.
>
3. It takes 50 hours or more for pollen to germinate
> and the tube to grow down to the pistil to the ovary.
> Interesting...
>
4. When Night temperatures are below 50 deg the germination and
> tube growth is so slow the blossoms drop off before they are
> fertilized.
>
This one I have serious reservations about as I check the temp.stats I
find we only consistantly rise into the 50tys for most of June July and
part of Aug.for our night temps .The tomatos seem not to show any
adverse problems as a result.Continue to set as @normal.In fact I have
an unheated greenhouse which has provided me with volunteer toms now for
4years and generally pick my first cherry toms in late June
sometime.These are untility greenhouses only and take on the outside
temps in short order.
>
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.
>
Seen this but rarely..
>
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.
>
This is also a rarity despite the fact that night temps as stated
befor seldom exceed the 50tys until July and Aug.Now much later I.E.late
Aug and Sept.it can be seen more.
> Temperatures below 50 will not cause rough fruit because flower
> growth has completely stopped.
AS I said befor I do believe it depends on varieties and many other
factors.I grow everything from wild toms to beefsteak types and in
generally feel they(tomatos) are one of the most adaptable plants there
are.Craig L.(cant remember his last name)something of an expert as hes
grown possibily thousands of toms to date ;likens them to a form of
tropical weed,and as weed like plants, are ever adapting and evolving
right in front of our eyes.In the unheated green houses they(volunteers)
sprout and grow very healthy under conditions that no grower would
subject them to.Night temps for past several weeks(we have brief
intervals of warm temps and then lapse back to the darn cold again) have
been no better than than 3otys deg and down to 20 on more than a third
of that.Day temps can range from 6o-100 deg(depending on outside temps
of course and the amount of sun/clouds) in the grn hs as I seldom open
it due to springs high winds.
Granted I wouldnt expect this to occur in open ground but I do have
volunteers there as well and while they are behind the greenhouse
vol.they come on despite the chilly nights they will endure until June
sometime when the temps.finally moderate and become more friendly and
they will often out perform my coddled germinated seedlings.
Not bringing this up to argue with you ,just thought the list would find
it helpful to know that toms can and do perform and produce in some of
the toughest climates and shouldnt take every thing they read as gospel
until they try 'em for themselves.Some of the very best for me have been
the open pollinated varieties and to date have grown out something like
50 varieties over a period of 6 yrs.No bias against F1s just find these
more interesting and perhaps its the endless numbers out there to try
that intrigues me.
Wishing you the best Mater season yet and to all the list members a
successful garden.
Connie Hoy
Zones 4/5 sometimes 6 most the time and occasionally 7
> Typed and Formatted by Wayne Fugitt, March 29, 1996
> ( any typos are likely mine as are spelling errors )
>
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>
> Wayne Fugitt
>
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