Tomatoes and frost - What temperatures tolerate tomato plants?

• Ideal temperatures for tomatoes
  • Tomatoes and frost
  • "Crap heating"
• Harvest tomato plant

Tomatoes are among the most popular foods. No wonder, after all, the fruit vegetable can be used in many ways. It is especially nice to grow a tomato plant yourself. However, one must be careful to always give the plant the right temperature. With frost, it does not cope at all. We show how to best hold tomato plants for a good and rich crop.

Southerners do not tolerate frost

Originally the tomato comes from South America. Just as people from southern regions often struggle with cold, even a tomato plant can not develop in frost - on the contrary. If the temperature is too low, it will get sick.

In wet and cold summers, the so-called herbaceous or brown rot often occurs on the fruits. This is a fungal disease, which is initially recognizable by gray-green spots on the leaves of the plant. Later, the leaves rot or rot. In addition, brown-black spots form on the fruits.

In order to prevent such a development, one must always keep an eye on the temperature and, if necessary, take protective measures.

Ideal temperatures for tomatoes

Depending on which phase of growth the tropical tomato plant is currently in, it places different demands on the temperature level. Here is an overview of the ideal conditions from sowing to harvest, which can be used as a guide:

• Germination temperature: 20 to 24 degrees Celsius
• After germination: about 18 degrees Celsius
• When growing outdoors: from about 15 degrees Celsius
• Maximum in the greenhouse: 30 degrees Celsius
• Temperature at last harvest: 5 degrees Celsius (falling)
• At the Nachreife in the house: 18 to 20 degrees Celsius

Tomatoes and frost

It is clear that tomato plants must never be exposed to the influence of minus temperatures. This is an essential requirement that applies from the beginning. As a result, sowing in our latitudes should generally be done behind glass. On the warm windowsill, the required 20 to 24 degrees Celsius can be achieved as well as in the greenhouse. After juicing the fruits, continue as follows:

1. Advance tomatoes may be planted no earlier than mid-May.
2. In the first weeks outdoors, the tomato plant should be protected from frost by a garden fleece or a foil tunnel.
3. Individual plants can be set with a special tomato hood from the retailer.

Tip: It is true that such tomato hoods usually have respiratory openings. In strong sunlight, however, it is recommended to remove the hoods. Otherwise, a humid climate threatens to develop, which in turn favors harmful fungal infections.

4. In the unheated greenhouse, it is a good idea to set up frost guards or grave lights at night to ensure the ideal number of degrees.
5. Tomato plants in the pot are brought into the house overnight on a practical plant roller.

Tip: In mid-May, the fruits are still not completely safe from frost. In some years between the 4th and 20th of June the so-called sheep's cold appears - a typical cold snap in Central Europe. Therefore, prudent hobby gardeners maintain the protective measures until the middle or end of June.

"Crap heating"

... as a proven greenhouse trick

You can also grow the tomato plant in the unheated greenhouse if you use an old and natural trick to ensure the necessary heat and protect the tomatoes from frost. We are talking about the "manure heater". In doing so, one makes use of the warming effect of horse manure.

Step 1: Lift the ground deeply with two spades.
Step 2: Fill the hole with horse manure.
Step 3: Lay a layer of garden soil over it with compost.

Result: The mix of horse manure and straw releases the required heat during the rotting process.

Harvest tomato plant

Before the temperatures fall below 5 degrees Celsius, you should reap the yield. Not infrequently still immature fruits hang on the plants. But you do not need to be irritated by this. After all, green tomatoes ripen in the house within a few days.

The procedure is simple:

• Individual fruits are simply wrapped in newspaper and stored at 18 to 20 degrees Celsius.
• If you are dealing with several tomatoes, you put them in a cardboard box, preferably in the company of a ripe banana or an apple.
• Even on the warm, sunlit windowsill, the fruits can ripen and are then still enjoyable for weeks.

Tip: The best way to harvest the tomatoes with stalk. Then they keep longer.

Would you like to learn more about the care of tomato plants, such as on the showing of tomatoes "> Tomatoes auszie