March 6, 2009

TOMATO TIP
Master gardener John Austin stopped by our table at the Bozeman Home & Garden Show to present us with a “magazine warming” gift—a 7-week-old ‘Early Annie’ tomato plant. He told us the plant had been cold stressed. Asked to explain he said he started the seedling with 16 hours of light daily, from a small 100-watt fluorescent bulb positioned 2-3 inches above. Then after 3 weeks—just when the first true leaves started to appear—he reduced light to just 12 hours a day. He maintained temperatures at about 55°F at night and 65° during the day. After another 3 weeks he returned to the 16-hour-per-day regimen. The result: edible fruit 2-3 weeks earlier than if he had not cold stressed the plant. And that, he says, is why he always has tomatoes by the Fourth of July…much to many people’s amazement. In Southwest Montana, he starts tomatoes around April 1, transplants around June 1, and begins eating the fruit of his labors on Independence Day.