Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes

littergitter
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 418 Posts

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - large red tomato I'm sharing this tip now so if you like, you will have time to make a little hot house for your tomato plant. It can help to produce tomatoes a month early.

Last spring, on 4-18-18, I purchased a large tomato plant that actually had a little tomato on it and some blooms. I planted it the same day in a large container beside the deck. It is on the east side of the house, gets full sun in the morning and is protected from the north. I made a little hot house for the tomato plant.

The temperatures were still cool, in the 60s during the day and dropping down into the 30s and 40s at night. This was not tomato growing weather and I didn't know if the tomato vine would do well or not.

It did great. We picked our first tomato on June 3. It made 2 lip smacking good tomato sandwiches. By June 18 we had enjoyed 3 ripe tomatoes from this vine. By June 22, we had 6 more that would be ripe within a few days. The vine produced tomatoes all summer and we had fried green tomatoes in the fall.

We don't typically get tomatoes out of the garden until the middle of July. These early tomatoes were a real treat.

Supplies:

large container that will hold a large tomato vine all summer
dirt and potting mix to fill the container
metal fence post
large clear plastic trash bag to fit over the top of the container
egg shells
tomato plant

Steps:

Place a metal fence post in a large container filled with dirt and potting soil. The notches on the post will help in staking the tomato plant.
Punch a hole in the middle of the bottom seam of the bag so it will fit over the pole. Pull the bag down on the pole.
Check the length of the bag to make sure it is long enough to lap over the top of the container several inches and tall enough that it will not touch the small plant. Tie the top of the bag to one of the notches on the pole. This will keep it from falling down. Pull the bag down over the top of the container to make the tent.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - tie a clear trash bag to the metal post

Wrap a cord around the top of container over the plastic and pull it tight using a slip knot so it can be loosened and raised when the weather is warm. It will be easy to lift the tent up and down as needed.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - pull down over the top of the pot, tie with a cord with a slip knot so that it can be raised later

When up, you will need to tie it to the pole.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - when the bag is raised tie to the pole

I'm trying it again this year except, today, being April 8, I'm planting earlier. This is a smaller tomato plant than the one I planted last year. I removed the old top layer of soil and added new potting soil.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - new plant sitting on top of a new top layer of potting soil

I added crushed egg shells to the soil and also put some in the hole with the plant. Egg shells are easy to crush by placing them in a zip lock freezer bag and rolling with a rolling pin. The egg shells add calcium and will prevent blossom rot. We did not lose any tomatoes with blossom rot on the plant last year. I save all my egg shells for planting tomatoes and green peppers.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - crushed egg shells

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes

I planted the tomato plant.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - new tomato plant in pot

I want to be eating tomatoes from this vine in June like last year. This picture was taken on June 22, 2018.

Make a Little Hothouse for Early Tomatoes - green developing tomatoes last year

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likekinds
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts

April 9, 20190 found this helpful

Good Good Good

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littergitter
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 418 Posts

April 11, 20190 found this helpful

In just 3 days, this plant has grown enough that I had to move the tent up a notch.The plastic holds the moisture in and keeps the inside warm and humid. I should be able to remove the plastic completely by the first of May.

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Melissa M.

April 14, 20190 found this helpful

good idea except potting soil is for house plants. You might want to add some peat humus.

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littergitter
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 418 Posts

April 14, 20190 found this helpful

You are right about that. Thank you.

It's not all potting soil. Actually, I have some dirt, out of our garden, and also some very old cow manure in the barrel as well as the potting soil. I should have listed that also.

I can't say how well this plant will do for us this year but it is growing like a weed and looks really healthy.

The picture of the red tomato in my hand was the 1st tomato we got off our vine last year.

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littergitter
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 418 Posts

April 30, 20190 found this helpful

My little tomato plant has really grown in the last 22 days. It has several blooms on it.

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littergitter
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 418 Posts

May 7, 20190 found this helpful

I now have 9 blooms on my tomato plant and it is looking good and really growing. Compared to one that we will be planting in the garden, it will be producing tomatoes for us much earlier.

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