Since Tomatoes are kind of year round Vegetables, is it fine to start a few plants anytime around the year ? At my current location , I am expecting Monsoons to hit around Mid-June . I was planning on starting or buying buds directly right now.
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I suppose if you're far close enough to the equator they might be a year-round vegetable. I wouldn't suggest trying this anywhere that has winter. (or at least, if I did try it it would be under circumstances where weather is irrelevant) Then again, places with a Monsoon season don't tend to have much winter. A rough idea of where here is for you might be helpful.– GardenerJMay 18, 2015 at 21:56
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Your question to some sort makes me dream– Patrick B.May 19, 2015 at 11:24
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2 Answers
From the standpoint of weather, tomatoes mostly care about 4 things:
- Sun- They prefer sun, usually as much as they can get unless you're in a very hot climate.
- Max Temperature- Temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C) for very long are bad. Above that temperature pollen will lose viability before pollinating the flowers.
- Min Temperature- Temperature under 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 C) aren't much better. Below that temperature the plant stops setting new flowers and existing tomatoes fill out very slowly. Unprotected they are fairly tender when it comes to frost, a light frost will burn the leaves and a normal frost can often kill them.
- Water- Under ideal growing conditions a tomato can soak up about 2 inches of rain a week. Much less and the leaves shrivel up. Much more than that and the roots could drown, and it increases chances of root rot and leaf diseases spreading.
My limited knowledge of the climate of places with monsoons suggests your only likely concern would be number 2.
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You might want to add that too much rain can increases the risk of fungal disease if the spores get propelled from the ground onto the leaves and if the leaves can't dry off properly.– Stephie ♦May 19, 2015 at 4:26
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At the place I live, temperatures do go upto around 40-44 C , ie 107F for around 6 hours a day. Min is not a problem ,as other times its around 20-30C . The Monsoon isn't very bad. What I was planning was to grow the bud right now, and just when the summer is over, and the temperatures go around 30-35 on average, I would put the buds outside in the farm ,and before them continue growing them indoors with proper exposure to the sun. May 19, 2015 at 14:52
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1@DallasCarter I wouldn't entirely lose heart about the max temperature. Our summers get well over 90 (90-113° F. or so) for quite a while, and we still get tomatoes with similar productivity in the heat, without special treatment. So, clearly, there's more to it than pure temperature. I think the variety may play a big role here. For instance, Park's Whopper only produced a few tomatoes, but Early Girl, Roma and Husky Cherry Red were pretty productive last year. It was hot and dry, and sunny. I'm trying a lot of new heirloom varieties this year. So, we'll see how that goes. May 20, 2015 at 4:20
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We don't have a really, really long growing season, though. So, that might make a difference. More typically, temperatures in summer where I live range from 89-105° F. May 20, 2015 at 4:35
I'd just add to the previous answer - in monsoon areas, its best to grow your tomatoes during the dry season, because high humidity during the monsoon season encourages lots of fungal problems. The other thing is, if you grow in the ground, do not grow tomatoes in the same ground for more than two years. Although in theory you can grow tomatoes year round in tropical regions, unfortunately, many pathogens and infections thrive year round in those conditions too, (unlike growing in temperate zones) particularly in the soil, so move their planting position at least two yearly.
