In an effort to get a jump on the tomato-growing season, I tried out this contraption this month. I put out the tomatoes around the 7th of May. So far, they seem to be doing a good job. However, we had a couple of frosty nights right after I put the plants out, and they did suffer some frost damage. I will say that I only put the teepees out a day before I put the plants out, and they recommend a few days (to give the ground time to warm up), so this may have had a bearing on the issue. I only tried this with three plants as an experiment. If they do better than my regular planting of tomatoes, I will buy these for all of my tomatoes next year.
My remaining tomato plants look pretty pitiful, but I’m going to put them in this weekend since the weather is supposed to warm up and stay decent for the foreseeable future. Assuming my experiment works, next year, I’d like to get the tomatoes in May 1, but I guess it will depend on how many frosts are in the forecast.
To be continued…