Cold garage starters

mapspringer 3/7/2013, 10:47 am

I have a concern about my tomato and peppers starts which I have up-potted and are under a light in my garage. There is no room for them in my house, and the garage has been averaging about 42deg when I leave for work in the morning. They all look healthy, though probably stunted in size relative to how long they have been sprouted and growing. I have a feeling that they are just waiting for the soil to warm before taking off. Does anyone know if this growth delay due to cold weather will have a negative effect on fruiting down the road, or maybe it will make them "tougher?"

cheyannarach 3/10/2013, 1:44 am

Tomatoes and peppers do not like the cold and I think it too cold for them in there, that's only 10 degrees above freezing and it's probably cooler out there in the middle of the night. If you ave to leave them out there I would get a heating mat to set them on and keep a cover on them over night! Goodluck, hope they start thriving soon!

Ginger Blue 2/24/2017, 8:47 pm

I recently came across a reference to the "cold treatment" of tomatoes, whereby seedlings are subjected to controlled cool temperatures for an established time to encourage earlier flowering and stockier growth. I had never heard of the practice, but it's piqued my interest. Here's an article that briefly explains the process:

https://mountainplover.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/tomato-cold-treatment.pdf

The article points out that seeds should be started a couple of weeks earlier, if the method is employed, to allow for slower growth during the time of treatment. Since I'm planning to start my tomatoes next month, I may informally give this a try (reads: as much as my schedule and the weather will allow).

Thought I'd share the info for others who might be interested, and this thread seemed a good place to post it.

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Cold garage starters

Cold garage starters

Re: Cold garage starters

Has anyone tried "cold treating" tomato seedlings?

Re: Cold garage starters


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