Can tomatoes be planted in August?
Zone 8 can enjoy fall tomatoes by planting seeds in early August or transplants in late August/early September. Zones 9, 10, & 11 can enjoy fall tomatoes by planting either seeds or transplants throughout September. If you’re unsure of your growing zone, you can find it here. Regardless of what you might read or see in nursery promotions, planting tomatoes in October or November is not a fruitful experience, literally. The night temperatures are too low for the flowers to set fruit. Tomatoes planted in August or early September will grow quickly in the warm soil, warm nights and long days.Zone 8 can enjoy fall tomatoes by planting seeds in early August or transplants in late August/early September. Zones 9, 10, & 11 can enjoy fall tomatoes by planting either seeds or transplants throughout September. If you’re unsure of your growing zone, you can find it here.Best Time to Plant Tomatoes Wait to purchase and plant your tomato transplants until after all risk of frost has passed AND nighttime air temperatures are reliably above at least 10C, ideally 15C. In my 5b garden this can be as late as mid-June.
What to do with tomato plants in October?
Wild tomatoes can be cut back by half before overwintering because they will produce plenty of new shoots in the following spring and bear fruit abundantly. Bush tomato varieties should not be pruned at all before winter. Place potted tomato plants in the brightest possible place at 15 to 20°C from mid to late October. Tomato plants fruit from June until the first frosts, thriving in the warm, light conditions of summer. However, the ripening process slows down as the days become shorter, so fruit that develops from September may not ripen before the first frosts arrive. Tomatoes ripen most quickly in a warm, light environment.Topping in September will definitely get you more ripe tomatoes, but you’ll probably still have a few green tomatoes left when frost comes. That’s not a bad thing. Green tomatoes are great in classic recipes like fried green tomatoes or green tomato relish.If there are only a few weeks before frost and fruit is not ripening, try removing some of the mature green fruit to ripen what’s left on the vine. Cooler September temperatures help fruit to ripen because the red tomato pigments, lycopene and carotene, are not produced above 85 degrees F.In warmer climates, you’ll want to top in late September or even early October. A good rule of thumb: plan to top your tomatoes four to six weeks before your average first frost date. That window gives the plant enough time to finish ripening the fruit it already has.
Can I grow tomatoes in September?
Select proven fall varieties from the list above and get them planted no later than the first half of September; by Labor Day is even better. Regardless of what you might read or see in nursery promotions, planting tomatoes in October or November is not a fruitful experience, literally. At the same time, tomatoes do not produce lycopene and carotene, the pigments responsible for ripe tomato color, when temperatures are above 85 deg. F. So, extended periods of extreme heat cause tomatoes to stop ripening.Tomato plants fruit from June until the first frosts, thriving in the warm, light conditions of summer. However, the ripening process slows down as the days become shorter, so fruit that develops from September may not ripen before the first frosts arrive. Tomatoes ripen most quickly in a warm, light environment.