On Mon, 9 Aug 2010 04:42:07 -0700 (PDT), Frank
wrote:

On Aug 8, 11:02*am, Bert Hyman wrote:
Our neighbors' giant maple trees continue to encroach on our view of the
sky and the sunniest parts of our garden now get only about 2 or 3 hours
of direct sun during the summer. With the economy the way it is, they're
not interested in any serious pruning for a while. Other than a
fortuitous windstorm or maple blight, we're probably stuck this way for
years.

The growing season in Minnesota is short enough without this additional
handicap.

Can artificial light speed up the ripening of outdoor tomatoes? Can it
be done without us ending up with tomatoes at $10/each?

We only have 3 plants, which used to be enough; two "early" varieties
and one conventional. One of the early plants will have some fruit ready
this coming week, but September is coming fast.

I see Web sites selling all sorts of lighting systems, but I'd like to
hear from people who aren't trying to sell me anything.

--
Bert Hyman * * *St. Paul, MN *

My backyard got shaded out a few years ago and I moved to growing
tomatoes in pots on my deck.
A half dozen plants are enough to supply wife and I.

That's what we do as well, but for a different reason, rain. Here in
the PNW we get quite a bit of rain so we put our pots on our 2nd floor
deck (off the kitchen). It faces South and gets plenty of sun, plus
when it's going to rain, we just slide them under the eve and they
stay dry. The only cost is we have to pay closer attention to
watering. The pay off is it's only three steps from the plants to the
salad bowl ; )

Newb