On Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:28:47 -0500, Derald wrote:


George wrote:

If anyone has experience with this, I'd be interested to hear
Where are you?

Oops, forgot. Central NY, zone 5-ish. We get ~60% of 'available
sunshine' in July/August.

Why not shade the whole plant? By doing so, you may also
forestall blossom drop somewhat. Window screen will do, although, a sheer
textile may do better. I'm in west-central peninsular Florida where, by
mid-June, sunscald is a perennial problem. I shade my tomatoes (and peppers)
from about 11:AM (EDT) until about 6:PM (EDT). I reduce the visible light level
to about 1/4 the unshaded level but YMMV. That's 2 f-stops; yes, I used a light
meter. My neighbor has some container-grown "Aunt May's heirloom from
Mississippi" indeterminate of unknown variety and some Roma tomatoes growing in
what Kodak used to refer to as "open shade". His plants only get about 3 hours
of late morning direct sun this time of year and fewer in spring. They're doing
far better than mine and they're growing in my soil mix. Next year, if I grow
tomatoes at all, I will follow his lead.