Well, it is rapidly approaching the first day of winter. I have
about 9 tomato plants under plastic. They are not in perfect shape
by any measure, but not bad. My first year to try to grow them this
late so I had no idea if this experiment would work at all.

Overall I am surprised how easy it is to grow tomatoes this time of
year. I'd say in many ways easier than in warmer times due to the
lack of bugs and heat. It will be interesting to see if I can keep
them producing through winter with the hopes of a good spring. Right
now I am getting about 1/2 the production I would be seeing in peak
times of the year. But with 9 plants I am not starving. I have not
fertilized in about two months since the plants are already filling up
the allotted framed space that I have built on the South side of my
house.

Overall this endeavor has not cost me much, just what a 3.5 mil roll
of plastic and a few 1 dollar 1 by 2"s at home depot and some tomato
cages from Wal-Mart clearance. I have a few lamps with low watt bulbs
to heat things on colder nights and a large rug for a ceiling, but we
have only had a few hard freezes so far. I have them in pots, and
they are in a fairly dense planting medium with probably more cow
manure that most would dare with probably more hydrated lime that what
seems sensible.

Ironically the variety most productive is a roma tomato I planted in
February that somehow made it through the heat (grocery variety seed
. Grape tomatoes with seeds taken from a 4th of July vegi tray are
strong too. They were planted in mid August from seed. Also from
seed planted in August are a few heirloom varieties. These are Green
Zebra, Pink Accordion, and Black Prince. None of these have ripened
completely yet but they look promising... The most to least
successful are in the order I listed.

Curious to see what others experience with growing cold frame / green
house tomatoes in the winter months?

On 21 Dec 2003 16:56:02 -0800, (Tony) opined:

Curious to see what others experience with growing cold frame / green
house tomatoes in the winter months?

I have three plants in my greenhouse. Brandywine, Roma and Sweet Million.
Sweet Million are doing best, the others limping along. There is not enough
light for them to develop flowers, but I am going to cut them back next week and
stop them from producing. Then, in spring I will plant them into the ground and
see what happens. I can tell you that without proper nutrition, the fruit will
be tart. Also, are you opening this cold frame during the day? Currently, in
Austin, my 10'x20' greenhouse heats up to about 130 degrees if I keep it closed
during the day. I have to open all the vents, door and windows during the day.
I don't know the average temperature in Dallas, I forgot, but I think it's
cooler up there than down here in the hills...during the day.