Hi everyone......I'm in California so is there a forum for us here under Garden Web......I remember coming to the garden web a couple years ago so I have my user name and it went thru here but I don't think it was only Texas.

Hey thanks rosegardner. Perfect place to ask that question!!!

i've never tried that before, just a wild guess here,
but i'd think you'd need something close to a greenhouse
maby a homemade thing using pvc pipe and plastic??

maby you could check out some free plans online, and
build a really small inexpensive one??

do you have a sunny window on the south side of your
house you could use?

i'm far from a veteran gardener, in fact, i'm a rank
beginner, but i'm guessing tomatos would need something
in the lines of protection

tesa

How about trying four pieces of rebar stuck into the ground around the plant in a pattern that forms the corners of a square? Slip pvc pipe over that and use plastic "t"s and "elbows" to make a frame. Cover with clear plastic and install a small lamp for heat on cold nights. Slip the pvc and plastic off on warm days so insects can (maybe) pollinate your blooms. Technically it is a form of a greenhouse but it is cheap and easy to move. If it doesnÂt work you are not out much money. This might work to ripen some late season fruit that has already set but I really think that your blooms will not be fertile below a certain temp. It will be easier to buy the tomatoes at the store or eat ones that you canned in the spring/summer.

At our demo garden, we use the tall cages made from 6 foot tall cattle fencing (I forget what it's called) and wrap it around the sides with the white row cover fabric. We plant tomatoes in early March and this system helps our tomatoes get a great jump on spring. Maybe you could modify this to cover the top and use a lamp or small heater for extended freezing temps. I *think* there will be a problem with fruit set since light hours are shorter in the winter. Good luck to you!

Hi Rosegardner, I am providing the link to the California Gardening Forum. If you look in the top left white area of the main forum page you will see a link to 'Other Forums'. If you click on that link, you will see forums for many geographic areas and topics.

Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: California Gardening

Nick, the average tomato plant won't set fruit below fifty or so degrees F, so to get much production you'd have to keep the temps around them higher than that (not sure if that can be done without a greenhouse, or a rather extensive structure of some type). There are some types that are more likely to produce in cooler temps ~ Siberian types, one called "Oregon Spring", etc. ~ so I'd grow those for sure. If you put them against the south side of a large building (preferably your house), that will help as well. And I don't know if daylength has anything to do with it, but I surely wouldn't be surprised to find out it did. You may want to try some supplemental lighting on a few to test it out if you can't get a straight answer anywhere else.

Since tomato blooms are self-fertile you won't have to uncover them to let insects pollinate, but you will need to move the blooms to do it. The natural action of the wind or an insect landing on the bloom is what triggers pollen to drop inside each flower onto the pistil (female part) and pollinate it. So either brush them with your hand repeatedly or install a small fan to move them around.

Overall, and you probably already know this, but don't expect the same production as we get in summer. In cooler temps, growth of everything slows down, so it'll take longer for those tomatoes to form and ripen.

I'm also a rank beginner but thought I would share what I'm getting from Lee Valley that will help protect my dwarf lime tree that I have growing in a pot. We don't have many freezes here in Houston - some winters none - but when it happens I want to protect my lime tree. I have been hauling it in and out of the garage during the winter when there is a warning for frost/freeze but that is a headache.

Lee valley has a cloth they say is good for potted plants
at http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=52488&cat=2,2030.
But they also have some other products that might be more suited for in ground plants. Check out - http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&cat=2,2030&p=33141

(Standard disclaimer: I have no connection with Lee Valley except as a customer.)

Let us know if you have success.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valey weather protection products

Years ago I grew some in a south window in my dining room. I got tomatoes all winter but I had to polinate the blooms with a q-tip to get them to set fruit. It takes up alot of space if you do not use something like a "Patio" type of tomato that is not a vine.
Patsy

You can definitely grow tomatoes here in winter (we're in the same zone)

I was picking tomatoes in January. I didn't grow them in a greenhouse, and I only covered them (with towels, sheets, or pillowcases) when we got a frost/freeze warning.

It's totally possible

Dylan