Umbrella greenhouse is back at work

For the last couple of years I have been growing a couple of tomato plants on my patio in large pots. Until last year I waited to plant my tomatoes plants until the end of May as cold frosty night we get kill tomatos that are planted too early.

Last year I decided to see if I can start growing tomatos earlier by using an umbrella green house. I was not sure whether the umbrella would provide sufficient warmth, as my plants are located on the wooden deck with air circulating in spaces between the wooden slats. If the umbrella was placed on the ground would provide a warmer environment.

My tomatoes plants are watered by the drip irrigation system on a timer. The umbrella fit perfectly over the pots as well as the drip irrigation tubes coming into the pots. I left the umbrella on the plants during the days and the nights, lifting only to fertilize the plants every two weeks. If you don't have a drip irrigation system, there is a zipped opening which will allow you to water the plants without moving the umbrella greenhouse. I left the umbrella on the plants during the days and the nights, lifting only to fertilize the plants every two weeks. The umbrella handle comes with a removal stake which can be planted into the ground which I did not use since my pots and umbrella were sitting on a wooden deck. I positioned the stick next to the pot, rather than inside it. And was able to have two plants covered by one umbrella. The plants grew rapidly and survived well through a number of frosty nights we had since early April. By the beginning of May both of my plants had several flower clusters.  Here is a link to my last year's post 2010 garden.

I was concerned about pollination, since my plants were under an umbrella and no well meaning bee could get to the flowers. After doing a bit of research I found that either insects, wind or hand shaking of the flowers would carry the pollen from the anthers to the stigma. I found that some people use electric toothbrush placed near the blossoms to simulate buzzing bees. But I went with a simpler method: shaking the plant gently once a week for self-pollination. The tomato pollen is not in the exterior of the anthers like most flowers but is produced internally and then released thru pores in the anther. Motion is required to release the pollen, and the greatest quantity is released by sonication of the "correct" frequency. When you shake the plant by hand try to mimic the natural resonances of sonicating bee. Shaking should not be violent, just as close to the right frequency as possible. Note that using implement like a cue tip or a brush is not very effective because the tomato's pollen is not on the surface.

In the last week of my last year I noticed the first tomatoes on my plants which is pretty incredible for the cold North East! I felt like a proud mother since I polinated the plants myself with a technique described above :-) 

I am starting a little later this year: tomatoes, strawberries and herbs went in May 1.  Tomatoes are again under umbrella greenhouse.