Okay, my windowsills are full and it's time to sow my cukes and squashes

being in the South(ish) but with a rather windy garden, when can I harden off and plant out me toms?
(I know I'll have to run outside when frost threatens) but will the general temperatures check growth?

dunno I'm in the frozen north I;ll see what Joy says

At this rate - September

I haven't even sown my toms!!

Was going to do this later today ... not doing squash for another week ... no space if they take off ... alwayds dp too many!!

Could be the last week of May Tara, or 1st week in June.... depending on the weather Sorry can't be more precise cos sometimes there is a freak frost early June even dann Saff and they'll be done for And they deffo don't like cold wind either Been there done it

Am looking at JL's take on toms now. She says in MAY you can plant out toms under cloches initially

Is that any good

well, they've been out for a fortnight....one has got a bit of windburn but apart from that? they're doing far better than those left indoors

Which brings me neatly to my next question

I want a temporary (as in one season) living screen across my garden and I plan to use tomatoes growing up tall spirals.
(the runner beans are against the fence to disguise my carpet gripper cat defences )
So how do you know which toms will grow in a vine, and which are stubby sprawling bushes
If I want them tall do I pinch the side shoots off?
Do I need to do something with string?

Or can I do what I normally do? stick them in the ground and ignore them till harvest?

the bush ones might not oblige your climbing poles so what did yer sow? Tall ones you're looking for. They reckon them spirally poles are right good for growing toms.

I don't think you'll need the string cos you got the spiral for support

I sowed pink ping pong
black plum
tigerella
purple ukraine
ivory egg
cuor de buey (spelt wrong )

you need to find out whether they're bush, cordon, determinate, indeterminate (from the packets) or Googling, then you can determine which will be best to "climb" as it were. The taller variety the better I reckon, although I no nuffink

ivory egg is a vine, need to check the others.... just a tick

Outdoors, none of them will probably get to much more than about 4-5' before the frosts come and they are history.

Tigerella
Purple Ukraine
Ivory Egg
are all cordons , so they should be okay. Don't know about the others.

don't listen to 'im Tara
purple ukraine, as Plum said, and from memory i think tigerellas are too

cuor de buey is 'indeterminate'

and indeterminate means what exactly?

Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called "bush" tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet).

They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die.

They may require a limited amount of caging and/or staking for support, should NOT be pruned or "suckered" as it severely reduces the crop, and will perform relatively well in a container (minimum size of 5-6 gallon). Examples are: Rutgers, Roma, Celebrity (called a semi-determinate by some), and Marglobe.

Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called "vining" tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost and can reach heights of up to 10 feet although 6 feet is considered the norm. They will bloom, set new fruit and ripen fruit all at the same time throughout the growing season.

They require substantial caging and/or staking for support and pruning and the removal of suckers is practiced by many but is not mandatory. The need for it and advisability of doing it varies from region to region. Experiment and see which works best for you. Because of the need for substantial support and the size of the plants, indeterminate varieties are not usually recommended as container plants. Examples are: Big Boy, Beef Master, most "cherry" types, Early Girl, most heirloom varieties, etc.

did you write all that or did you copy and paste?

either way.....thanks Andy
I get it now

All my own work

Well with a bit of help from Google

Your Cuor de Bue are large vigorous vines. They will need sturdy stakes to be tied to as the toms get large and heavy ... hence the name ... Ox heart!

.. the best when sliced with motzarella and home grown basil

cool
I got them ones from Dom and the other posh ones from plum
thanks guys!

I'm off to wilkos in search of tomato spirals
they have pretty bronzy coloured ones in B&Q at six quid for three.....but since I want at least twelve I'm gonna see if wilkos have any cheapo ones

also need to find some 'golden orfes' (fish that eat mozzie larvae) for the pond

So how did you do ??? Get what you want ??

I thought Orfs were difficult to keep ... need a group of them to keep them happy!! Have you ever thought of Comets? Lovely long tails

the orfes were too big....they would of eaten my precious tadpoles

so we got two little dinky shubunkins (just cos I love the name to be honest ) and we'll possibly blag a few of the little black fishes from big bruv's pond at the weekend

I really wanted sticklebacks but the petshop man where they used to sell them said that he needed a license to sell them and I needed a license to buy them
sounds bloody daft to me...they're the 'proper' British pond fish after all

Our pond, though looking fantastic, is absolutely teeming with mozzie larvae I need something to eat them before they hatch and eat me

I have three fish to do just that. Didn't know there was a special type of fish - I just bought some little ones and hoped for the best. Not noticed any mozzies so must be ok.

Not that I get any tadpoles either. They all hatched nicely, were visibly wiggling about for a week or two but gradually vanished. Either I've now got the world's greediest fish or the taddies are in hiding. I'm going for the former...

moonbells

bog standard goldfish will do I reckon

You have to laff, folks round 'ere call em shebumpkins