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Old July 16, 2015   #12
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,793
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Steve, as Dewayne Mater pointed out, AKMark's thread is well worth reading. He has heated greenhouses and his results are amazing. Mark told me that he found 60 F to be the optimal night temperature for tomatoes. While I don't have control of it as he does, I keep temperature records and he is right, there is a marked difference in the fruit set and growth of the midseason varieties when nights settle around 60 instead of closer to 50F here. I don't often have the problem of night temperatures too high. But when the temperature is above 70F after dark I will sometimes leave the vents open overnight.

There's another document I found useful, by Merle Jensen, which explains how the balance between vegetative and reproductive growth can be tweaked to maximize production - attached pdf. Following this advice to the extent that I can, has made a big difference to my production. I keep the place ventilated as much as possible, even in early spring, aiming for an optimal balance between temperature and relative humidity.

Let me know if you try using the shade cloth and how that works out for you. I'm always interested in greenhouse design issues, and ways to make smaller structures work for tomatoes. You should also check out Tatiana's low tunnel system. There's a thread in this subforum I think... pretty awesome!
Attached Files
File Type: pdf MerleJensen-Steering-Tomatoes.pdf (86.3 KB, 14 views)
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