We will explore tomato temperature tolerance and solutions further throughout this article. One way to avoid common tomato temperature tolerance issues is to follow the best planting schedule and practices for the growing zone in which you live. Regardless of where one lives, many geographical areas require gardeners to address unpreferable temperatures at some point during the growing season. On the other end of the spectrum, those in hotter climates may be used to responding to heat stress when temperatures become unbearably hot for their tomato plants. Northerners sometimes expect to experience the first frost during prime tomato harvest time. The damage in the leaves what who ever can be reversed with temperatures warming up again.It is not uncommon for even the most seasoned gardener to become excited with the first sign of warm spring temperatures and plant their tomatoes outside too soon. In consequence the leaves will start to show damage after around 2 weeks of constantly low temperature as well the existing fruit (discoloration, blossom end rot, etcetera). Additional to this, the root system struggles to take up nutrients like iron, calcium and phosphorus. The plant will grow slowly but it is almost sure that pollination will not be successful. Temperatures below 15 Celsius / 59 Fahrenheit This is due to the roots struggling to absorb several vital components. existing fruit will stunt in growth and is susceptible to disease.Įven with only night time temperatures this low, the plant will suffer nutrient deficiency after a couple of weeks. In low temperatures like this pollination is highly unlikely which means that no fruit will grow. This will lead to permanent plant damage after around 2 weeks. The plants cellular functions are slowing down significantly. Temperatures below 10 Celsius / 50 Fahrenheit A short cold spur will lead to droopy leaves but the plant will recover with temperatures warming up. The plant will suffer permanent damage after 5 to 7 days of constantly low temperatures. The metabolism of the plant comes to a hold which slowly starts damaging the cells. Low temperatures close to freezing lead to a complete stop in plant and root growth. Temperatures below 5 Celsius / 41 Fahrenheit Otherwise the whole plant will be killed. From this kind of shock a healthy plant can normally recover. If it freezes just for a couple of hours, cell destruction could be reduced to only a part of the tomato (like tender, outer leaves and flowers). Temperatures below freezing do lead to frost damage on the plant. Night time temperatures should not be lower than 10 Celsius / 50 Fahrenheit to ensure healthy growth and a good fruit set. To thrive tomatoes need temperatures higher than 18 Celsius / 65 Fahrenheit. The perfect temperatures for tomato plants To avoid this kind of damage it is good to harden them off patiently. They can suffer from too much of a temperature difference or too much of either sun or shade. Additionally it is important to be gentle when moving plants – for example when they are moved outside after being seeded indoors. Weak, sick or very young plants are naturally more susceptive to damage of all kind, as the cellular structure can be compromised already. The physical state of a plant of course also determine, how much cold tomatoes can tolerate. Those factors can result in plant damage, even though a regular thermometer might not show a temperature quite low enough for you to expect this. Cold winds are also increasing the risk as they cool the surface of the plant directly. Wet plants are more prone to suffer damage from the cold than dry ones.
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