How do I grow this in Finland? Tomatoes

I get asked how do you grow this or that in Finland. This is an especially big issue for people who come from warmer latitudes and get disappointed with gardening experience here soon.

While I must agree that gardening a trial and error (and a lot of luck) experience in this country, there are some things you can use to make your garden successful. In a series of posts, I will share some of the tips from my gardening experience. I hope this tips will help you to spend more time enjoying your garden.

I would like to start the series with tomatoes. It goes without saying, it is a quite challenging crop to grow in Finland. After several years of frustration, I came up with some tips that might help you to enjoy fresh tomatoes from your garden at the latitude 60 degrees North.

Tip 1. Seed tomatoes early

Getting good seedlings is a half way to success. Tomato seedlings need a lot of lights; at least 10 hours of sunlight a day. From my experience, March-April is a good time to start tomato seedlings in Finland. The seeds will germinate in few days, but the biggest challenge starts on the second day of germination. Then you need to ensure tomatoes get enough sunlight, but the temperature doesn’t drop below 15 degrees Celsius. One solution is to take them to a glassed balcony and cover them with thermal covers. Another option is to keep them on a windowsill, especially if your windowsill is facing east. Finally, you can install artificial lights. None of these options are ideal, but getting your tomato seedlings right, will give you a better a chance to enjoy home grown tomatoes.

Tip 2. Buy seedlings from a shop

Always works. I bought mine in a discount section in June and they were the first ones to produce tomatoes. The varieties I bought seem to be resistant to diseases and are fast growing. From these seedlings, I enjoyed first naturally ripe tomatoes at the end of August (see picture). Meanwhile, the tomatoes I planted myself were only getting their fruits to they full size.

Tip 3. Choose the right variety

If you insist on growing your own seedlings choosing a correct variety is crucial for success. I have experimented for three years growing tomatoes outside and here is what I have observed:

Will grow well no matter the weather

Tigrella, Betalux tomatoes. Fruits form early, get red in September even in bad years. Tigrella are resisted to diseases, Betalux is less so.

It depends

Bloody Butcher, Driv, Black Cherry all of them got red in September, but didn’t do so well the last year (cold June). The fruits are not so big, but if you have enough space, I would give a try to these varieties. They can surprise you with big yields and resistance to diseases, especially Black Cherry.

It depends, but it really depends

Black Russian, Money Maker, Marmade, Danske Export tomatoes grow well and form lots of fruits. However, most of them didn’t ripe and the fruits were still green in September. Disease attack them easily, but some of them ripe well if you pick them and place them in a dry and sunny place inside. I usually get them ripe in my balcony

Don’t waste your time

Amursky is a variety I tried from Russia. They produce a lot of fruits, but they are not red in September. When you try to ripe them on the sun in the dry spot, most of the fruits just rot away.

Katia is also a Russian variety. They produce a lot of fruits, but most of them rot in the field before they grow to their full size.

Tip 4. Don’t plant them outside too early

Finally, make sure you don’t plan your tomatoes outside too early. Planting tomatoes outside early will definitely prevent proper development of the plants. My recommendation is to plant them the first or the second week of June. And even then, it is best to cover them with thermo-cloth. Keep them covered at least for a week or so. They need to adjust to the changed temperature regime.

I hope these tips will help you to enjoy tomatoes picked from your own garden.