How I plant tomatoes
Ingredients:
Tomato plants
Organic tomato fertilizer (I like tomatoes Alive! from Gardens Alive!)
Calcium supplement pills, 600 mg broken in half
Toilet paper tubes
Stakes or cages.
Good soil, with compost tilled in, in which tomatoes have not been planted for at least 3 years, 4 is better.
Place your tomato plants, leaving about 3 feet between each plant. Dig a hole. Drop in a half of a calcium supplement into the bottom of the hole (this helps prevent blossom end rot by giving slow release calcium to the plant). Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of organic fertilizer. Now, pinch off the bottom leaves of the tomato plant, leaving 2 to 4 leaves on the plant for photosynthesis. Plant the tomato into the hole deeply, to about the level of the first set of leaves. This allows the tomato plant to root among the stem. A good root system is crucial to good tomato development, and the plants that root deeply will require less water through the growing season. This is also called trench planting.
Cut the toilet paper tube in half lengthwise, again across the middle. This will leave you with two circular tubes. Fashion them to fit into a circular ring around the base of the tomato plant (see photo above), pressing lightly into the soil. You have just made a cut worm collar (cut worms love to wrap around newly planted seedlings and cut them off about 1 inch about the ground. The collar prevents this).
Stake or cage the plants right away, before they have a chance to root (staking later can damage the new roots). Water in well. Tie the plans to the stake of cage with soft strips of old t-shirts, flannel shirts or even old stockings as they grow. Feed a few times per season with diluted liquid fish emulsion (yes, it smells bad and yes the smell will go away) and a few foliar (leaf spray) feedings of diluted liquid kelp. Mulch with cured grass (grass THAT HAS NOT BEEN RECENTLY SPRAYED WITH YARD CHEMICALS and was mowed a few days before and left to dry), compost, pine needles or leaf mold.
The process is similar for peppers, though I add 1 T. Epsom salts to that planting hole and do not stake them.
This is how I spent my morning. 20 plants in, 5 more to find room for! Tomorrow I plant eggplants, cukes, beans and some herbs.
Happy Gardening!
10 comments:
hi there--I just found your blog today while searching for info about organic peach growing. I'm in MD and am excited to have found a somewhat local garden blogger! Anyway, I thought I'd share a tip I heard recently about calcium and tomatoes: if you don't have any calcium supplements handy you can use crushed eggshells instead. I might try that this year.
Hi Nina,
Glad you stumbled on my blog!
I have been adding eggshells to my compost and tomato beds for years, but still had some problems with blossom end rot. I started using the calcium supplements a few years ago, and am still testing to see if this method is useful. So far, so good.
As for organic peach growing: mid-Atlantic Ag Extension agents will tell you it isn't possible. I will tell you that you can get lots of good peach products and baked goods from organic peach trees in VA, but have to settle for some blemishes and rot. However, if you are willing to use a good organic spray program, you can reduce this a lot. I have an entry on growing organic peaches in VA (peaches and nectarines have the highest pesticide residue when conventionally grown). Organic Gardening Magazine had an article on growing peaches a few years back-might be worth a search on their web site.
Have fun!
Thanks, I will definitely look for that Organic Gardening article. I always wondered why the Extension agents say it's impossible to grow peaches organically when people had somehow managed it before chemical fertilizers existed! I always snap up organic peaches and nectarines on the rare occasions when I find them in the store, but it would be great to be able to grow my own and have them all season, blemishes or not :)
Hi Nina,
One thing to remember is that many pests and diseases have been accidentally imported across the globe, so being able to grow something in the past in one locale does not predict being able to grow it in the future. For example, peach trees are harmed by an imported European fruit moth that has larvae that bore into the trunk.
One good product to use for fruit trees is Surround, a fine clay that is mixed with water and sprayed onto the trees after petal drop. Pests don't like to lay eggs in the grit.
Do you mind if I ask you a question? I know NOTHING about planting vegetables and am trying to learn; you are obviously someone I can learn from!
I had a few tomato plants in pots on the deck, but really wished I had put in a raised bed garden--is it too late to do that now and plant tomatoes as you've explained?
Hi Meghan,
I have never had good luck with potted tomaotes, but maybe my pots were smaller than yours (I have had good luck with potted hot and bell peppers, though). Raised beds are great for tomatoes, they allow the roots to sprawl and here's what you need to do at this date:
1. buy a short season tomato, like cherry tomatoes, plum tomaotes or other short season variety (around 60 days or less).
2. Buy the tallest plant you can find, even if it is floppy.
3. When you plant that tall plant, pinch off all but the top 2 to 4 sets of leaves and trench it- lay the plant in a trench sideways, so little of the plant is above ground. This allows roots to form fast along the stem and you will get faster growth.
4. Fertilize with liquid fish emulsion (see package directions- warning- this smells bad) or other high nitrogen source of your choice. Mulch with dried grass or other organic mulch (newly mowed grass can heat up and burn the plants).
5. Do it this weekend!
Other veggies you can still plant: green beans, carrots, pickling cucumbers. Also basil is great...
Good luck! Keep me posted!
Judy
I followed your advice, but forgot to thank you! I think I got too involved in writing it all down and hurrying out to the plant store! :) Thank you! I put green beans and basil in, too. I will definitely let you know.
LOVE your blog.
Hi Meghan,
I am glad that gardening bug has bit you! Looking forward to your updates! Good luck!
Hi,
I am in Central Virginia and am looking for some 'real' tomato cages - not the wimpy ones they sell at the local hardware stores. Are there any local nurseries around Virginia that sell some tall (5 ft - 6 ft) cages that are galvanized?
Thanks!
Nope, you have the build them yourself. Get some galvanized garden fencing and cut to size with wire cutters or another heavy duty cutting tool. Form the fencing into a cylinder, wire the seams together and stake the whole thing into the ground. It is not hard...and will work better than most anything you can buy. Make sure you can reach into the cage at various points (cut away some fencing) to get at the low growing tomatoes without tipping the thing over.
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