Do you have any gardening tips for me?
Hi there,
I have some experience in particular plants, but I am new to the tomato gardening thing and I just planted four yellow tomato plants. Do you have any gardening tips to get quick results? |
Do you have any gardening tips for me?
On May 19, 9:08*am, JessiOnela
wrote: Hi there, I have some experience in particular plants, but I am new to the tomato gardening thing and I just planted four yellow tomato plants. Do you have any gardening tips to get quick results? -- JessiOnela You don't say where you are, and that's essential information. Also, did you plant them indoors or outside? If inside, keep them warm. If outside, you might cover the spots with a plastic bottle (cut it in half, and work it a bit into the soil). It will make a miniature greenhouse and warm the soil. If you didn't do any soil preparation, it's not quite too late. Get some 5-10-10 fertilizer (or something similar) and scratch it into the soil around the plants. Add compost if you have it or can get it. If the seeds are inside, prepare your bed by adding fertilizer, compost and peat moss. Lime the soil if it is acidic. Use ground limestone at this point, since pellets won't have an effect for weeks. Chris |
Do you have any gardening tips for me?
In article ,
JessiOnela wrote: Hi there, I have some experience in particular plants, but I am new to the tomato gardening thing and I just planted four yellow tomato plants. Do you have any gardening tips to get quick results? This is rather long, but just keep reading. With any luck it will be Fall before you're done, and you'll have the winter to plan. One of your countrymen, ackeiyword, wrote the following on Sat, 25 Dec 2010. Since s/he must be out for a pint, I'll post it for her/him ;O) 10 Tips For Growing Tomatoes 1. Don't Crowd the Seeds - When Growing Tomato Plants from seeds, you want to leave enough room for the plants to branch out. To many plants placed too close together will inhibit there growth. Once the seeds grow and the first true leaves appear transplant each plant to 4 inch Pots. You will do this in about two weeks. 2. Tomatoes Love Light - If you are growing your plants indoors you will want to use grow lights. The plants will require 12 to 14 hours of light a day. Place your grow lights about 2 to 3 inches from the plants. Tomatoes love the light so you will want to plant them in the sunniest part of your garden. 3. A Cool Breeze is Nice - Tomatoes love to sway in the breeze. When growing them indoors it's a good idea to put a fan on them twice a day for 10 to 15 minutes. This helps to promote strong stems. 4. Tomatoes Love the heat - When you get ready to plant your seedlings in the garden warm soil is the best method. You can place black plastic or weed block in the area prior to planting. This will heat the soil. You should do this 1 or 2 weeks before you plant. This warm soil will promote earlier production. 5. Plant them Deep - When you plant your tomatoes plant them deep. Plant them up to the first leaves. Tomato plants will grow roots right out of the stems and this will give a good root system for your plants. You can also dig a small trench and lay the plant sideways. Don't worry the plant will grow toward the sun and come out straight. I like to use tomato cages to help support my plants once they have grown tall. It's a good idea to put the cages into the ground first so that you don't end up puncturing a healthy stem. 6. Mulch is Good - Placing Mulch around the plants is good as it keeps the soil born diseases from splashing up on the stems. Mulch also retains the water and helps to conserve water. Since tomatoes like the soil warm mulch can also cause the soil to be cooler so using a black rubber mulch works better for the warm loving plants like tomatoes. Since I grow only organic tomatoes I use no mulch or only organic materials for my mulch. 7. Remove the bottom Leaves - Once the plants grow to about 3 inches tall remove all the leaves from the stem up to about 1 inch from the soil. This will help prevent fungus from developing at the base of your plants. Spraying your plants weekly with compost tea also seems to be effective at warding off fungus diseases. 8. Prune/Pinch Gives More Tomatoes - Pinch and remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches. The crotch joint is where the branch joins the stem or two branches split. They won't bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it's the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes. So take it easy with those pruning shears. 9. Timely Watering - Tomatoes like regular watering. You never want the plants to begin to wilt before you water. Timely watering is a must. Water the plants deeply and regularly especially while the plants are developing. If you miss a watering don't over water to compensate. This will cause root rot and eventually kill your plants. When fruit begins to ripen cutting back on the watering will cause the sugars to concentrate and give a sweeter tomato. Don't cut back too much though or the plant will drop it's blossoms and fruit. 10. Getting them to Set Tomatoes - There are two varieties of tomatoes determinate and indeterminate Determinate tomatoes are varieties that grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short period, usually about 2 weeks. Once this first flush of fruit has ripened, the plant will begin to diminish in vigor and will set little to no new fruit. Determinate tomato varieties are often referred to as "bush" tomatoes, because they do not continue growing in size throughout the growing season. They are generally smaller than indeterminate tomatoes, with most growing to a compact 4-5 feet. Pruning and removing suckers from determinate tomatoes is not recommended. Despite their compact size, staking or caging is still recommended, since the concentrated fruit set can contribute considerable weight to the branches. Many paste or Roma tomatoes are determinate varieties. Some others bred to be determinate include: Celebrity, Mar-globe and Rutgers. Growing determinate variety tomatoes makes good sense when you want a large amount of tomatoes all at one time, to make tomato sauce for example. Indeterminate tomatoes are actually vines that continue growing in length throughout the growing season. Also referred to as "vining" tomatoes, indeterminate tomato varieties will also continue to set and ripen fruit until killed off by frost. Tomato growers seldom allow tomato plants to actually vine. Indeterminate tomato plants will require substantial staking or caging to support what can become a large (6-10') heavy plant. However, tomato plants can easily be grown as a hanging vine. This eliminates the need for support, keeps the fruit up off the ground and permits the plant to grow in an open manner, allowing sunlight to reach throughout the plant. The majority of tomato varieties are indeterminate including most heirlooms and most cherry types. Other indeterminate tomatoes include: 'Beefsteak', 'Big Boy' and 'Brandy-wine'. Early producing varieties like, 'Celebrity' and 'Early Girl', are also indeterminate. However since they tend to mature earlier and die back before the end of the season, they are sometimes labeled semi-determinate. Heirloom tomatoes are all indeterminate varieties and the plants get so large and heavy they can break the stakes holding them. You can get indeterminate type tomatoes to set fruit earlier by pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer. -- and conversely Ten Mistakes To Avoid When Growing Tomatoes http://www.chiff.com/a/garden-tomato.htm 1) Choose the right variety - Some tomato varieties are determinate type plants, meaning they may grow to about three feet in height and then stop. Others, especially most of the heirloom types, are indeterminate, meaning they will grew as high as you allow them to grow. If your space is limited, choose determinate types like Celebrity, Sunbeam or Mountain Spring. 2) Don't plant them too close - Tomato plants need at least 1 1/2 feet between plants, preferably 2 feet, and that's for plants that are grown upright on stakes or cages. If no support is given and they are allowed to sprawl on the ground, tomato plants need twice as much room. Plants spaced too closely will produce few fruit and have more disease problems as the foliage stays wet. Plant according to how big they will get, not on the size of the transplants. 3) Plant what you can use - I love tomatoes. My two kids and wife love tomatoes. But for us, six plants is usually more than enough, and that leaves us with enough to supply my non-tomato growing neighbors. Save room for other vegetables and flowers. 4) Don't plant in shady spots - Tomato plants, like any plant that produces fruit, need at least seven hours of direct sun. If you have less, you will have fantastic foliage but very few fruit. There is nothing-repeat, nothing-that can overcome this light requirement. Fruit production takes a tremendous amount of energy, and tomato plants, like all plants, get that energy from the sun. 5) Feed the plants, but not too much - tomatoes like a balanced fertilizer, with similar amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Avoid using fertilizers that are intended for lawns. The high nitrogen will push the leaves at the expense of fruit. Look for fertilizers designed for tomatoes and follow the label directions. Or better yet, throw a shovel full of compost around the plants every other week. 6) Don't lose sleep over pruning - Tomato plants will grow just fine without pruning. Pruning refers to removing the sideshoots or suckers that come off the main shoot. Pruning will help control the size of the plant and can keep the plants more manageable, which is usually desirable in a small garden. Pruning will result in slightly fewer total fruit but the fruit will be slightly larger. You will likely get more but slightly smaller fruit from non-pruned plants. Do what you're comfortable with. 7) Keep the plants well watered - When the soil around tomato plants dries out, a serious problem results. Calcium, one of the handful of minerals needed by all plants to grow, is absorbed by the plant's roots along with water. If water is limited, so is calcium. The result is blossom-end rot, a brown, dry, leathery spot found on the bottom of fruit. Don't be fooled by magic remedies that promise to fix this. Special fertilizers, egg shells or a Tums tablet placed next to the plant won't make a difference. Only water will make the difference. So make sure your soils don't dry out and use mulch to help conserve moisture. 8) Don't remove leaves or branches from mature plants with fruit - Some people think that tomato fruit need direct sunlight to ripen. This is untrue. Pruning the plant prior to fruiting is fine, as discussed earlier, but never remove foliage from a mature plant. This exposes fruit to direct sun and can lead to sunscald, a yellowing of the side exposed to the sun. The same holds true for green fruit you are ripening inside. Do not put them on a sunny windowsill. Instead put them in a paper bag and place them out of direct light. 9) Identify your pest problems - Remember, it's normal to see insects on your plants and chances are, most of them are not doing any harm. And every year, diseases will cause some yellowing and browning. But you should get more than enough fruit to satisfy your needs even with some pest damage. At the very least, learn to identify common tomato pests so that you can take appropriate action. Use chemicals as a last resort. 10) Don't put fruit in your refrigerator - You've done everything right and now it's time to pick the first fruit, but don't be tempted to put that fruit in the refrigerator. Temperatures below 55F will destroy the fragile balance of sugars, acids and other flavor inducing compounds. Leave tomatoes at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. If you want them to ripen faster, put them in a brown paper bag. -- - Billy Mad dog Republicans to the right. Democratic spider webs to the left. True conservatives, and liberals not to be found anywhere in the phantasmagoria of the American political landscape. America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich. http://theuptake.org/2011/03/05/michael-moore-the-big-lie-wisconsin-is-broke/ |
Do you have any gardening tips for me?
On May 19, 4:44*pm, Billy wrote:
snip 5) Feed the plants, but not too much - tomatoes like a balanced fertilizer, with similar amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Avoid using fertilizers that are intended for lawns. The high nitrogen will push the leaves at the expense of fruit. Look for fertilizers designed for tomatoes and follow the label directions. Or better yet, throw a shovel full of compost around the plants every other week. Great advice- all of it, but I WISH I had this much compost! Chris |
Do you have any gardening tips for me?
On Thu, 19 May 2011 13:57:43 -0700 (PDT), Chris
wrote: On May 19, 4:44*pm, Billy wrote: snip 5) Feed the plants, but not too much - tomatoes like a balanced fertilizer, with similar amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Avoid using fertilizers that are intended for lawns. The high nitrogen will push the leaves at the expense of fruit. Look for fertilizers designed for tomatoes and follow the label directions. Or better yet, throw a shovel full of compost around the plants every other week. Great advice- all of it, but I WISH I had this much compost! No one produces more compost than Billy. hehe |
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