The gardening season is underway and you’re feeling the pull of the soil on your heart to go out and plant. What almost every gardener plants are tomatoes. You can’t make a BLT, salsa, ketchup, spaghetti, pizza or taco sauces without this main ingredient.
Home grown tomatoes have so much flavor and you control which if any pesticides go on your plants. Actually, if you were to taste a tomato from the grocery store and put it up against a home-grown tomato, you will never buy tomatoes again. Yes, there is that much difference.
Preparing the Garden Area
So how do you plant these red jewels in your garden? When the soil is no longer too wet to work up, it is time to begin preparing the ground. A tiller works the best and is the easiest, but not everyone has one. In that case, you can dig up the ground using a garden fork. Work the soil to a depth of 12 inches.
Amend the soil with 3 to 4 inches of compost. If you live in a rural or farming community, see about getting a little manure for the ground. You don’t want to use a lot; otherwise the manure could burn your plants. Use a ½ to 1 inch of the stuff over the ground. Work this thoroughly into the ground. Remove any sticks, rocks or hard dirt clods as you work.
Don’t plant the tomatoes yet. Allow the ground to settle for 3 days or more. Also, don’t plant if there is any danger of frost in your area. A late frost can still kill your tomato plants, unless you have them covered and protected.
Planting the Tomato Plants
Dig the tomato holes deep. They should be as deep as the tomato is long with only the top two or three leaves sticking out of the soil. On tomato plants, roots will form all along the stem. This increases their ability to absorb water, and helps anchor the plants in the ground. This makes for a healthier and stronger tomato plant.
Remove the tomato plant from the cell pack or pot. To remove the tomato from a cell pack, gently squeeze the bottom of the cell to dislodge the tomato. Transplant the tomato into the planting hole. Push the soil in the hole around the tomato plant and then firm the soil gently in place with your hands.
Leave 2 to 3 feet between each tomato plant in the row, and space the rows 4 to 5 feet apart. Read the label on your tomato plant to determine if it is determinant or indeterminate. This tells you whether you will need to provide a cage for the plants. Determinant tomatoes do not need to be caged or staked but the indeterminate plants do. I usually put the cages around them right after planting. It just makes it easier for me to do it this way and I don’t risk damaging the tomato plants when they are up and growing. It also helps find your tomato plant if you get behind in your weeding.
After-Care Through the Season
Give the tomato plants a good drink of water right after you plant each one. Tomato plants need at least an inch of water every week. Always water at ground level, unless you are using a liquid fertilizer. Wet leaves on tomato plants can lead to blight or other diseases. To know when to water, stick your finger into the soil. If the top inch is dry, your plants need water. To help conserve on water, control weeds and to keep the soil cool through the hot summer days, add 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch around the plants.
Your tomato will need to be fed with a 5-10-10 fertilizer. Mix and apply according to label directions. Within a few months, you will be picking tomatoes and savoring their juicy goodness.
Sources:
“Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening”; J.I.Rodale; 1999
“Kitchen Harvest: Growing Organic Fruit, Vegetables & Herbs in Containers”; Susan Berry; 2007