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Tomato Gardening
by Nancy Merkle
When buying for your tomato garden be sure to follow some simple guidelines.
First of all, be sure the starter plants you buy do not have any yellow leaves
on them as this is a sign that you could be buying trouble right from the start.
Take a look at the container. If the roots are growing out of the slits in the
container this is an indication that the tomato plant has been in there too
long. Do not buy any starter plants that bear fruit already, as these plants
will most likely produce very few tomatoes in the long run.
Prepare the soil. Tomato gardening is best in a soft soil. Mixing in some sand
and compost will give them a happy place to start. Humus is a good product to
place in the mix also. Preheating the soil in your tomato garden will give your
tomatoes a boost that they will love. Just place plastic bags (black is best)
over the dirt for a couple of weeks before planting. This will raise the
temperature of the ground. This will help you obtain early tomatoes.
Tomatoes should be planted deeper than they come in the pot. You can plant them
all the way up to a few top leaves. You can dig a deep hole or a long shallow
hole and lay the plant sideways. It will find the sun and grow straight up
through the soil. Tomatoes are capable of rooting all along their stem. Mulching
is always a good idea for tomato gardens for moisture retention; however give
the ground a chance to warm up some more after the planting before you put down
your mulch. Mulch will also keep the soil born diseases from splashing onto the
plants. Plastic mulch is best for heat lovers like tomatoes and peppers. When
the tomato plants are about 3ft. tall, removing the leaves from the bottom of
the plant about 1ft. of the way up will help prevent fungus problems since these
are the leaves most likely to be effected. This also allows more water to reach
the fruit. Spraying once a week with an organic compost tea can also be
effective at warding off fungus in your tomato garden.
Removing suckers from your tomato plants at the cross joint of two branches will
add more energy to the plant as these suckers will not bear fruit anyway.
Thinning the leaves will allow the tomato garden to receive more sunlight and
air flow, which is also necessary for healthy fruit. Indeterminate type tomatoes
can be coaxed into early growth by just pinching off the tips of the main stems
in early summer. Determinate tomatoes usually set and ripen their fruit at the
same time.
Water generously while the plants are developing. Then once the tomatoes start
to ripen lessen the water so the plants will sweeten up a bit more. Be sure not
to let the plants wilt or the tomato plants may drop their blossoms or even
sometimes it's fruit. Planting in containers will make them portable. You will
be rewarded when you keep a happy tomato garden.
Nancy and Joe are amateur gardeners that have wonderful tips they and their
neighbors have discovered through the years. She enjoys sharing these with the
cybor neighborhood.
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