Here are some ways to get
more from your tomato plants this year. Pick the sunniest spot in the garden.
Your tomato plants need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. 8 hours a day is
better. If at all possible, choose a spot where you didn’t grow tomatoes or
potatoes last year. Rotating your crops every year helps cut down on disease
problems. Great soil is a must for growing tomatoes, so plan to amend the site
with compost and peat moss.
Add 2" to 3" of compost and peat and dig
it in to your existing soil 6" to 8". Once the soil is amended, plant
your tomatoes on their sides in a trench, not straight down in a hole. This
method keeps your roots closer to the surface. They will develop more roots and
the roots will stay warmer through the course of the growing season. Warmer
roots will give you more tomatoes.
Start by removing the lower leaves from the plant. Next, dig a
trench deep enough to hold your tomato plant.
Add some tomato fertilizer such as
Espoma Tomato-tone or
Happy Frog
Tomato and Vegetable to the bottom of the trench. These fertilizers feed your tomatoes and they add calcium
and magnesium. Plus, they contain mycorrhizae, beneficial fungui which will
help your tomato roots grow bigger roots and take up nutrients more efficiently.
Place your tomato plant in the trench and add enough soil to bury the stem. When you get to the top of the tomato, gently build up the soil until the top of the tomato is upright. Now that your tomato is planted, give it
a good drink. Your tomato plants need to
be watered deeply and regularly through the growing season. Not watering consistently
can lead to many problems including
Blossom End Rot and cracking. Watering
inconsistently can also cause the flowers to drop and the fruit not to set. Avoid
watering your tomato plants overhead. Irrigate at the base of the plant.
Staking
is important because it keeps your plant upright which allows even exposure to
sunlight and helps produce more fruit. As your plant grows, pinch off any
suckers that form in the crotch of two branches. They won’t produce fruit and
they take away energy from the plant. Go easy on pruning the rest of the plant.
Removing too many leaves can damage your fruit due to sunburn.
Apply some dusting
sulfur. It’s organic and will help control disease and ward off insects.
Lightly dust the leaves and the soil around the plant.
Other supplements
include Blossom Set to help your plant set fruit and Calcium.
Calcium is
available in concentrate and ready to use sprays. Calcium will help reduce the
fruit ripen more evenly and help reduce Blossom End Rot problems. Doing these
things now and through the course of the growing season will help you grow
better tomatoes.
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