Tomatoes: The Most Popular Garden Plant
- Tomatoes love plenty of sun. Plant in the sunniest location and they will produce faster and be more prolific.
- When purchasing tomato plants for your garden, look for healthy green plants with thick stems and no tomatoes or flowers.
- Like most garden plants, tomatoes prefer rich, fast-draining soil that has been amended with plenty of organic compost or well-aged animal manure.
- Plant tomatoes on their side (horizontally in a trench) or up to their first set of leaves in a deep hole. Roots will develop all along the underground stem to help plants suck up moisture.
- To reduce insect and disease problems, rotate tomato plants so that they are grown only once in the same spot every three years.
- Prevent blossom end rot by keeping the soil evenly moist and by adding a tablespoon of Epsom salts to the hole at planting time. Calcium will also help prevent this problem.
- As plants approach 3-feet tall, remove many of the leaves from the bottom 1-foot of the stem. These leaves receive very little sunlight and are often the first to develop fungal problems.
- Weekly applications of compost tea may ward off many fungal diseases.
- Thin strips of cloth make great ties for tomato plants. Begin attaching plants to stakes when the stem is about a foot tall.
- For best flavor, allow tomatoes to develop on the plant to their full color before picking.
FYI - Forget buying those topsy-turvy (upside down) plastic tomato planters . . . they just don't work in this area of the country, it's just too hot. Plants just bake to death in them. ...Lynnette Ringel
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- When purchasing tomato plants for your garden, look for healthy green plants with thick stems and no tomatoes or flowers.
- Like most garden plants, tomatoes prefer rich, fast-draining soil that has been amended with plenty of organic compost or well-aged animal manure.
- Plant tomatoes on their side (horizontally in a trench) or up to their first set of leaves in a deep hole. Roots will develop all along the underground stem to help plants suck up moisture.
- To reduce insect and disease problems, rotate tomato plants so that they are grown only once in the same spot every three years.
- Prevent blossom end rot by keeping the soil evenly moist and by adding a tablespoon of Epsom salts to the hole at planting time. Calcium will also help prevent this problem.
- As plants approach 3-feet tall, remove many of the leaves from the bottom 1-foot of the stem. These leaves receive very little sunlight and are often the first to develop fungal problems.
- Weekly applications of compost tea may ward off many fungal diseases.
- Thin strips of cloth make great ties for tomato plants. Begin attaching plants to stakes when the stem is about a foot tall.
- For best flavor, allow tomatoes to develop on the plant to their full color before picking.
FYI - Forget buying those topsy-turvy (upside down) plastic tomato planters . . . they just don't work in this area of the country, it's just too hot. Plants just bake to death in them. ...Lynnette Ringel
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