Tis the season for planting

[elkhuntfever]

I was given some tomato plants so into the ground they will go. I suppose some advice would help as my thumb is not green but black : ). Epsom salts? Fertilizer now? Miracle grow?

[nagantguy]

No on the merical grow a natural fertelizer is better. If you have good soil you might not need any. Remember one main reason to grow your own food is so you can eat better and not have all the poision ingested. So think long and hard about adding any chemicals to your garden.

[labradigger1]

cover if frost threatens, sprinkle a little epson salts in the hole before you plant. old timers here used to drop a dead fish in the hole to act as a long term fertilizer. epson salts help to prevent blossom end rot. prune the suckers as they appear ( small sprout that appears inside the y of two larger sprouts). miracle grow once a week. do not fertilize, miracle grow will be enough. too much potassium or nitrogen is a bad thing on tomatoes. when the maters start getting pink add a tablespoon of sugar to the miracle grow mix.

[elkhuntfever]

Picking Kenjuudo's mind probably would help. I've seen his garden.

[Rick N Bama]

I've planted my Tomatoes this year by digging a rather deep hole, then sprinkling a bit of Epsom Salts in the bottom along with a handfull of Fertilizer. I then started filling in the hole with Black Kow (Composted Cow Stuff) & planted the mater with only the very top of the plant showing. So far, and even with all the rain we're having, they seem to be doing good.

Rick

[DHurtig]

I grow all my tomatoes and peppers in pots and 5 gallon buckets. Fertilize regularly with miracle gro and use Tums to prevent blossom end rot.

[oldred]

No on the merical grow a natural fertelizer is better.



Surely you must be joking, right? There is nothing poisonous nor the lest bit dangerous about Miracle Grow!! This stuff is a great high Nitrogen fertilizer and they even make a version blended especially for tomatoes,

http://www.scotts.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-tomato-plant-food/prod70358/


If you do have some natural compost or cured manure (DON'T use "green" or fresh manure) you can use that but I guarantee you will not go wrong with using Miracle Grow, the regular version works fantastic but the tomato formula works even better. Miracle grow is good stuff and there's absolutely no reason not to use it on your tomatoes and in fact you will be glad you did!

[elkhuntfever]

I was given advice about the Epsom salt, which I did. They also recommended not to fertilize until the blooms come on.

[oldred]

prune the suckers as they appear ( small sprout that appears inside the y of two larger sprouts). miracle grow once a week. do not fertilize, miracle grow will be enough. too much potassium or nitrogen is a bad thing on tomatoes. when the maters start getting pink add a tablespoon of sugar to the miracle grow mix.


Then take those suckers you prune off (use a sharp blade to get a clean cut without crushing the stem) and place them in a glass of water with about two inches of the stem extending into the water. In a few days the stems will start to sprout roots and you can then take these, when the roots are a couple of inches long, and plant them to grow even more tomato plants! I usually just buy one healthy plant of each type I want and then grow 6 to 8 more from that. DON'T add any kind of fertilizer to the water in the glass and if it's chlorinated tap water let it set in the open glass for a few days before placing your cuttings in it, this lets the chlorine evaporate and of course you may need to add a bit of water if the new roots become exposed to the air.


Another tip is loosen up the soil and mix in a bit of straw or peat moss or maybe some good quality potting soil (potting soil, NOT "garden soil", "garden soil" is junk and is usually nothing but sawdust dyed black and I don't care what brand it is it's useless!). Also when you plant the ones you have now, or the new cuttings if you do that, plant them DEEP! The recommended planting depth for container started tomatoes is to bury 80% (no that's not a typo) of the plant in loosened soil, this is not a tree you are planting and if you just plant it to the same depth as it was in the pot you will have a weak plant with shallow roots as it grows. The buried stem will not rot, it will instead sprout new roots along it's entire covered depth and will have a strong stem and root system that will reach down into the damp ground during dry periods.

[Jim]

MIRACLE GRO MSDS (http://www.conncoll.edu/offices/ehs/EnvhealthDocs/Miracle_Gro.pdf)

[oldred]

when the maters start getting pink add a tablespoon of sugar to the miracle grow mix.



I hadn't heard that one but it sounds like a neat trick, I will definitely try that!

[Jim]

Janet and I decided to go the container route this year. We went down to Slaughter's Nursery Saturday and bought a metric ton of sets and seeds. We got a pallet load of top soil in bags and I got started on it Saturday afternoon. I got three buckets filled with dirt and put tomato sets in them before Janet advised me it was time to wash up and light the grill. "Yes Ma'am!"

69949


It started raining Sunday morning and just quit yesterday evening, so I'm just gettin' back to it today. I got all the top soil in 13 buckets. I'm pooped! This afternoon, Janet and I will put sets in the buckets and place them.

69950

We planted seeds in a plastix box Saturday afternoon and I noticed this morning the radishes have sprouted. Janet's a moma!

69951

I'm really lookin' forward to some nice, sweet 'maters and Silver Queen corn!

[dragon813gt]

I tore down my upside down setup and tilled up a 10'x12' area of the yard. I would already have everything planted weeks ago if I hadn't done this. The weather is still cold here :( I'm planting on Monday no matter what and just dealing with it.

A few questions. How much Epsom salt per plant do you use? And has anyone used a buried coffee can to water their plants. I won't have the money to set up a drip feed this year. I was just wondering how close to the plant you put the can and how much water you put in per day. I know this will be weather dependent. I was thinking of using this method since I will be mulching the bed to keep evaporation down. I have the highest water rates in PA so I'm trying to keep costs down.

[oldred]

A good watering trick is to take 2 liter plastic soda bottles and cut the bottoms out of them then bury them bottom up into the ground near the plant, remove the lid or make holes in it (I just leave off the lids). Then when you fill the bottle through the open bottom the water will slowly soak out into the surrounding soil plus if it rains only a little the plant will get more water than it would if it gets just a quick shower that barely wets the ground, this puts water down onto the deep roots where it's needed.

[Baja_Traveler]

Raised beds topped off with compost for the year, no fertilizer for the first two months. Then they will get a weekly dose of fish emulsion for the rest of the season. Tomatoes are coming along fine now, everything else is just getting started...

69956

[Ed Barrett]

Still raining every other day here. got my peas and broccoli plants in several weeks ago during a little break in the rain. The plants I started (tomatoes, peppers) will need bigger pots soon. Last year by this time we were in a drought. If you check the averages it would look like we have perfect weather.

[scottiemom]

I grow all my tomatoes and peppers in pots and 5 gallon buckets. Fertilize regularly with miracle gro and use Tums to prevent blossom end rot.

Tums? please elaborate-how often, how many - is it for the calcium?

[DougGuy]

Tomatoes like orgainic material, leaf mulch, composted horse manure, rabbit manure, soybean meal, bone meal, fish meal, levtover kitchen scraps from the composter, eggshells, coffee grounds, and WORMS! We put red wigglers in our raised beds. The miracle gro for tomatoes is pretty good, the worst thing you gotta worry about is the damn SQUIRRELS! They will decimate tomato plants. Quarter sized bite out of every tomato, even the green ones. The bigger a tomato gets, the faster water evaporates through it's leaves, check the pots often in hot weather, might have to water 2x/day when it's 100F out.

[jaysouth]

This solves most problems with bugs and insects that eat eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, etc.

I use according to directions mid may and mid August.

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/insects-pests/products/fruit-citrus-vegetable-insect-control/questions-answers

[oneokie]

Epsom salts, use 1 or 2 Tablespoons per plant in the hole before the plant goes in. It helps the plant take up calcium. Tomato blossom end rot is caused either by a lack or calcium, or most often, irregular watering.

If using commercial fertilizer, use appx. 1.5 teaspoons per plant, applied away from the stem. Use a blended fertilizer; 10-20-10, 13-13-13, or 17-17-17, 15-15-15. Only use one application at blooming. If a nitrogen fertilizer is used, it will make for lots of foliage and little fruit.

Tums are a source of calcium, but check the ingredient label for aluminum. You want something with very little aluminum content. Crushed egg shells will work, but slowly. Quick lime is the best source for Calcium, but use very little, spread around the plant.

Thuricide is, imo, the best insecticide for chewing insects (horn worm, tomato fruit worm). It is a natural insecticide.

[uscra112]

Figured it was finally safe, so I set out all my cabbage starts on Monday. Been great, three days of regulars showers, mixed with strong sun.

Now tonight I see that we are in for near freezing Saturday and Sunday nights, and possible hard frost Monday night. It's mid-May for Pete's sake! So now I've gotta rig the frost tents tomorrow.

I must have been a wicked, wicked man in a previous life.......

[dagger dog]

Yesterday I tilled 25' x 20' plot, mixed in 50# kitchen compost, 10# crushed limestone. Planted 10' trellised row of pickling cucumbers,
set 8 tomato, 6 bell pepper plants, all in staked wire cages. Going to set out banana and jalapeno plants Sat. or Su..

Had to cut back from a plot about double of the size I planted this year, used to do corn, squash, string beans, early peas, salad veggies, and melons, got to be way to much for me to handle, especially during the hot summer.

The wife canned about all of what we harvested but this year she's just going to do pickles, relish and jalapenos plus tomatoes.

Sure going to miss the quality of the home grown stuff, but we can only do so much.