Planting and Growing Tomato Plants

Planting and Growing Tomato Plants

As the weather warms, we gardeners start thinking about gardening again. With this in mind I would like to mention the wonderful benefits of growing tomatoes.

Home-grown tomatoes have a richer, fuller, and better taste than store bought since you pick them yourself. Home-grown tomatoes are easy and inexpensive to grow as well. Growing tomatoes has a lot of appeal: it can involve the entire family from the little ones to the teens. As well as being an educational tool, the time the family spends in the garden is quality time spent together and can give one a sense of pride. For gardener’s who live in a condo, apartment, or townhome tomatoes can be grown in a container.

Choosing a Location: Choose an area that gets 5 - 6 hours of full sun; and if, you have an area that receives more than 6 hours of sunlight that’s all right, too.

Choosing a Container(s): Pick a container that is 14 inches or larger, and I would like to suggest when growing tomatoes to put one plant per container. 

Choosing Potting Soil: When choosing a potting soil there are several commercial potting soils available, and choosing one is a matter of your gardening preferences, some of the choices are inorganic verses organic, with moisture control or without moisture control, with timed-release fertilizer or without fertilizer. Some potting soils are especially formulated for vegetables and can be used as a potting soil in containers or a soil amendment to your vegetable garden plot.

Choosing a Fertilizer: When choosing a fertilizer there are several commercial fertilizers that are available, and choosing one is a matter of your gardening preferences, some of the choices are water soluble, granular, time-release, slow-release, organic, or inorganic. Choose a fertilizer that is formulated for vegetable plants and include the minor-element calcium. Current research has discovered that calcium is an important minor-element in fertilizers, especially for vegetable fertilizers. The research discovered that a lack of calcium in the soil is the cause of Blossom End Rot in tomatoes and other vegetables. When your vegetable fertilizer does not include the minor-element of calcium you can use one of the following: Crushed eggshells, Calcium Supplement Pills, (for people, but works just as well on plants), Nutri-Cal, Epsom Salts, Gypsum, or Powdered Lime.

The eggshells can be put into a blender or food processor to be crushed and mixed until the eggshells are a dry powder. Apply to plant(s) every two weeks. Eggshells contain 95 percent calcium carbonate.

The over-the-counter calcium supplement pills we take every day can be used to increase the calcium levels in your tomato plants. Use 2 tablets per plant mixed with a gallon of water. The tablets can be crushed or just dissolve thoroughly in water. The calcium water mixture can be added to your water soluble fertilizer.

Nutri-Cal is a liquid calcium supplement that can be purchased at most garden centers that is sprayed on the tomato plant. For good results please follow package directions.

Epsom salts has been recommended to relieve calcium deficiencies in soils and is highly recommended by organic gardeners. Apply 1 tablespoon, dry Epsom salts per plant and water in thoroughly after applying; or mix 2 tablespoons per gallon of water and water the tomatoes with the mixture.

To increase the calcium levels of soils that are more alkaline use Gypsum (calcium sulfate) and follow package directions. For soils that are more acidic use Powdered Lime (calcium carbonate). This product is also labeled as Calcitic Lime, Dolomitic Lime and will increase the soil’s alkalinity.

Choosing an Insecticide: When choosing an insecticide there are several available at your local garden center and choosing one is a matter of your gardening preferences, and while I was growing tomatoes, I had an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) approach method. I would only use Safer Soaps or Horticultural Oils on all the tomatoes that I grew, and realistically I hardly had to spray the tomatoes at all. I was constantly watching for any insect or worm that would start eating my prize tomatoes, and when I did see one, I would simply dispose of the insect.

Choosing a Vegetable Support: Most tomato plants will need to be staked or will need a vegetable cage to support the plant. Put the tomato cage or vegetable cage around the plant shortly after planting.

Watering: Of all the ingredients that I have mentioned for tomato gardening success, water, is the most important to successful tomatoes. The soil for your plants will need to be consistently moist at all times, and the water source should be city water or treated water. This is one of the reasons for E. coil outbreaks by vegetable growers in past years; the vegetables that were recalled received untreated water during the growing process. More gardeners are starting to grow their own vegetables this year versus last year due to the E. coli outbreaks in store-bought produce. Just another reason to start growing your own vegetables, you supply the water, you supply the insecticide, and you know exactly what ingredients went into your vegetables. For states that are currently under water restrictions, you can water your food crops, personal food garden, or personal vegetable garden without penalty. Wash all vegetables before eating or cooking.

Planting Tomato Plants: Always plant your tomato plants deeper than the original soil line, even if you grow your tomatoes from seed. When you are ready to plant your tomato plants remove two to three sets of the lower leaves or six leaves total and plant the tomato plant that deep in the soil. You just do this with tomatoes and the reason for this procedure is that tomatoes will establish more roots along the stem where you removed the leaves, and tomatoes require a lot more water than the other vegetables, and tomatoes are one vegetable that are heavy feeders, i.e. tomatoes require a steady supply of fertilizer.

An article in Chemically Speaking, January 2009 on honeybees and crop yield that was published may entice my readers to plant more than just a vegetable garden this spring. The article states that planting more flowers to attract honeybees will help plants defend themselves against attacks from caterpillars. The study suggests that this could lead to a new biological control method to try.

Put on your gardening gloves and reap the rewards and benefits of a spring vegetable garden. Tastier vegetables than store bought that you harvest on your own. As a vegetable gardener you know the ingredients, and there is nothing more rewarding than tasting the “vegetables” of your labors.

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola 2007. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this article are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated.