We’re going hogwild with our tomatoes this year. We had a spectacular crop last year, and this year we’re moving the plot, expanding it, and growing heirlooms. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!
I think the biggest mistake people make with tomatoes is not watering them enough. I’d advise watering once a day unless you’re getting significant rainfall. I think tomatoes want the equivalent of five inches of rain a week. That’s big. The soil should get a good soaking, but not so much that it stays wet.
Plant the plants far enough apart that they don’t turn into a tomato hedge. You want air circulation around the leaves and fruits so you don’t get nasty molds and fungus.
And the square cages are good, but many indeterminate cultivars are going to need taller support than those cages will provide. The cone-shaped cages haven’t been all that useful to me, as the plants get top-heavy and drag the cages over.
Huh. Good to know. Now I feel better in that I’m not really late at all. My book says that zone 2’s frost date is April 30 (IIRC - I might be misremembering), so I think I’m still good to go. Maybe I’ll be hunting up some cruciform seeds soon.
I don’t think that can be right, Snickers. We’re zone 5b and our last frost guide is usually the first week in May. You should be behind us by at least a couple of weeks.
Zone 2 might be a good place to experiment with the early varieties of tomato. Early Girl is the most common hybrid. I’m trying Stupice and Druzba which are both early heirlooms. The early tomatoes can fruit in as little as 45 days, compared to the 65-70 days of some other varieties.
Plant 'em deep. Tomato plants try to make roots from the lower stalk. If you take advantage of that, the plant will have a fabulous root system for strong growth. Here’s how. Just before planting, nip off all but the top few leaves, and plant it deep enough so just those top leaves are above ground.
One plant, one cage. The cage is my favorite tomato support. As the plant grows, keep the main branches inside the cage. Cut off anything that grows outside the cage, or you won’t be able to find the ripe tomatoes in the dense foliage.
You can buy ready-made cages, but for the best, get some “re-mesh.” That’s the fence-like stuff they use to reinforce concrete. It comes 5 ft. wide, and a 6 ft. length gives you a nice big cage (the squares are 6 inches, so 12 squares=6 ft.) Bend back the last square’s tails to fasten it, so you’re really only using 11 squares. It’s big enough to stand alone, but drive a stake next to it for heavy wind. It’ll last forever. If you go to a concrete contractor and ask nicely for a roll end, he’ll likely give it to you.
Tomatoes are very hungry. A few years ago, I went to Horticulture Day at Purdue University. I asked the tomato expert how much fertilizer you could feed tomatoes before it ceased to increase the amount of tomatoes. He said, “I don’t think anybody has ever found that limit.”
If you grow Roma or any other “determinate” tomato, count on many being ripe at the same time. That’s fine if you’re canning, but it may be a bit much if you’re growing them for salads.
My exciting gardening tip (passed on from my mother - veteran of growing vegetables in a hostile climate) is to plant your seeds in a slightly staggered fashion - particularly for plants that have a fairly limited usable harvest timeline. So if you’re planting peas or lettuce or carrots, plant a few (she advocates 15 - 20% of your expected total planting), and then wait a day or two, plant a few more, etc. This will spread out your harvest a little so you don’t end up with ALL your peas ready at the same time and no peas after that group is done.
She also advocates using leaf lettuce as a border on flower beds (if you’re not using spray chemicals heavily in those beds). Several varieties are decorative as well as tasty.
I live in the same zone as you; last summer I didn’t put tomatoes in until the first week in July. I am generally a flower gardener, but I do like fresh tomatoes. I was at the local garden center in July looking for perennials on sale and I saw the scrawniest, plug-bound little 3" tomato plants marked down to 99 cents a six pack. I felt sorry for them and bought them. By September I had tomatoes everywhere. My only concern is the size of your garden area…by late summer tomato plants can get huge. Give them plenty of room.
All great advice! Just one thing to add: homemade tomato sauce freezes beautifully. My wife made up a spectacular soup-pot full of it a couple times last summer, and we doled it out into sealable sandwich bags; one bag of sauce was about enough to feed the both of us a single meal.
My mom also highly recommends home-drying tomatoes, by halving them, drizzling them with olive oil, and baking them at low heat until they’re crispy. I’ve never tried this myself.
Ok, my tip:
If you like peas or beans at all, you may want to switch your tomatoes and peas/beans every year. Beans add nitrogen to the soil, and are considered a “green manure” and when you grow tomatoes in the same spot year after year, they can become suceptable to a couple kinds of diseases that live in the soil. The theory is, by switching them every year, you give the soil a chance to rest. It’s like micro crop rotation.
And I recommend planting basil and tomatoes together, they seem to love being near each other.
If you have a really shady spot, where nothing likes to grow, try some mint or catnip. Nothing kills that stuff, just make sure you put some edging in to keep it from spreading out of control.
Zucchini should be the easisest thing to grow…but I can’t! This is what happens-my plants grow ell at first…but as soon a s they flower and beging growing the fruit, the leaves start to turn white-first spots, then patches, then the leaves die. The little zucchinis then turn brown and rot. I think its some kind of baterial disease-its happened twice 9and to my italian neighbor as well). is there anything can be done? or should i forget growing zucchinis?
I’m betting that you and your neighbor are dealing with powdery mildew.
“It is a fungal disease that attacks squash, killing the plants. Some varieties tolerate this disease better than others. Powdery mildew is more of a problem in the fall than in the spring. The material benomyl, or Benlate, is the most effective fungicide for the control of powdery mildew. Mildew occurs most often on old foliage of declining plants. Succession plantings of squash will provide vigorous, productive plants and allow removal of older, more susceptible plants.” [source: Aggie Hort.]
I always do this, it’s both pretty and tasty. Great way to begin spring.
Yes–consistent is what to remember. Tomatoes do indeed like a lot of water, but they don’t like ‘wet feet.’ Regular, even watering, rather than a flood between droughts, should prevent the above-mentioned ailments.
Last year for the first time I tried the wavy tomato stake and it not only worked, it was a refreshing change from the usual cages.
I use the tomato spirals as well. They look so much better than regular cages and I find that harvest time is much easier. When they need a little extra support on the spiral, I use velcro garden tape.
I have wanted to try starting an herb garden for a long time, but I am blessed with a black thumb. I swear, I could kill a silk plant :smack:
I have several great recipes calling for fresh basil, but none of the stores here carry it except in teeny-weeny plastic boxes…at an exhorbitant price.
Reading this thread has inspired me. Think I’ll head down to the garden center tomorrow and look around.
Any recommendations as to what type of basil I should try? (Something mostly for Greek/Italian types of dishes).
Along the same lines, we make a vegetable sauce out of tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and whatever else we have too much of. I planted three 8 ball squash plants last year and easily got 100 pounds of squash from them - one as big as a pumpkin. (I had lost it under some leaves.) The sauce goes real well on pasta or over chicken.
Basil is really easy to grow if you give the plant a reasonable amount of sun and good drainage. I usually get a couple of African Blue Basil plants and one Genovese (which is recommended for pesto). Sometimes the Genovese gets picky and the leaves kind of wilt, but I’ve never had a problem with the African Blue. I read somewhere that this type of basil is one of the few whose leaves don’t change flavor once the flowers bloom. I’ve never really noticed a difference with any variety, but maybe I lack discriminating tastebuds.
I plant a border of marigolds around my tomato patch. I’ve read that the marigolds protect against nematodes. I never have any trouble with pests of any kind, and I don’t spray.
Last year I put in one “Sweet 100s” plant, and I liked it so much I put in three this year. The Sweet 100s produce lots and lots of tasty bite-sized tomatoes for an extended period. They’re so good that I like to just pick a bowl full and eat them. They’re the perfect size for tossing into a salad. And there’s so many of them that I have lots to give away to friends, neighbors and coworkers.
I’ve never grown lettuce before, but would like to try it this year. However, I’m not seeing any lettuce starters for sale. Is it too early yet, or do I need to go some place special to buy them? (There are none at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or a small local nursery.)
I live on the 3rd floor of a hi-rise apartment building, so my balcony is a small space to grow vegetables in. That being said, one of the best tips I’ve ever gotten is a suggestion to buy Earthboxes at this website www.earthbox.com. I never had much luck growing tomatoes before but I harvested a boatload of them. Basically, the Earthbox is a rectangular plastic box about 36" by 18" by 12" with a mesh cover keeping the soil from the bottom 6 inches of space. This is where the water goes. When the plants are acclimated, they’ll send their roots down to get just the amount of water they need, not too much or too little. This was the key; before I would water about twice a day and the tomato plants would still get brown and dry. I fill the reservoir about 2-3 times a week and this seems to do the trick.
To start out, I pour in a general potting mix until it gets to within 1-2" of the top of the container. I then pour the recommended fertilizer in a stripe along the opposite edge of the box from where I plant the seedlings (no seeds, not that good yet). Then I cover the soil with an elasticized cover that looks like an oversized shower cap. I punch holes in the material and plant the seedlings and make sure there aren’t any air pockets near the roots. I water the seedlings from the top (the only time) and then I fill the reservoir. I plan to order more boxes so I can grow peppers and herbs. Hope this helps.
A bunch of people have mentioned it, but it’s worth emphasizing:
There’s no such thing as too much compost
(Which makes compost like chocolate … a thought I don’t want to linger on.)
I’m in the middle of an IM conversation with a friend whose garden we’re going to roto-till either tomorrow or next weekend, depending on the weather. (looks out window – yup, still miserable) He’s doing all this stuff with soil tests, etc., grumbling about not being sure what he needs to add to the soil,
“Easy,” says I – “compost, and lots of it.”
Seriously. The richer your soil, the better off you are.
Where do you live** laina_f**? Lettuce is planted more according to the range of high and low temps in say a 45-60 day period rather than strictly going by zone.