Tips for planting tomatoes

The first thing to know about tomatoes are they are very spoiled little plants. While they are growing we only water them with rainwater, use willow water to make them stronger, and algae fertilizer to help them grow. They are hardened off outside in the natural sunshine. They like to be spoiled plants.

We replant our seedlings twice to help with root development, but they would still like more. Dig a nice, deep hole, mix in some fertilizer (EB Stone makes and excellent one), perhaps some blood or feathers meal, and plant the plant deep. Remove lower leaves when you are planting. The little hairs will form additional roots and form a good strong base for your plant. You will see them start to put on growth when the nighttime temperatures near 50 degrees, we are about there!

When growing your tomatoes, think about pinching back side suckers to encourage the plant to put energy into fruit. The first fruits are cherry tomatoes, we have a very early one, Sweet Cheeriette. We always see these around July 4th, followed by the larger tomatoes. This year may be early, it is hard to say. We have had a very warm winter and spring. Last year was late.