This year was the first year that we started tomato plants from seed, well Tony did at least. He is truly the green thumb, while I am more of an observer and supporter. Tony did heaps of research and had a few ups and downs with the seeds, but ultimately came out with quite the crop of plants. After we planted 40 in the ground and another 20 in our raised beds, we still had over 150 plants to find homes for. We were able to set up a booth at a local store nearby and sold nearly 100 of our plants. However that left us with quite a few plants to put into the ground and thought I would go over some tips on planting tomato plants.
These are the we used when planting out last round of plants. Although we have done square foot gardening in raised beds, this is the first year we have planted tomato plants in the ground in Texas. So far the plants are looking great and hopefully these hints and suggestions will help. Here is our mixture for 18 tomato plants (and a few peppers).
Supplies:
- Bucket
- Tomato Cages
- Aged Cow Manure-3 gallons
- Worm Castings- 2 gallons
- Vermiculite- 3/4 gallon
- Coffee Grounds- 2 gallons
- Crushed Egg Shells- 1/8-1/4 cup per plant
Steps:
- Take air dried egg shells and crush them in a coffee grinder until powder consistency
- Mix the aged cow manure, worm castings, vermiculite, and coffee grounds in a large container or bucket. To eliminate any large cow manure pieces, you can sift through a screen. Make sure your coffee grounds are dry.
- Dig holes in ground that are deep enough to bury 3/4 of the tomato plant. This is especially helpful in dry climates, so the roots can stay moist further underground.
- Trim the bottom leaves off of the stem
- Place the egg shells in the bottom of the hole and lightly mix into the soil
- Gently remove the plant from container and carefully loosen roots
- Place the plant into the hole and carefully add compost mixture halfway
- Lightly water to saturate the soil. Tomato plants do not like air pockets at roots and watering will help prevent that.
- Continue filling with compost, mixing in several handfuls of native soil that was removed from the hole. Fill until level with ground or slightly mounded around stem of plant to promote more root growth
- Place tomato cage around plant
- Mulch after heavy rain to retain moisture
Tips:
- To prevent cut worm incidents, firmly place a large metal can (both ends cut out) around the plant. Push can at least 1″ into soil. Another option that some people use is a toilet paper roll, however we have not tested this.
- Keep soil moist, but do not over water the plants
- You can mix in some of the soil
