Timing is everything: get your tomato plants off to a good start with these planting tips.
Its important not to plant them too early or you risk injuring or killing plants.
Understanding Tomato Varieties
Garden centers and seed catalogues offer an amazing variety of tomatoes.
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Tomatoes are divided into two main types: determinate and indeterminate.
Determinate varieties have short to medium vine lengths and produce their crops all at once.
Plants are heavily branched, with each branch producing one or more fruit clusters.
These varieties are ideal if you plan to can your tomatoes.
Indeterminate varieties continue to grow and produce leaves as well as flowers and fruits throughout the entire growing season.
Because of this continual growth, indeterminate tomato plants tend to grow larger than determinate types.
Many common garden tomatoes are indeterminate, ensuring a continuous crop.
Another important consideration when selecting tomato varieties is disease resistance.
Consider selecting varieties resistant to fusarium and verticillium wilts, tobacco mosaic virus, and/or nematodes.
Optimal Planting Time
Tomato plants are sensitive to cold temperatures.
Plants can be killed by even a light frost and temperatures below 50F impair plant development.
Wait for the weather to warm and soil temperature to consistently measure above 60F.
There are, of course, exceptions to every rule.
Growers have a big window for production.
Set plants in the ground between mid-October and late-January.
Cherry and grape tomatoes can be planted through the end of February.
While it requires more work, there are some advantages to starting your ownseeds.
Seeds are also cheaper than purchasing young plants.
This gives you time to produce robust young plants for transplanting into the garden.
Life outdoors is much windier, the sunlight is brighter, and temperatures fluctuate more widely.
We need to toughen our plants up for the outdoor conditions through the process of hardening off.
Start hardening off plants one week before transplanting out into the garden.
Bring plants back in during the night.
By the end of the week, you’re able to leave the plants out overnight.
Select and prepare the planting location while the plants are hardening off.
Choose a site with loose, well-draining soil.
Tomatoes benefit from organic-rich soils.Consider tillingcompost or composted manure into the planting bed.
Tomatoes can take up nutrients most readily when soil pH is between 6.2 and 6.8.
Conduct a soil test and amend soil as needed.
Rotating the location where you plant tomatoes and related crops from year to year can help combat plant disease.
Planting Techniques
Tomatoes produce roots along any portion of the stem that is buried.
To help increase the root system, tomatoes are planted deeper than most other crops.
This deep planting helps tomato plants establish a strong root system.
Sometimes the only tomato transplants you’ve got the option to find are long and leggy.
Even home-grown seedlings can become leggy due to limited light.
We can give these plants a boost by planting much of the long stem below ground.
This will promote root development along the buried portion of the stem and result in a much stronger plant.
To avoid damaging plants, install cages and other support systems you plan to use at planting time.
These support systems help bear the weight of fruit crops and make harvesting easier.
For the best results,match your support systemto the pop in of tomato you are growing.
Several factors influence tomato plant spacing including plant bang out, staking system, and gardening style.
Indeterminate tomatoes grow larger than determinate types but are commonly pruned to a single main stem.
Pruned and supported/caged plants can be spaced close together, just 112 to 2 feet apart.
Space unsupported indeterminate tomato plants 3 to 4 feet apart to allow plenty of room for the sprawling vines.
Water plants well after planting and apply a layer of mulch.
Mulching tomatoes is very important to provide even moisture and prevent fruit from cracking.
Many gardeners use compost early in the season, as the dark color helps warm the soil.
