Let me be clear, it is too late to go buy plants and start growing them. Tomatoes require a fairly long growing period. So unless you go b
uy a fully grown plant in a five gallon pot (and that would be totally cheating, you might as well buy your tomatoes from the local farmers market which isn't a bad idea.) you can't start now. Try next year.
For those of you who are already growing tomatoes...
Second, all those juicy tomatoes require water. July and August tend to be rather dry here in PA so I've been watering my plants about every other day. To help keep down fungus and mold, I only water the soil and not the plant.
Third, tomatoes are heavy feeders (they require nutrient rich soil) so side dressing (applying fertilizer to the soil around the plant, not on the plant itself) of fertilizer can be helpful however, an over abundance of nitrogen will cause the plant to grow lots of leaves and not much fruit. An organic fertilizer heavy in phosphorus is your best bet.
Fourth, there are way too many pests, diseases, and fungi that love tomatoes to get into all of them. Honestly, I think it's just a matter of time before all tomato plants get infected with something. Some of those problems come from the soil so I like to cut off all leaves from around the bottom of the plant. It won't hurt the plant and will delay fungal growth.
Growing your own tomatoes can be tricky but they are SO GOOD! What are your tricks to grow awesome tomatoes? Please write about it in the comments below.
Here are a few helpful links for further reading:
Joe Gardener Podcast on Tomatoes
Mother Earth News Growing Tomatoes
No comments:
Post a Comment