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Tomatoes Your Way

by: Tom MacCubbin

Some like to eat them, some just like the challenge
Photo Credit: Tom MacCubbin

Updated: 8/10/2020 2:19:49 PM

 

What do you like about tomatoes?  Maybe it's a red ripe juicy fruit cut into a salad, a slice of tomato over top of a hamburger or a small fruit sprinkled with salt and pepper then popped in your mouth.

Other gardeners may not be as tempted by the tomato taste but they do like the challenge of growing plants full of palm size fruits to share with friends. Possibly they are also thinking of beating the Florida three pound record or an over six pound national winner.

It's hard to find someone who doesn't like something about  tomatoes and this year there is still time to have tomatoes your way.  Go for the really big fruits, grow a bush full of the quarter size cherry varieties or plant tomatoes of different colors.

You can grow tomatoes alone in the ground or along side other vegetables, flowers and  shrubs.  If space is limited or you have bad soil, grow your tomatoes in containers.

Join the fun of raising tomatoes beginning this month with transplants produced at home or purchased from local garden centers. Then follow these steps to a successful harvest.

Step 1 - Enrich sandy soils with lots of compost, peat moss and composted  manure. Also check the soil acidity and adjust to a pH of 6.5 if needed.

Step 2 - Set plants in the ground so the first true leaves are just above the soil. Add a mulch of old hay, loose leaves, pine needles or similar material.

Step 3 - Keep the soil moist. Water new plants daily the first week then whenever the surface soil begins to dry to the touch. 

Step 4 - Support plants with a stake, trellis or wire cage.  Add one or more stakes to wire cages to prevent wind damage when they grow full of vines.

Step 5 - Feed frequently but lightly. Apply a light scattering of a balanced fertilizer or layer of composted manure over the root system every 3 to 4 weeks.

Step 6 - Check frequently for pests.  Handpick caterpillars from plants or control with a natural Bacillus thuringiensis or spinosad containing insecticide. Use a soap spray to control mites.



Tom's Gotta Dos for January

Dealing with Cold Damaged Plants

Tomato Time

Time is growing short for Tomato planting

Amazon or Eucharis Lilies Flowering on Time

A large shrub or tree is a good place for Amazon Lilies

Plants that Don't Mind the Cold

Plants that Don't Mind the Cold

Joani's Corner: Pentunia Time

Petunias are native to South America

 
 

Past Articles

  • Help Your Poinsettia Be a Repeat Performer

  • Winter Weed Problems

 

  • Too Many Acorns This Year?

  • Joani's Corner: Time To Prepare for Cold

 

  • Plants Keep Perfect Time

  • Reliable Cool Season Color

 

  • Easy To Grow Florida Onions

  • Joani's Corner: Butterfly Gardening

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