Ply the Spade part 2

     O.K., I think the little plants have been growing and maybe you have been watching for more of the little seeds to pop and adding more little pots to your greenhouse. So here is a few more steps to follow.  (Remember, I am just telling you how we did it in 2008, our bumper crop year for tomatoes, If you find a better way or want to try something different DO IT! Just take pictures of each step and tell me about it. Comments on the blog are nice to get and I am looking forward to hearing about your success.)

     You have been turning over your garden (spreading amendments on top of the garden, taking out one row of soil, putting it on a tarp or into a wheelbarrow, and turning the second row into the first. Then the third into the second row and so on until you can put the first row into the last (theoretically, but if there is not space, just put it all over the top and rake the garden even.)
    one thing I consider important here is that once you have turned over the soil , Don't walk on it.  One way to keep from stepping in the garden and compacting the soil is to lay planks across the garden as walkways. The ones I have been using are 2x12s.  I measured how long I needed them before I bought them and had them cut them at the lumber center. Then I painted them white (red would be nice since I understand Tomatoes respond to that color) I used paving stones placed in the garden to prop up the boards and to give them some stability.  It also seems to give the toads someplace to hide and rest, but cover that window well, we lost two toads last year because they jumped in and it was too deep for them to get out.
Now the next step, when the little plants get a second and third set of leaves make them a little weak fertilizer, half strength maybe, to encourage them.
     Watch them carefully so that they don't dry out or get too much water - they can drown. When the
weather is fine and they have leaves growing nicely begin to harden them off.

    Put them outside in the shade in the warmest part of the afternoon at first for only an hour and watch how well they are doing.  If they get sunburned give them a little chance to recover before starting again.  a sunburned tomato's leaves turns white or have white spots where the sun hit them. They usually recover well from sunburn, they may lose the sunburned leaves but quickly replace them with new leaves.  Gradually increase the amount of time they stay outside and keep them moist, fertilizing once a week.   One thing they can't tolerate is frost. Put them in a warm part of the garden or on the deck just make sure they are in the shade during this hardening off period.
     While you are waiting for them to acclimate, you can be preparing some plastic pop bottles that you will use to make sure they are deeply watered when they are planted.  Tomatoes are susceptible to soil born diseases and if the soil splashes up onto the leaves they may catch one of these soil born diseases. The less overhead watering I do, especially at these early stages, the better it will be for the tomatoes.  So next to/between each plant (one per plant is fine) I plant a wide mouth water bottle or "Gatorade" bottle (bigger is better here) but first I pierce the sides to permit the water to leak out onto the plant roots. (This is a good job for you while you wait for the last frost date that will ensure the little tomatoes you have been nurturing don't get nipped by the frost.) Some people use the wall o' water things to protect their tomatoes but I am trying to use what I have on hand as much as I can.

If you like hard boiled eggs, save the shells and keep them dry, when you plant the tomatoes you will want to plant some of the crushed eggshells in each hole.  The calcium in the eggshells prevents blossom end rot in the tomatoes when they set fruit.  If you don't like eating eggs or forgot to save the shells, just put an extra strength "Tums" in each hole.  It too, is rich in calcium.
   

You may want to transplant The little tomatoes into a larger pot one more time if you haven't gotten past the last frost date for your area. If you use an old greenhouse pot wash the pot out outside and wipe it with bleach on a rag to kill any harmful organisms that have been hiding out there and rinse it out.  Bleach kills plants so, don't get it on your tomatoes, grass, daffodils etc.

Once the last frost date is past and they have hardened off, plant them in the garden with your water jugs between them and a spoonful of egg shell or an extra strength Tums in the bottom of each  tomato's hole.  Push a tomato food stake into the edge of each hole and between the plants in the rows the package says how close to the plant. by the way if some of your pots have two plants in them, don't bother trying to separate them, they will grow nicely together. Plant the tomato cages at the same time as the plants and for extra stability tie the cages together if they touch.

Keep the weeds down hoeing or pulling until the plants can shade them out on their own and clip off the tomato leaves that wither or die or show ANY sign of disease. About a month after you have planted, spray the leaves with a plant food spray like "Miracle Grow" and repeat every 2 weeks.  (I received a sprayer that year for my birthday and it worked great. We had huge bushy plants 4-5 feet tall and huge healthy tomatoes.)  The flowers won't set fruit on the vine when the temperature goes below 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night or above 75 degrees Fahrenheit at night and above 90 degrees during the day. If you are growing an indeterminate variety, keep the tomatoes picked as they ripen to encourage the plant to continue to flower. The determinate ones set all their fruit at once then die. And on that happy note I end my instructions. I'll write more if you have some questions. 

Ply the Spade, Ply the Hoe, Plant the Seed and It Will Grow

Here it is, the plan of action for duplicating the bumper crop of enormous tomatoes that we enjoyed the summer of 2008...  Just like you asked. (I can't duplicate the weather of course)


First, Soak some peat pots in warm water until they won't soak up any more.  Drain away any excess water and poke a sharpened pencil about 1/2 of an inch into the soil then...
Sprout the seeds. Lots of them, more than you think you will need. I start them on a paper towel in an empty cookie container from the bakery with a wet napkin or paper towel. Just set it on top of the refrigerator and check it daily.  As soon as they sprout...

just the right size

Plant them in the peat pots, one or two per pot.  Use a tweezers and be very gentle. you may have to check and plant for a couple of days, you'll want to try to get them in as soon as you see a root. This is a gradual process for so many seeds.  If they grow too much before they are planted, they get really attached to that paper towel and will come to pieces if you try to separate them. I have torn off little pieces of paper towels instead of killing the little plant and planted it right along with them in the past, so I know that works too, but, this is where I tend to lose several of them.

Keep the peat pots covered. Moisture is critical at this point, so keep them moist.  A cover should be over them (usually provided as a mini greenhouse, if you buy Jiffy 7 Peat Pellets.)  As they start to push up out of the soil, put them under a lamp with a grow light or with a warm and a cool fluorescent bulb in it (they need the full spectrum of light.)  Make sure the lamp is just barely over the top of the greenhouse.
When they start to get "leggy", take the cover off of them and transplant them "up to their ears" in soil, they will get a nice strong root system all along that leggy stem, so put them near the bottom of the container you choose, possibly  yogurt cups or frozen juice containers, and fill the soil in around the stem while you gently hold it up by it's sturdy new sets of leaves.  Remember to give them drainage and a tray to sit in.  I peel the little pajamas off the peat pots at this point, they just cause trouble later.  Keep them under the lamps, adjusting the lamps or the pots regularly to keep the light just an inch or so above their leaves as they grow.

While you wait and watch them grow you can begin to prepare your garden and make some things to help your tomatoes.  If possible,
turn over the soil and add amendments, tomatoes like acid soil and we have been fortunate enough to have several Oak trees in our yard.  Since oak leaves make the soil acid, oak leaf compost or oak leaf mold is the perfect soil amendment and makes a dandy mulch later.  Stir some in as you turn over the soil and save some for mulch. if you don't have Oak leaves, peat moss and compost from the garden center work well too.

 Tune in next week for more helpful instructions.