Those of us who grow a garden, I would venture to say, grow tomatoes! Nothing beats the flavor of a home grown tomato! Last season my little two year old and I would walk outside and have our fill of cherry tomatoes for lunch almost everyday! In the picture above I am showing my all time most favorite tomatoes, Purple Cherokee and Sun Sugar! My mouth waters just thinking about them! Today's post is all about growing successful tomatoes in your backyard! There are a few simple tricks to get the most out of your plants!
Here are this years tomato plants already in the ground! They are tucked away inside a nice warm mini green house called a wall o' water. They allow you to put your tomatoes outside 4-6 weeks earlier, extending the growing season! By the time July 4th rolls around you will already be eating juicy tomatoes! Walls o' water can be found at any garden store from Wal-mart to your local nursery, ranging in price from about $9 to $12 for 3.
Before planting the tomatoes inside the walls o' water you will need to warm up your prepared soil first. For more info on preparing a healthy soil see my post on Getting Ready to Plant the Garden You will then need to warm up your soil. The best way to do that is to fill up the the walls with water and set them into place. Allow the sun to warm things up through the mini green house for 5-7 days before planting.
From there carefully plant your tomatoes inside and be sure to label them. The walls will keep them safe from any danger of frosts
and help them to grow! If you were to stick your hand inside you would feel a significant difference in temperature, even with the top open. They are a wonderful invention!
Once the danger of frost has past, usually around Mother's Day (check the weather!), gently and carefully lift the walls up and away from the tomato plant. Drain the walls and allow to dry out in the air before putting away in storage. Place a sturdy cage over the tomato plant for support.
Tips for Feeding and Growing Your Tomatoes
- Tomatoes need phosphorus to grow fruit! They should not be fertilized with heavy amounts of Nitrogen because the N will encourage leafy green growth. We want the energy of the plant to go into fruit production! I fertilize everything with fish emulsion. It's a low number fertilizer, so it won't burn the plants!
- Studies show that magnesium and sulfur, two major components of Epsom salt, may help plants grow greener with higher yields and more blooms. Blossoms are what we want for fruit production! Use one tablespoon per foot of plant height per plant; apply every two weeks to keep the leaves from yellowing.
- Plant basil next to tomatoes to enhance flavor!
- Plant tomatoes of all kinds. Most heirloom tomatoes are late producers. Be sure to have a good variety of early and late fruiting plants and you will have tomatoes until it freezes!
- For a great diagnostic website for problems with tomatoes, visit the UofM extension here
My Favorite Varieties... just to name a few!
Early Girl
Sun Sugar
Purple Cherokee
Sudduth's Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine
Pineapple
Jaune' Flamme
Abraham Lincoln
Big Raspberry
Green Zebra
If I haven't started any tomato seeds yet, is it too late? Should I just buy starts and put them in the wall o waters?
ReplyDeleteYou can still start your tomatoes and put them out without the walls o water when the low temps stay above freezing. If you want to start them earlier in walls then you may want to check your local nursery to see what they have available. They really need 6 weeks under lights before going outside if you are starting your own.
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