How To Properly Plant A Tomato

The life of the tomato plant often depends on the proper planting in the start. If you do everything right, you can count on it to provide you with rich harvest. Tomatoes are very easy to grow, they love heat but hate frost – so keep this in mind when you plant it.

1. Buy a tomato plant

If you are an experienced gardener you can start from seed, but if you are not – be on the safe side and buy one. If you decide to start from seed, do it in a greenhouse or by a sunny window, in up to a gallon container, about a month or so before you transfer it in your garden.

2. Find the right spot

Tomato plants have to be exposed to sun at least 7 hours a day, so you should find the sunniest spot in your garden. The more sun they get, the tastier they will be.

To get the maximum amount of fruit you should place them 3 ft apart. The plant needs to be completely into soil, in a hole around 2 ft deep.

3. Add in the soil…

Believe it or not, you should add fish heads. If you don’t want to do this, you can add around 2 handfuls of fish meal in the soil.

Next, add a few aspirin tablets and 3-4 crushed egg shells in the hole. Aspirin will help in boosting the plant’s immune system and the egg shells will provide calcium which will help with preventing blossom end rot (brown patch on the bottom of tomatoes.

Now you should add a handful of bone meal in the hole. This is an organic phosphorus source, which is essential for blossom production.  More blossoms, more fruit.  Bone meal also increases calcium availability for the tomato.

Put in two handfuls of Gardner & Bloome’s Tomato, Vegetable and Herb Fertilizer. It’s an all-purpose  organic fertilizer that contains the essential macronutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

You can also add  a handful of pure worm castings in the bottom of the hole (optional).

4. Time to transfer the plant

Once the hole is ready, you can put the plant in it, but first trim the lower leaves and leave only the top leaves.

See also: Sprinkle A Circle Of Baking Soda Around The Tomatoes

First, make sure to cover the thing you’ve already added with 1-2 inches of soil. Then, gently remove the plant from the pot and put it in the hole. Once the tomato is in the hole, double check the depth by judging how far out of the ground the plant will be sticking. If it’s going to be too far down, remove the plant and add some more soil.

Give the plant a gentle touch, however be careful not to stomp on the soil and press it too hard because the roots need oxygen too. Make a temporary well around the plant base to catch the first watering.

The first watering is the most critical.  Do it multiple times.  Water it in once, twice, three times at least.  Wait a few minutes to allow the water to drain through.

Source: www.growbetterveggies.com