How To Plant And Care For Tomatoes

Knock aphids off of tomato plants with a shot of water from a hose. Reapply each night as long as hornworms are present. After transplanting young seedlings, applyper plant. To prevent blight, select a blight-resistant variety and practice crop rotation...

I tend to procrastinate and then regret it when I'm wrestling a cage onto a plant half my height. The mulch should form a fat "doughnut," with a ring of clear dirt around the stem of the plant.

Sometimes a grassroots movement is all it takes to create a lasting legacy. They began a small seed bank called(Pass along Southern Seed), to ensure that the seeds being exchanged would never be lost.

Blossom-end rot is a brown or black spot that develops on the bottom of the fruit and spreads, eventually causing the entire fruit to decay. Signs of over watering may mimic disease or other environmental problems, but if several symptoms are present,...

Prune the plants so that they will have from three to five stems. They are easier to grow and control and their tomatoes ripen earlier. To give yourself enough room to harvest tomatoes, space vigorous indeterminate cultivars 4 feet apart and space rows...

But I have since learned that part of what makes ketchupketchup is that it be pureed. I only wish I had made more!! I'm sure you can add more or less or tweak it as you see fit. I had seen fellow gardeners go into a deep funk upon learning that they had...

Scratch it into the soil and water well. Epsom salt, while a plant less than 12 inches high will do with 1 tbsp. Sulfur is naturally delivered to plants through rain, but often they need a little boost.Yellowing leaves starting at the bottom and progressing...

Tomatoes need 1 inch of water or more per week in dry weather. Apply the same amount of fertilizer when you pick the first fruits.Most tomato varieties can grow as short, bushy plants with the right pruning and support.

The main issues concerning heirlooms were as follows.* They do not ship well. The reaction to the extraordinary taste usually sends customers home with a lot of new varieties to try.One of my favorite things about growing heirlooms is exploring the history...

Apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost, grass clippings or straw around the base of the plants to minimize weed growth and conserve moisture.Monitor tomato plants for disease and pest problems.

Signs of excessive water include wilting leaves, which novice gardeners often misinterpret as an indication that the plants require more water rather than less. Use either leaf mold, newspaper or straw for the best results.

Rings appear inside the spot, making it resemble a bull's eye. Leaves yellow and drop off. A handful of tomato fertilizer and a handful of lime added to the hole when planting is all they need for the season.

It is also ideal to set the plants 18 to 24 inches apart so they have adequate room for healthy and deep root growth. Tomatoes with deep root growth are more likely to also have an increase in fruit production over shallow-rooted plants.Roots that grow...

If a rat does trigger the trap, wear protective gloves and dispose of the body in a trash bag. Check the traps daily. Moth balls are a natural rat repellent, but they dissolve in the rain so you will have to replace the balls after each rainfall.

Herbicidal leaf curl can result in a harder-than-normal or misshapen tomato fruit, but unless the exposure to the herbicide is prolonged and severe, most plants will recover, especially if you provide them with frequent watering.Sucking insects like the...

While cucumber mosaic virus does affect both tomatoes and cucumbers, the disease is not limited to these two crops -- it affects more than 40 families of plants. However, cucumbers and tomatoes grow quite well together.You can even harvest your crops...

Doug Oster also kindly supplied the photo of Fred Limbaugh with his beloved tomato seedlings.Thanks are also due to the DG sleuths who helped me find the identity and history of my favorite tomato!Doug has asked that anybody with extra seeds to share...

Last year I bought a pressure canner, in part soup jars of Roasted Tomato Sauce. Pressure canning can seem intimidating if you've never done it, but if you follow the directions that come with your canner then it will be simple and easy to do.Whether...

Thoroughly water to settle the soil and eliminate any air pockets.Rake 3 to 4 inches of mulch under and around the shrub. Apply 1 tablespoon of fertilizer for every foot of the shrub's height, carefully scratching the granules 2 to 3 inches into the soil.

Use your fingers or a trowel.Irrigate your tomato plant to dissolve the crystals, releasing the nutrients into the soil. A 6-inch-tall tomato plant, for example, takes ½ tbsp. For every foot of plant.

If you've noticed strange-looking tomatoes--those with different colors and shapes--then you've seen an heirloom. Partisans of heirlooms view themselves as champions of world food diversity.There is no clear-cut winner here; however, everyone agrees that...

Water – along with sunshine and nutrient-rich soil – is needed at every stage of the growing process. If splitting or cracking has occurred, remove the bad tomatoes and apply a calcium chloride spray to the new growth.A strong, heavy rain can help...

Also consider notifying the grocery store that they have mealy tomatoes on the shelf.If you frequently experience problems with mealy homegrown tomatoes, don't immediately assume that you cannot grow tomatoes in your climate.

Work a 2- to 3-inch-thick layer of pine bark humus into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil if it is sandy or clay-based. Spacing varies by species and is determined by their mature spread.

This drink made it from something only the holy and powerful could drink to something every child looks for once the cold winds blow. Today in the gardens and on our tables are a wealth of foods - all native to these lands in their roots.

Treat the plants with a solution of 1/2 to 2 ounces of liquid copper and 1 gallon of water, or according to label instructions. A vegetable garden isn't complete without a tomato plant (Lycopersicon esculentum) or two, if only for the pleasure of fresh...

Protect the plants by bringing them indoors at night in September and October if you live in the northern part of the state. Gardeners in Northern Georgia, however, should typically plant after mid-April.Some residents in the southern part of the state...