I planted out my tomatoes last Friday and didn't have time to blog about it since I was taking off for a few days of R&R. This bed is destined to be filled with solanums. So far, half of it is home to tomato plants, the potatoes are still plugging along way back there on the left, I'll have to dig them soon, ready or not. There's a couple of kohlrabi that I'm hoping will size up soon. Actually, I dug up one other kohlrabi plant and transplanted it to the brassica bed and so far it is doing ok so I will probably transplant the other two plants sometime this week. The Golden Chard is producing like crazy and showing no signs of bolting in spite of overwintering in that spot. I don't think that they will transplant well so I've started some new plants to put into another bed. The scallions that you can see in the foreground will be big enough to harvest soon. As I clear out the older veggies in this bed I will be planting out some of the many pepper plants that are still residing in the mini-greenhouse.
This bed got my usual amendments of crab meal, sulfate of potash, humic acid, and a slow release turkey poop based 4-6-4 fertilizer. For a 50 square foot bed (the area of the tomato planting) I use about 5 pounds of crab meal, 1/2 pound of potash, and 1 pound of humic acid. I'm less precise about the turkey poop fertilizer, I just scattered some over the surface of the bed, probably about 1 1/2 pounds. I also added about a pound of ground eggshells. I generally don't dig compost into the soil but I like to spread a generous amount as mulch. The old mulch of compost will get turned into the soil eventually. I don't add any amendments to the planting hole for tomatoes, the amendments are dug into the entire bed. Putting amendments into the planting hole doesn't make sense to me. The plants will quickly spread their roots well beyond the planting hole where they won't be able to access the nutrients, the nutrients need to be everywhere that the roots are.
I'm experimenting with covering the tomato cages with plastic sheeting to create greenhouse conditions for a while. The nighttime temperatures dip down into the low 40's and high 30's still, so I'm hoping that the plastic will provide a bit of protection from the cold. I'm also hoping since our nighttime temperatures don't stay above 50F until well into June that the plastic will keep the plants warm enough at night to get some fruits to set earlier and I might get to harvest some tomatoes in August rather than having to wait until September. We'll see . . .
So, if you happen to be wondering what could pull me away from my garden for a few days here's a hint:
If you would like to see more of that check out my other post today.
What a tidy job on the tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteWow...tons a good fertilizer !
Love the R+R...can't get enough/
When I dig my tomato holes I make them pretty wide and do amend it down there. I think it encourages deeper roots, but I've never tested it out. Maybe someday I should do one bed with holes and one with just amending the soil on top.
ReplyDeleteI haven't even started my seeds yet. I have to do that today. I need to get them started soon.
Hi Patsi,
ReplyDeleteIt is a bunch of fertilizer, but it's all slow release and will last the entire season, I don't need to add any fertilizer until I prepare the bed for planting again. The R+R was great, we don't get enough of it either.
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Daphne, I plant my tomatoes deep also, but I've found that they do seem to do best when I dig the amendments into the entire bed about 12 to 18 inches deep. The tomato bed is the only one that I really dig the amendments into, they are such heavy feeders. Good luck with tomato sowing.
Wow your tomatoes are so far ahead, mine are only just getting the first proper leaves. I've found that chard transplants ok with a good lump of soil around the roots, but you need a deep hole.
ReplyDeleteI amend the entire bed with rock minerals and compost - then use an all purpose fertilizer, finely ground egg shells, some epsom salts, and a few regular aspirins in the planting hole for each tomato. We have such mild wet conditions in our area that I keep the tomatoes covered by plastic for quite a few weeks so that they stay warm enough to set fruit on a reasonable timetable. If I did not do that, we would never get any ripe tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteYour tomato planting looks great!
Good idea about wrapping the tomato cages with plastic. My tomatoes hardly ripened last year, so were most of the tomato growers I spoke to in town, our night temps were too low.
ReplyDeleteI transplanted my tomatoes and eggplants as well. I'm experimenting with different amendments in the planting holes in addition to the amended soil. I'm most interested to see what aspirin would do to the plants if any.
Jan, thanks for the info about the chard, I think I'll try moving it.
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kitsapFG, what do the epsom salts do? It's great to hear that the plastic cover works for you, I'm getting hopeful about earlier tomatoes this year. :)
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Mac, have you tried the plastic covers before? My only fear about using them is that they could make a nice cozy place for bad bugs to breed. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the plants and uncover them if it gets too buggy. I tried aspirin in the planting hole a couple of years ago and didn't notice a benefit, but that was a really bad year for my tomatoes so perhaps it isn't fair to judge based on that one experience.
I also think that chard will transplant easily. I transplanted mine few weeks ago. It is still cold during nights, so its not producing that well, but it survived transplanting. And I just noticed that few of my greenhouse chards have started to bolt.
ReplyDeleteGood idea about covering tomatoes, I hope it will work. I agree with you about adding amendments to the whole area, not just to a planting hole.
I need to get a hold of some crab meal myself. Before you know it, we'll be setting ours out as well! I'm so excited. It's been years since I've tasted a ripe homegrown tomato.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder your great job yields you well! Thanks to you and other inspiring blogging friends that I finally dared to grow tomatoes and other veggies! One of the bush tomato has even put out many tiny fruits!
ReplyDeleteI see you had a great vacation. Breathtaking shots of the waterfall. I'm sure you needed that vacation - sometime away from your garden.
I thought about covering the tomatoes, but hesitate to do it because of the winds, we get gusty wind in the afternoon almost everyday in spring, the plastic cover would be ripped apart and shred to pieces in no time.
ReplyDeleteDo you wrap plastic around the tomato cage or you cover the cage from top to bottom?
Thanks for posting the soil amendment stuff. :-)
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