Adopted from the "Daily Dirt" Emails on
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TOMATOES
When to Plant:
- When the calendar says OK
Check our local region map for reccommended planting dates. Tomatoes do best when planted 10-14 days after the last frost date, ensuring that a late freeze won't kill your seedlings. They are a warm weather, warm soil plant.
- When the thermometer says OK
Be sure that our weather has been consistently warm both day and night. Cold shocks can set seedling development back by almost three weeks.
Check our local two-week forecast before planting. Postpone if there is any blocks of cold & rain, your seedlings will be more succeptible to disease. Your perfect planting day will be a warm but cloudy/overcast day. If you must plant in the sun, avoid planting in the mid-day light to ensure that the seedlings won't be stressed by the strong light.
The Perfect Tomato Soil:
- Tomatoes thrive in rich soil
Plant your seedlings in soil rich in organic matter. If needed, ammend the top 8-10" with a mixture of compost, peat moss, humus, or other organic matter. Cultivating the soil is an especially important step no matter what soil type your yard has, keep reading to find out why.
- Tomatoes thrive in well-drained soil
If your soil is too compacted, water will gather around the plants roots and suffocate them. If your soil is too sandy, the plants will not absorb enough water. Ammend with peat moss, humus, and compost. If your soil is too compacted, ammend with a small amount of sand, peat moss, and organic matter.
- Tomatoes thrive in slightly acidic soil
Tomatoes grow best in a slightly acidic soil, with a pH level between 6.0 to 7.0. Test your soil, If the pH is above 7.0, ammend with sulphur. If the pH is lower than 6.0, ammend with lime. The optimum time for ammending soils is in the late fall or early spring.
- Tomatoes thrive in warm soil
Tomatoes love heat. Prevent seedling shock by covering your tomato area with sheets of black landscape fabric, which will absorb the heat from the sun and accelerate the warming process.
