Help with a garden please?

Question

I would like to plant a tomatoe garden this summer and I wanted to do actual plants not seeds of the tomatoes. So please could you give me some advice for taking care of them and buying them and what kinds and all that. Thanks!

Answer 1

You can buy tomato transplants at your local nursery (Earl May, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Wal-Mart any place with a garden center usually).

Some good kinds are Brandywine, Beefsteak, or various cherry. Anything you could get at the nursery should be acceptable. More important is whether you want determinate or indeterminate plants. Determinate grow a set number of tomatoes and then stop. Indeterminate continue producing tomatoes until the plant dies. If planting determinate they can be closer together (one to two feet) if Indeterminate make sure they are at least two feet apart. Also it helps to cage them so they don't sprawl all over your garden.

When you choose your plants at the nursery, it's actually best to choose plants that don't have any fruit on them yet-so pick the leafy ones. The ones that have already fruited will struggle a little more once you transplant them.

To transplant (you will want to transplant after ALL danger of frost is past): If they have been stored inside the store you will need to "harden them off" or get them used to outdoor conditions. Put them outside for one to two hours everyday for a week or two. Then go ahead and transplant them into your garden. If they are in peat pots, you will not need to remove the pot, if not, you will want to handle the plant carefully by the root ball when transplanting.

As for care, make sure they are in a spot where they will get sun ALL day (8-10 hours) and make sure they get at least an inch of water a week. Don't over-water or let them dry out. Also don't fluctuate a lot in the amount of water they get (a lot of water and then a drought)-this can cause blossom end rot.
Otherwise they are very easy to grow!

Good luck!

Answer 2

Here's all I know about tomatoes:
1) buy plants that have not gotten overly leggy.(long unsupported stems.
2) plant when the ground, not the air, is warm. Tomatoes HATE cold ground.
3) When you plant them, dig a short trench, not a deep hole. Gently bend the bottom of the plant to lay in the trench. This keeps the roots close to the surface where the warmer soil is. Stake the plant to keep it upright.
4) Put a cage around the plant while it is still young. Plants that lay on the ground get wet and muddy when it rains. The plant does not do as well and the fruit tends to rot and get more buggy.
5) don't over water tomatoes. They get a condition called blossom end rot if you do.
6) keep the plants spaced out so that air and sun can get to them. I would leave a minimum of three feet between plants. More, if you want to have an easier time harvesting them.
7) if you must plant early, or if you have a short growing season: bend the roots as explained above and cover ground with black plastic to increase the warmth from the sun.
8) if a late frost is predicted after you have already planted your tomatoes: cover with old sheets, etc.
9) if you get caught by frost and have not covered the tomatoes: BEFORE the frost melts, spray the plants down with the garden hose. The real damage from frost occurs as the frost melts back to water. You will still have "burned" plants but they will probably survive.

Answer 3

i like to grow tomatos. some seasons are better than ever.
i grow them ever year. here are some ways i have learn to plant tomatoes. first prepare the soil. turn it over and add manure.
1. purchase plants from store. growing from seed takes to long.
2. get a good plant. trim all the leaves from stem, from bottom to the last three leaves on top. the stem will grow roots. plant into soil , only the last three leaves showing.
3. another way is to plant the tomatoe plant on its side with the top of the plant showing. more sun to the roots.
4. dig a hole to fit the plant, and bury. but remember in all case's don't hurt the roots. treat them gently.

Answer 4

Go to Lowe's or any other home center and you can buy the plants at the correct time to plant them in the Spring. also you can buy wire baskets for the plants to grow into and keep the vines up above the ground, there are also large Patio pots designed for growing vegetables on a Patio or Balcony just the way you would do Flowers. You can find everything at your local home and garden center. They will even have people on duty to give you advice on how to do it.

Answer 5

There is so many tomato plants out there make sure you plant them a shoe lenght away from eachother and weed them often and make sure you get cages for them so they don't droop and bust the stems or the tomatoes off.Water them after the sun goes down .Good Luck

Answer 6

Use a good enriched bagged soil to mix with your regular soil also work in some of those white pearls you can buy in garden centers in bag - they retain moisture - be sure you pinch off all blossoms growing out of the joint where the leaves join the body of the plant (they are called suckers - they will not mature and they will sap the plant of energy).

Answer 7

Getting the land surveyed could be a thank you to be sure. yet he feels like a whackjob. the subsequent question is - do you fairly need to amplify the area for a measley 3 inches of land? Is that land relatively what's substantial to you? Or are you in basic terms attempting to truly make him flow ballistic? i might do my ultimate to forget approximately approximately him, and not ramp up the area into an all out conflict. If he's loopy sufficient to tell you which you won't be able to "touch the wall", and he's wiping chook droppings off with a tissue...in case you tension him to eliminate the fence, he sound like the type might might placed out poisoned seed for the birds just to spite you, or pour gas on your well known plant life at night.

Answer 8

i love tomatos. i am a tomatoe farmer. you should grow cherry tomatoes because they are very easy to maintain (they need about 60% sunlight and need to be watered ever 36 hours, to keep the bugs off just isolate them in a mini greenhouse type of thing so they still get sunlight)have fun!!

Answer 9

Go to your local nursery or greenhouse and ask them the same thing. They'll be able to answer all your questions.
I would choose a variety that does not require staking for your first grow.