A master gardner I am not! Though this summer, I did attempt to garden a couple tomato plants in pots with some fair results. My question is do I throw them away when the winter hits and they dont look so good, can I keep them until next spring/summer? I live in Seattle, so not alot of sun and alot of rain. Thanks in advance!
2007-09-22 20:35:29 · 16 answers · asked by Loosid 6 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
I would recommend that you pull those plants as soon as possible. There occurs in the soil the depletion of those elements in order for the tomato plant to grow. There also is a possibility of certain fungal and microbial parasitic invasion that may linger in the yard and contaminate other future tomato plants.
For this reason it is conceivable to reduce the risk of these problems by throwing the plant away. Restart new one's in the spring.
If you think that you are capable of having a tomato plant in your yard all year in the state of Washington, then you probably are in Sunset Zone 5. I highly recommend the Sunset Western Garden Book. It will answer many of your questions concerning your zone as far as; what is hardy there in your area, and will even show you where you live. For any home, I would recommend this plant encyclopedia, especially if you are living in the Western United States.
I happen to be a California Certified Nurseryman. I am in Southern California, so my experience has been mainly in Sunset Zones 24, 23, 19, 18, and 22. I love Zone 5 though, having been to northern coastal Oregon and falling in love with the place.
2007-09-23 05:30:53 · answer #1 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can pull them up and toss them.
In January you can plant new ones. If this particular tomato plant was successful in your environment, you may use the seeds from one of its tomatoes to start new plants. If not, you may want to try another variety this year, or better yet 2 or 3 varieties.
Start them indoors in pots on top of your fridge.
When they have their first 2 seed leaves, move the pots to a sunny south window or move them from an east (morning) window to a west (afternoon) window.
If you wish, you can take them outdoors for a few hours on days when the temperature is above 55.
After all chance of frost is over, transplant them deep in the soil, so that only 5 or 7 leaves are above the soil. Your plants can now live outdoors night and day. The stem beneath the soil will grow roots along it, the better to feed this thirsty plant.
Enjoys the fruits of your care
2007-09-23 02:48:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trash them. don't compost as tomatoes can carry fungal infections that will taint your compost...spread to other plants via soil contamiination.
They are annuals. Save seeds and start new indoors next spring.
"Master Gardener" is not a guarantee of ability. Four week courses are available (in SC for $150.00) big whoop. Then you can say you are an MG! Wow, how impressive is that? I'm not certified, but you should see my "jungle". Only rare and exotics need apply.
Dirt is Beautiful!
2007-09-23 03:05:10 · answer #3 · answered by reynwater 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have them in pots then I'm guessing they are on a deck or porch outside, so you probably don't have a place to compost them, right? If you have any kind of yard or grassy area, you can just throw them there and like anything, they turn to dirt eventually. But don't bother keeping them because they are a mess to keep in the pots and you are better off starting again next spring.
2007-09-23 01:53:06 · answer #4 · answered by Mikey 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless you have a glass house throw them away, as it is very easy to grow them from seed. my garden has lots that self seed every year. I'm in Western Australia which has the same climate as California,& it's very easy to grow tomatoes here. I'm sure that you will soon become a "master Gardner"in Seattle ! Good luck!.
2007-09-22 20:48:34 · answer #5 · answered by maharg 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always throw my tomato plants away or wait until you can get seeds from them. If you leave them in gardens long enough before pulling them out they will drop their seeds. That way you won't need to buy the plants again next year. We've ended up with way too many plants because we left them in the garden after they finished.
2007-09-22 20:45:09 · answer #6 · answered by waughfan2003 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Compost them.
Starting new plants in the Spring is best.
If you have a greenhouse of cold frame you could probably keep them going a long time. But tomatoes are really annual plants.
2007-09-22 20:47:01 · answer #7 · answered by bahbdorje 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Tomatoes will grow year round if the weather is right. If you had planted them into the ground, when they got tall and bent over to the ground roots would form anywhere the stem touched the ground (self rooting). It is a perennial plant or perennial (Latin per, "through", annum, "year") that lives for more than two years.
2007-09-22 21:04:00 · answer #8 · answered by nannetteburton 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's up to you. You can continue to just leave them there and make seed if there is any fruit on the vines. Otherwise they're not doing much good. I'm not a master gardener either.
2007-09-22 20:42:22 · answer #9 · answered by Parercut Faint 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a silly question, everyone has to learn.
Tomato plants do not keep more than one season, you will need to grow new plants next year.
Use them to start a compost heap. Compost is the life blood of a garden.
Here is a link to a basic composting guide.
http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/composting/index.html
2007-09-22 20:47:21 · answer #10 · answered by Gardengirl 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋