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 Most gardeners can grow a respectable crop of tomatoes without too much trouble. But why settle for a respectable crop when you can grow a bumper crop of blue-ribbon beauties? Here are 13 tomato success secrets gleaned from four master tomato growers. (Hint: Lots of little things can add up to make a big difference in your level of tomato-growing mastery!)
Keep them close. The usual advice is to set tomato seedlings about 4 inches away from a bank of fluorescent lights. But it’s better to make sure her plants are no more than 2 to 3 inches from their fluorescent lights. My seedlings always grow up stockier and bushier when I remember to keep them close to the lights.
Use maximum medium. A soggy seedling is a sorry seedling. Makes sure that seed-starting medium is exceptionally light and well drained by mixing extra vermiculite into the mixes. Since you will start making mixes almost half vermiculite, you will never have damping-off problems.
Keep them cool. Tomato seeds will germinate most reliably at about 80°F, but tomato seedlings grow best at around 55° to 65°F. At higher temperatures, a tomato plant will grow too quickly and become spindly and weak. When temps are cooler, the plants grow more slowly, become stockier, and seem better prepared for their eventual move into the garden.
Give the roots room. Your tomato seedlings really pick up steam as they grow, developing faster at each successive stage of their growth. The last thing you want to do is stop that marvelous mo-mentum. If you allow a seedling's roots to reach the edge of the container it's growing in, it will immediately slow the pace of its growth. And once that happens, it won't start growing quickly again - even when you transplant it outside. To prevent transplants from becoming root bound - start them a little later than most short-season gardeners.
And if you think a plant is getting too large for its container, move it into a bigger one right away. To keep transplants from becoming pot bound, transplant all of the seedlings at least three times into successively larger containers before you bring them outside and plant them in the garden.
Feed plants first, then the soil.
All of these tomato experts begin feeding their seedlings a dilute liquid fertilizer (like fish emulsion) once a week after the first couple of true leaves appear on the plants. But none feed the plants once they're out in the garden. Layer your beds with lots of kelp meal and compost each fall. Kelp and compost are both full of minerals essential for tomato plants to produce healthy, well-formed fruit. And in this case tomato plants grown in kelp-amended soil seem to have an extra 3° to 4° of frost protection, which can be essential .
Back off if leaves turn brown
Brown leaf tips are a sign that you are overfeeding your tomato plants - a common mistake. But don't despair, just stop feeding, give your plants some extra water (and time), and the leaves should regenerate shortly.
Wait for 50. Wait until nighttime temperatures stay above 50°F to plant your tomatoes outside. Cool nights will slow the growth of your tomato plants too much. No matter what the daytime temperature is, if the nights drop below 50°F, the plants will almost stop growing altogether.
Consider basic black.
Black plastic for growing tomatoes in cool locations warms the soil in the spring, and in the summer it keeps the soil cooler, prevents weeds from coming up, and helps the soil stay moist. Cover beds with it early in the season and place transplants in the ground through slits in the plastic. Get good-sized tomatoes earlier than any of your neighbors!
Add walls for warmth.
Like many tomato growers, put Wallo Water around each of your tomato plants when you set them out in the garden to keep them warm. Then leave the walls in place all season to keep the plants cool when temperatures rise. The water helps moderate both types of temperature extremes.
Bury your treasures.
You can help your young transplants achieve that all-important maximum root growth by covering their stems with soil. Plant transplants as deeply as possible - up to the first set of true leaves. Make sure at least two sets of leaves are above the soil. Press the soil gently and water.
Be a flower picker.
You shouldn't allow your tomato plant to grow anything but roots and leaves early in life. Pull off all the flowers on your plants until they reach at least 1 foot tall. Also pull off all the suckers (those strong shoots at the base of the main stem) that appear before the plant starts to set fruit. Either pinch suckers off right above a leaf or flush against a main stem. Only pinch on dry days to prevent unwanted disease problems.
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It was indeed very helpful and insightful while
being straight forward to the point.