Planting The Tomato Plants

Inspection of Tomato Plants: Inspect all of the transplants before planting them in the garden or containers. Look for insects, wilting or blight. Plant only healthy plants.

Sun Preference: Tomatoes prefer full sun, so choose an area with a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of full sun per day. The more sun, the better.

Crop Rotation: Practice crop rotation in your vegetable gardening by planting tomatoes and other vegetables in a different spot every year. Tomato plants prefer to be planted by chives, parsley, marigolds, nasturtiums, garlic bulbs, and carrots. Avoid planting tomatoes by potatoes or members of the cabbage family.

Space: For your plants to produce large healthy tomatoes, give them plenty of room to grow. Space plants twenty-four inches between rows and leave 24 or more inches between plants. The more you space them, they better they can breath. Good air circulation can help to cut down leaf disease as more sunshine will reach more leaves. Another benefit of spcaing further apart is that you'll be able to more easily pick the tomatoes from all the way around the plant.

Staking: If you will be using a wooden stake, drive an eight foot stake at least 2 or 3 feet in the gorund (the deeper, the better to provide good support). If you will be using a tomato cage, wait until after planting for set up.

Planting Transplants: With your shovel or spade, dig holes in the freshly prepared garden soil. Dig holes slightly larger than the plants root ball. Remove tomato plant from the container it is growing in by tapping gently on the bottom of the individual container, loosening the soil and gently removing from the pot. Backfill around roots making sure top edge of rootball is at or below the level of the garden soil surface.

TIP: If the transplants you are planting are tall and with many branches, you can prune some of the lower branches off and plant more deeply. Roots will grow out from the stem that is under the soil surface. A quicker, deeper root system means stronger healthier plants.

Mulching: Spread a 2" layer of organic compost, or a 4" layer of wheat straw or some other weed-free straw around the base of the plant, creating about a 3' dimater circle around the plant. This is an effective way to prevent weeds, preserve water, keep the soil warm and have a barrier between the lower leaves of the tomato plant and the garden soil. Leaves of tomato plants should never be allowed to touch the ground as soil-born diseases can be spread.

Pruning Tomato Plants:

Yes, that's right...your tomato plants can benefit tremendously from a little pruning here and there. But it's a little easier said than done so we created a page just for instructions:

Insect Control:

Companion Planting
One of the best things you can do to grow the most flavorful tomatoes involves companion planting. This means planting plants side by side that get along or benefit each other in one way or another. There are several plants that are good companions for tomatoes but one actually improves the flavor. That plant is Basil. Not sure how it does this, but it does. It probably has something to do with keeping the tomato plant healthy. The aroma of basil deters many tomato pests so that the plant can concentrate on flowering and fruit production. So, plant a basil beside each tomato plant or between two tomato plants!

There are many chemical products available on the market for controlling insects in the vegetable garden. However, there's a very simple recipe you can make from safer products that can always be found in your kitchen. Here's the recipe:

In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at 10-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests. See, that's easy, less expensive, and safe!

TIP: Tomatoes are susceptible to cutworms, but placing a 3-4 inch nail next to each stem before planting or wrapping strips of newspaper around the bottom of the stems will help prevent these pests. A paper cup surrounding the stem also works well.

You can always remove bugs by picking them off. What you do with them after that is up to you. If you have a garden pond, your fish will appreciate the Japanese beetles!