How We Plant a Tomato

It's been a tradition for us to repost these instructions each year at this time.  Happy tomato growing!

How do we at Love Apple Farms plant a tomato, you might ask?  With a ridiculous amount of stuff in the hole, is the answer.  When someone ropes me into telling them and I start the long answer, I eventually see their eyes glaze over.  That's the point where I say, "Then you throw in the kitchen sink and cover it all up."  To date, no one has laughed at that joke. I think they're just either too overwhelmed by the real stuff I put in there, or they actually believe I'm throwing in a sink.  This is how I plant a tomato.  First off, let's take a look at our sexy specimen here on the left.

This strapping beauty is the size of seedling I like to plant.  It's about 12 to 16 inches tall, and was potted up into a gallon container about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  It will go into one of our freshly prepared beds, shown to the right.  We amend our beds by digging into them with a spade fork two bags of Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme and two bags of their Farmyard Blend.  It has lots of organic goodies in there like composted chicken manure, bat guano, kelp meal, Humic Acid and mycorrhizal fungi. We also add four quarts of G&B All-Purpose Fertilizer, the 4-6-4 formulation. We turn the soil over, thoroughly blending these über ingredients in with the native soil.  Get as deep as you can into the soil with the spade fork, making it nice and light and fluffy.

The tomatoes are placed three feet apart. I've learned over the years that spacing them closer than that means less fruit.  We dig a nice deep hole to accommodate all the additions - the exact depth is dependent upon how tall the seedling is.  I want the plant to be almost completely submerged into the soil, and the fish head and amendments put into the hole need to be covered with a bit of soil, so I plan accordingly for the depth.  This particular hole ends up being almost two feet deep, and is ready for our first goody, these impressive fish heads.

We get them from the restaurant we grow for, Manresa.  You might be able to get them free from a good butcher or fishmonger.  I even know of someone who called a few restaurants in their area and was quickly rewarded with a nice bounty of juicy fish heads.  Fish tails, spines, guts, as well as shrimp shells are all good as well.  Some of you may worry about critters digging these up later.  I've never had a problem with animals digging up my tomatoes, and I've got three dogs, five cats, and what seem like an endless supply of raccoons, bobcats and coyotes living on the property.  I stress the point that this is the first thing that goes into my very deep planting hole.  That may help keep it from getting dug up.  You can see the six inch long fish head staring up at us from the bottom of the hole here:

If you can't find fish heads, Fish Bone Meal is a good substitute.  Gardner & Bloome makes a nice one.  You can find G&B products at good nurseries in the Western state. Chuck a handful of it into the bottom of the hole.  Fish Bone Meal may be the way to go if you're growing in a pot or can't dig a hole two feet deep.  Fish emulsion is not a good substitute, as it will quickly dissipate and not feed the tomato over a long time period.

The next thing that goes into the hole are a couple of aspirin tablets and some crushed chicken egg shells. The aspirin is to help jump start the plant's immune system.   I'll put three or four crushed egg shells into the hole as well. You can see our three colors of eggs from our fancy chickens - yes, those are green eggs in there. The eggs supply a nice calcium boost, which will help prevent blossom end rot, that nasty brown patch on the bottom of tomatoes that lack calcium (the fish head bones and bone meal also help with that).

Bone Meal is the next to go into the hole, particularly if I've put a fish head in and not Fish Bone Meal.  I put in a heaping handful of Bone Meal.  This is a nice organic phosphorus source, which is essential for blossom production.  More blossoms, more fruit.  Bone meal also increases calcium availability for the tomato.

I then put in two handfuls of Gardner & Bloome Tomato, Vegetable and Herb organic fertilizer.    You can use any type of dry organic, all-purpose fertilizer.  The key is that it's got all three macro-nutrients (something close to 4-6-3 designation). It's not difficult for us in the Western states to find Gardner & Bloome products at your good local nursery. If you need help, here is a store locator for you.

I also recommend putting at least a large tablespoon of pure worm castings in the bottom of the hole.  We amend our beds with worm castings and also spray a worm casting tea on the plants while they grow.  Really great stuff.  If you need to purchase some, be sure they are 100% pure.  There are lots of cheap compost with small quantities of worm castings thrown in.  Check the bag for the ingredients to ensure you're getting high quality.  If you'd like to buy some of our 100% pure organic worm castings, click here.

The hole is complete (sans kitchen sink) and I'm now ready to pop in the tomato plant.  I trim off the lower leaves, be there one,two, three or more, leaving only the top-most leaves.

I put an inch or two of soil on top of the amendments in the hole.  The plant is eased out of the pot, and before it's placed in the hole, I sprinkle the rootball with a product called RootZone, which is a mycorrhizal fungi that attaches to the roots, growing as the root ball grows.  It helps protect the plant from some diseases, such as verticillium and fusarium wilts.  The product is sold under other names, such as Power Organics Mycorrhizal Root Booster. 

Once the tomato is in the hole, I double check the depth by judging how far out of the ground the plant will be sticking.

If it's going to be too far down, I'll add some more soil.  If it looks like it'll be up above the soil more than I want, that's too bad because I ain't gonna be fishing them fish parts and all that other stuff up out of that hole and digging it deeper.  No siree.  So I try my  best to gauge the depth of the hole according to the height of the plant I'm putting in.

We then back fill GENTLY - only one quasi-firm push settles the soil around the plant.

Please do not man handle the soil around the plant by stomping on it or pressing too hard.  That's not necessary and it expels all the air out of the soil.  Believe it or not, the roots need oxygen down there just as much as they need nutrients and water. 

A temporary well is then made around the plant base to catch the first watering. 

The first watering is the most critical.  I do it multiple times.  Water it in once, twice, three times at least.  Wait a few minutes to allow the water to drain through.  If you have a deep hole, likely way more than 12 inches deep, you will be amazed at how much water it will take to wet the root ball a foot or more under the ground.  So don't be stingy with the water the first day. Thereafter, you can back off the watering, and we'll talk more about the watering needs of tomatoes in a later post.  Here's our finished bed.  You can see the tomatoes are spaced pretty far apart:

Drip irrigation will be repositioned on the bed, and staking and mulching has yet to be done.  You can learn about how to install a simple drip irrigation system in one of our classes on the farm.  For staking, mulching and pruning info, consider taking our Tomato Masters class, found here.

In the meantime, please feel free to email me or leave a comment below with any questions you may have.  Good luck, folks!

A note on our use of Gardner & Bloome products:  There are other great, organic soil amendments and fertilizers on the market, and we know that G&B may not be available everywhere.  You can substitute other good, organic composts and amendments, but try to use a local company (for us, G&B is local) to reduce your carbon footprint, and be sure that it's organic and fully composted.  Sometimes the use of bagged chicken and steer manures are problematic because they are still "hot" or not quite composted enough to suit the plants.  If you're unsure, use half the recommended bags of manure or use a compost to amend your bed in addition to a good, all-purpose, organic dry fertilizer.  "All-purpose" means that it has all three macro-nutrients represented in somewhat equal order on the label.  So 4-6-4 fits that bill.  Also 3-3-3 or even something as subtle as 1.2-2.4-1.0. 

It's important to amend with SOMETHING good for your soil and for the plants!

Comments

[Love Apple Farms]

Hi Lori. I don't know about red ants, but I do know that the local beekeepers around here sprinkle cinnamon around the hives as an organic control of ants that want to come steal some honey. Give it a try. You can buy cinnamon in bulk on line.

[Lori Alter]

Garden is my passion and I am always looking for new ideas. We live in Texas where red ants make their home anywhere and everywhere. Do you have an organic treatment to rid my garden of these pests? Thank you so much!

[susan kennedy]

I live in florida-my plants flower-then the flowers fall off. I keep looking but can't seem to find a cause listed for this. The other problem is leaf miners-is there a natural solution ? Thanks for any help.
i am trying an Australian method this year-into my nice organic bed, I inserted a large round pipe down into the soil. Into the top half, I place my compost-egg shells, banana peels, etc. The worms should be going in and out of the bottom of the pipe, decomposing and leaving their castings all around my tomato plants roots. Have you heard of, tried or have any info about the success of this method? Thanks!

[Carolyn]

Wow that was enlightening!! Thank you for sharing your expertise.

[Jacqueline]

Wow - I am going to have to try this for my tomatoes this year. I am definitely pinning this!

[BV]

IN A WORD: BLIGHT. Will this cure it? I know it's in the soil+ we have quite clay soil. We get fruit in abundance and get to enjoy quite a bit, but probably lose half of it to blight...irritating!

[daisy]

Cynthia -

My plants are going (mostly) great, thanks to your advice and the decomposing fish heads. I planted in the ground on May 7, and my varying plants are 4-5 feet tall already. I have a few questions:

1. My plants have great foliage and are growing upwards like gangbusters, but there's not an overwhelming number of blooms. Should I fertilize with a phosphorus dense fertilizer? If so, is there one you recommend?

2. In a cluster of 4-6 blooms, about 1-2 blossom drops are happening. The temps are not terribly extreme -- so i'm wondering if this is normal attrition?

3. Do you prune suckers from your plants, or just let them go?

[Love Apple Farms]

Hi Sean....Yuck! We've used maggoty fish heads on the past without any issue. But you should really try your best not to let them sit around long enough to attract fly maggots like that. We freeze our fish heads if we can't plant them right away.

[sean]

Hi Cynthia, Your information is great on Tomato planting. My question is I have fresh fish heads,banana peels, egg shells in my buckets and I have started to get maggots. Should I be concearned about maggots destroying my plants. Thank You for your time.

[Love Apple Farm]

Cooper: Sun on some part of the plant does indeed "count." Good luck!

[Cooper]

Hi Cynthia --

Thanks for the great info on tomato planting. I have a question. My tomatoes plants are getting 4-5 hours of direct sun right now, with another 1-2 hours of dappled sunlight. As the tomato plants grow taller, they will get another hour or so of direct sunlight on the upper plant, but not the lower. I know that they use sun for energy to fruit - but does that mean that the sun has to be on the entire plant for it to "count"?

Thanks!

[Daisy]

Cynthia - it's me again. i just wanted you to know that in landlocked Kansas, the only place i can find lots of free fish heads is a seafood supplier company in missouri. so in a few days, i'm driving across the state line, dressed in a raincoat and boots, and digging through their recycle bins of fish carcass, to get my heads. planning to take pictures and will send to you, if you like.

also - in one of your posts, you said something about humic acid. but pure humic acid is hard to come by. did you mean a fertilizer with it as an ingredient? or do you have a source for pure humic acid?

[Love Apple Farm]

Elizabeth: I prefer the medium grade Sustane. But get whatever you can find. It's a hot commodity and you can't always get the grade you'd like.

[elizabeth]

Do you prefer the fine or medium grain Sustane?

[Love Apple Farm]

Daisy: The fishheads slowly release both nitrogen and calcium to the tomato plant over time. By the end of the season, they are completely decomposed under the soil. Fish parts, such as spines, fins and tails are good too. Defrost them before putting into the hold, though.

[Daisy]

Thanks for your reply -- another question: what do the fish heads do for the tomatoes?? and is it ok to use fish parts that have been previously frozen, or do they need to be fresh? thanks!!

[Love Apple Farm]

Daisy: You can use variants of the macronutrients. I just like to see all three in somewhat equal numbers -that's what makes it "all purpose." If you have clay-like soil, then you best backfill the hole with a mix of both potting soil, compost, and native "dirt." I would also dig a bigger hole than 2 feet if my soil was that bad. Lastly, don't over water your tomatoes if you've got a clay pan down there. They'll hate that!

[Daisy]

it's that time again - here are my questions:

1. when you say fertilizer with all three macro ingredients, does it specifically have to be the 4-6-4 analysis? or can it be a variant, as long as it's slow release?

2. i live in kansas, where the ground is pretty dense clay-like dirt. after i dig the deep hole, should i fill it back up with purchased quality soil, or a combination of purchased with the original dug-out dirt, or just the dug-out dirt?

thanks!

[growing tomatoes from seed]

Last year I tried cherry tomatoes in my garden, with good results. This year I will try some of your great tips. Thank you for sharing this information.

[jd]

Thanks for posting, trying this method out this year. So far, the plants are growing 1 foot per week! Still unsure what their watering needs are, though. Have really enjoyed picking up the fish heads from a local fishmonger. It's like I'm connecting back to when the Indians taught the settlers how they plant corn. Such a fulfilling thing to do.

[Charles]

Awesome info on tomato growing. Thank you!

[Trever]

You have inspired our small family (husband, wife, and dog) to grow tomatoes with the works here in Olympia, Washington. If we can't make you classes (location and all), where would you recommend learning about tomato growing further? Thanks for the AMAZINGLY informative and fun to read, read. :)

[Emma kate brown]

i was woundering what a begning tomato plant looks like can u tell me that

[Love Apple Farm]

Anthony: You should water your tomatoes when the soil looks dry after you dig down into it with your hands about 3 or 4 inches. Nothing on a schedule, nothing on a timer. It depends on rainfall, the type of soil you have, how hot it's been. All variables that need paying attention to in order to water your tomatoes properly.

[Anthony Emmons]

How often should you water your tomatoes I live in New Jersey thanks?