How I Plant a Tomato

Love Apple Farm's spring plant sale will be held at 5311 Scotts Valley Drive in Scotts Valley (near Santa Cruz, CA) and will begin on Saturday, March 26, 2022 (unless you want to pick up pre-ordered plants earlier). Our sale in 2022 will be held Thursdays through Mondays (we are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and continue every day until the first weekend in June.  Click here  to access the pre-sale site.

How do we 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 we put in there, or they actually believe we're throwing in a sink.

This is how we plant a tomato. First off, let's take a look at our sexy specimen here on the left.

We started this beauty in our heated greenhouse in late January. We potted it up to a gallon container about 3 or 4 weeks ago. It will go into one of our freshly prepared beds, shown to the right. 

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 that you start with. We 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 we 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.
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, crab, or lobster shells are all good as well. Some of you may worry about critters digging these up later. We've never had a problem with animals digging up my tomatoes, and we've got two dogs, six cats, coyotes, and what seem like an endless supply of raccoons living on the property. I stress the point that this is the first thing that goes into our 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're reticent to put the fish head in the hole, or simply can't get your mitts on any, we recommend using fish meal as a substitute. Half a cup is about right. We get ours from G&B.

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. You can read more about that science here. We'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. We put in a half cup 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. This is also a G&B product. 

We then put in half cup of G&B's Tomato, Vegetable and Herb Fertilizer. It's an all-purpose  organic fertilizer that contains the essential macronutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Their mix is a very nice 4-6-3 of those nutrients.

We also recommend putting a third cup of pure worm castings in the bottom of the hole. We amend our beds with worm castings and we also spray a worm casting tea on the plants while they grow.  Really great stuff. Worm castings, as well as the G&B products, are available for sale at our tomato plant sale.

 

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

We 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 about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of a product called Mykos on the rootball. This is a mycorrhizal fungi that attaches to the roots, growing as the roots grow. It protects the plant from some diseases, such as verticillium and fusarium wilts. This fungus also reaches out into the soil, grabs food for your tomato, and literally "feeds" it to the tomato root. If there are any "silver bullets" here, it is this healthy addition of mycorrhizal fungi. Mykos also creates a sponge-like mass around the roots that help them grab on to the water as it passes through the soil, helping save water.

Once the tomato is in the hole, we 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, we'll remove the plant and add some more soil.  If it looks like it'll be up above the soil more than we want, that's too bad because we 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 we try our best to gauge the depth of the hole according to the height of the plant we're 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. We 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.  It's our experience that most people water their tomatoes growing in raised beds or in the ground way too much. 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 find out more about those items here.  In the meantime, please feel free to email us or leave a comment below with any questions.

If you're still not getting the results you want, then consider taking our Tomato Masters class.

Good luck, folks!

Comments

[Judith Broadhurst]

Thanks much for the instructions about growing tomatoes in containers.

[eva Hass]

My favorite part of this entire post is the fish picture. One of them winked at me!

[shelley]

I have started to collect my egg shells. I am excited to try your "ingredients" for tomato plant planting. I can't wait to see the results. You can not beat a tomato fresh off the vine!

[GardenerG]

Tomato plants can be planted laying on it's sides. The additional soil contact with the stem will send additional roots out.

[Tebonin]

Oh my god...Generally I like food and green plant a lot. Also your tips are very useful..I am just not brave enough to try it.

[Nancy in CA]

We used this method last year and had the best tomatoes we've ever grown. No pests or diseases, either. I'm about to go out and get fish heads for this year's crop. So glad I found this!

[Love Apple Farm]

Mary: In a shadier garden, you should grow small-fruiting varieties like Matina, Green Zebra, Black Prince, Bloody Butcher, Jetsetter, Nyagous, Jaune Flamme. Or just stick with cherry tomatoes. You can still have a full-color heirloom tomato garden with different varieties of cherries.

[Mary]

Fabulous amount of detailed information
I have a question you may be able to help me answer. What type of plant will grow in a not so sunny place. I live in a shady area in portland or
Thanks
Mary

[Jake]

i used this method last year and it worked awesome thanks for the help!

[JERRY DIETZ]

YOUR WAY OF PLANTING IS SO COOL.. HAVE YOU TRIED TUMS INSTEAD OF A ASPIRIN?.. MY DAD USED TO PLANT A WHOLE EGG ALONG WITH THE PLANT,WHEN THE EGG ROTS THE SULPHUR WILL ADD
SOME ACIDITY AS WELL AS CALCIUM FROM THE SHELLS.. REALLY A GOOD POSTING YOU MADE.NICELY DONE.
JERRY DIETZ
AUSTIN TEXAS

[Mike Lowery]

If anyone wants to take a walk on the wild side. Try my method...Soy beans. Buy a bag of them, put them into a sealed container and fill with water. Leave the container outside in the sun for 5-7 days or until the beans start to ther fermantation (they really stink!) Dig a hole next to your tomato plant and put the fermanted beans it and cover up...end result...bammm..tomatoes the size of softballs.

[Love Apple Farm]

Joe & Austin: I wouldn't dig them up, but you can add all of my suggestions by digging them into the soil around the tomato plant (give them about a 12 inch berth all around the base). I would not put the fish heads in though, as they need to go two feet deep. The Topsy Turvy plant will prove difficult for you, as it needs a lot of water and a lot of fertilizer to be even a little bit happy.

[Joe and Austin Molkie]

Hello: I ran across your site and love what I see. My grandson and I have planted some tomato varaties, including one in a topsy turvey. Some look good and one does not. It has a tall stem with no flowers. Not sure what to do with it but wait and see.

Problem: We planted our tomato plants 3 weeks ago but not as deep as you did, and with good sold, cow manuer and some Mircial Grow for vegs. I was wondering if I could dig up the plants, use your system and replant them deeper in the soil, or would digging them up now hurt the plants?

Joe & Austin - Kennesaw, GA

[Love Apple Farm]

Hua: A good organic disease preventative (nothing is ever 100%, though), is Serenade. Available on-line and at very good nurseries. Follow the directions on the label. Also, a regimen of once a week worm casting tea couple with aspirin (one and a half tablets to a two-gallon garden sprayer) applied to the foliage does wonders for fertility, yield, and disease prevention.

[Hua]

Do you use any preventive measures against disease? Copper fungicide or sulphur based spray at any point? I've read about it. I make daily checks on my plants and wonder if there is anything more to do besides fertilizing and watering?

[Sandi]

I found your tomato plants at PW markets in Silicon Valley. Of course they didn't have many varieties but it was great to see your tomato plants for sale nearby! AND, I love your earth friendly way to bring the plants home...no plastic! Thanks, Cynthia, for keeping me interested in growing tomatoes each year. Sandi

[christine jefferson]

Okay, so I read this AFTER planting my tomatoes. What can I do now to boost along the growing process (because it is much too late to redig)? Definitely will follow your instructions next year! I DID dig in a great amount of compost/bone meal/lobster mix , peat humus, peatmoss, plant booster, penobscott mix, plant tone, lime, cow manure, etc (which is all recommended for our clay soil in NY) before planting. Thank-you, Christine

[Nancy]

My tomatoes are planted and I'm so excited to see how they do!! I got fish heads from my brother-in-law and I already had the mychorizzal fungae so everything else was easy to pick up...so far the tomatoes are doing great. I've got a couple of brandywine, a pink lady, Mr. Stripey, Roma, a gigantic something, and a German Johnson??? They all look so healthy and they have blooms already. I will definitely use the worm casting tea too! Thanks so much for your wonderful blog! Oh, I also have my fingerlings growing in my 15 gallon buckets! This is going to be a great veggie year!!

[Jules]

Love the internet for learning info just like this! Thanks for sharing. Also admit that I want to get entered into your newsletter contest with this post! And have something to add (got the idea from book Food Not Lawns). We have added 3 small fish ponds around our garden/yard and drilled holes in the side where we attached drip hoses so when it rains or we add water to the ponds, the drip hose is gravity fed to water the surrounding vegetable plantings. This also has the benefit of the fish waste being delivered with the water! Since we did this, we have much better looking veggie plants. :) I will try your dips next time I'm planting to give more headstart to the tomato. Thanks again.

[susan]

Hi, I had a question. My Lilian's Yellow tomatoe plant leaves have started to change colour. I was planning on transplanting it this week. The two bottom leaves have turned yellow the other leaves have small grey dots on them, the new leafs have a grey shadow on them. Can you tell me what to do to help my plant

[Paul Greenberg]

I was wondering how often you fertilize your tomatoes after you plant them and with what?

[Darlene Anderson]

I'm definitely going to try some of this (not sure about getting the fish heads-I'd have to do my own fishing for them). I grow lots of big tomatoes using my never ending supply of horse manure and adding potash, but I will try the eggshells and other suggestions. Thanks for a great post!

[Love Apple Farm]

Geoff: Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. Agricultural lime does have calcium in it, so that's why you are probably getting that advice. I always put a handful of bone meal and several crushed eggshells in the planting hole (rather than on the top of the soil). Those are good sources of calcium. If you start experiencing it after you have planted already and are unable to add it to the hole, then you can use a liquid calcium feed such as Foli-Cal. Watering is always tricky. I don't have anything on a routine or timer. I dig into the ground several inches, and if it's dry three or four inches under ground then I water. But I try not to water more often than every 5 or 6 days. Also, I do not recommend Miracle-Gro. I recommend a fertilizer tea made out of worm castings.

[geoff edge]

I have been growing tomatoes in Oregon for many years and have had considerable success. Typically I pick about 300 lbs every year but I am concerned about blossom-end rot which destroys about 20% of my crop. The experts tell me it is either lime deficiency or uneven watering. I use plenty of lime so my problem must be watering but exactly what is "uneven" watering? Oregon is dry in July - Aug so I water every week. I also use miracle grow at the same time as I water.

Any ideas?

geoff edge

[Love Apple Farm]

Kevin: Fish Meal is an ok sub for a fish head, but come on....you KNOW you're suppoosed to be eating your fish anyway? Buy 'em whole, eat 'em, and use the heads and tails in your planting hole. Any good nursery will have regular bone meal. Try Yamagami's Nursery. The 4-6-4 can be purchased in slightly different configurations: 5-5-5, or 4-3-2. Just make sure all three numbers are represented in similar amounts on the label. The mychorizzal fungae can be purchased at www.groworganic.com. They are a local, Grass Valley, distributor, so they're not shipping it too far. Otherwise, you can buy that at Mt. Feed here in Ben Lomond.