How We Plant a Tomato

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 below.

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 three dogs, two cats, 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. Two handfuls is about right. You can also sub Alfalfa Meal if you can't find Fish Meal or a fish head.

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.  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 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.  

We then put in two handfuls of EB Stone Tomato & Vegetable fertilizer. It's an all-purpose  organic fertilizer that contains the essential macronutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Their mix is a very nice 4-5-3 of those nutrients.

We also recommend putting a handful 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 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 a third of a cup or more on the rootball with a product called Xtreme Gardening's Mykos, which is a mycorrhizal fungi that attaches to the roots, growing as the root ball grows.  It protects the plant from some diseases, such as verticillium and fusarium wilts.  If there are any "silver bullets" here, it is this healthy addition of mycorrhizal fungi.

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.  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.  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.

You can find more information all about tomatoes on the World Tomato Society website. 

Good luck, folks!

Comments

[Sharon Lee]

I planted my tomato plants using your method. So far they are the most beautiful, healthy plants I’ve grown and I have had a garden every year. I live in Southern NC. Hopefully they will continue to do so when the heat of the summer gets here. I’m very pleased so far!

[Sharon]

I read to put a tsp of soda under my plants. I did last year & had beautiful tomatoes. Didn't know about fish heads but the crushed egg shells really worked. We had beautiful tomatoes.

[AL AHLQUIST]

I PLANT THE TOMATO THEN PUT A 5 GALLON BUCKET WITH THE BOTTOM CUT OUT AND WORK IT IN TO THE DEPTH I TILLED , THEN PUT A CAGE IN , THEN WHEN YOU WATER IT ALL THE WATER GOES TO THE ROOTS, A FULL GROWN TOMATO WITH TOMATOES ON IT WILL DRINK UP TO A GALLON OF WATER A DAY , HAVE DONE IT THIS WAY FOR YEARS AND GET TONS OF TOMATOES ,

[Cliff]

Whenever I buy fish during the year I will save a portion of the fillets and freeze in a freezer bag. At planting time I then have plenty of fish to add to the other amendments I use for the new tomato plants. Have had great success for several years with huge tomato crops.

[Billy Arment]

Does this method work in the sandy soil of Central Florida?
Thanks,
Billy

[Ellie]

I found this website on Pintrest and I am hoping it will give me better results than what I have had the last two years.
I live in southern Ca. And the summers here are extremely hot.
One other problem I have is getting the watering down correctly. I will be trying the soaker hose method as well this year.
Will keep everyone posted.

[Christy Dee]

I have cleaned fish in freezer. Could I thaw and use these? Thanks for your help.

[Ray Grimes]

I live in Eastern Washington State and we are having the longest, coldest winter ever. Our rule of thumb is plant on Mothers Day. I solved the fish head thing by going fishing opening day, 3rd week of April each year. Each plant gets a sunfish which is considered a scrap fish. It used to cost me a fortune to get geared up but then I found the silver bullet. I pay kids $.25 a fish and get a hole bucket of them and the kids get paid to learn to fish. Win-win.

[cheryl lurvey]

can't wait to try this will let you know how it works

[Laraine]

This method was a little time consuming to gather all the required amendments recommended for the planting hole but WELL worth the effort! I did a lot of research on planting methods and settled on this one; along with selecting heat tolerant varieties. I live in the San Fernando Valley, CA and our summers are HOT especially the evenings. I found the combination of getting the plants in the ground in March, amending the heck out of the hole, planting the tomatoes deep and researching heat tolerant varieties to be the winning comibnation. My plants were huge (over 6' tall) and needed extra support and yeilded abundant fruit. Start saving your egg shells now and hit up your fishing friends for their heads and tail and throw them in the freezer until you need them.

[Velma Tuttle]

OK, I'm so tired of prepping, planting, caring, and getting very little in return! I have stayed orgainic and love heirloom tomatoes. So, this year I am going to follow your How We Plant Tomatoes to the letter. I have been gathering my supplies, have found a source for fish heads, and ordered Mykos and worm casting, saving egg shells. All should come together next week. I am excited to see the results. I have over thirty tomato plants waiting and have many canning jars waiting for the fruit. Love to see the full jars of tomatoes on the shelf. Want at least 100 quarts!

[Cynthia Sandberg]

Cornelia: See my response to Rich. He has a similar question about how to grow tomatoes in containers.

[Cynthia Sandberg]

To Rich: You can use a variation of this method when growing tomatoes in pots, but a 5-gallon pot is too small. Click here to see our full instructions on how to grow great tomatoes in containers: http://www.growbetterveggies.com/growbetterveggies/2010/04/growing-tomatoes-in-pots.html

[Cynthia Sandberg]

Cindy Hills: If you can't get your hands on fish heads, then it will be even harder to find the substitute, which is fish meal. That's ground up, dried fish bones and parts. A lot more expensive than lopping off a head of a fish (you know you're supposed to be eating fish!). You can go to our Tictail store to order fish meal, found here: http://loveapplefarms.tictail.com/product/fish-meal

[Betty]

I planted 48 tomatoes in my greenhouse last season using your method of planting. We picked and picked and picked!! I processed 92 quarts of tomato products. Stewed,soup,salsa,chutney,oven dried... Then gave away the rest of the tomatoes to who ever would take. I will use the same method this season but will cut back to 24 plants. Thanks for the valuable information.

[Morgan]

I live in Georgia where the soil is mostly clay. I put my tomato plants in containers. Last year I put it in a large planter but this year I am going to be putting it into a large plastic storage container because it is bigger. Is that going to be big enough and, should I still put all of the amendments that you suggest even though it will be in a container?

I am beginning a worm compost bin and raised gardens but they won't be that deep this year. I am hoping next year it will be deeper with all of the great compost I will be getting from the worms. Hopefully next year I'll be able to put them into the raised bed.

Thank you.
Thank you.

[Evelyn Cournoyer]

I live in Montreal, Quebec. Temperatures here allow planting only in early June. Your method for tomatoe planting, is very impressive...it all make sense! I have already reserved the fish heads...can't wait...will keep you posted! Ev:)

[Cheryl]

Oh, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for this post. I have been struggling mightily to grow tomatoes with pitiful results. I now feel confident this year I will be successful! :)

[Cindy Hills]

We don't have fish heads. Is there something else that we can use? I want to try this in our garden this year.

[Rich Napolitano]

Question. If we don't have ground area to plant, can we use the same method in 5 gallon buckets?

[Cornelia Wright]

I am a townhouse living (little more than patio area space) pot gardener and would like to improve my tomatoes. How can I adapt this method to potted plants? Last year I pulled back on the size of the pots to let the bush get bigger than the roots as advised. That did not work. I had a smaller yield. So I will be going back to the bigger clay pots but I guess my question is, do I have to get huge pots in order to have the depth and width for the plant & all the goodies? Does it make sense to try this method with pots? HELP! I want more tomatoes. I can't eat them from the store anymore as they are tasteless. BTW,I live in crazy climate Chicago, IL, so it's usually a shorter season too. Lately, a late warmth to spring, and up and down fall season. I do start them indoors. Thanks in advance. Cornelia

[Kim]

I live in Houston, Texas and used your method for planting tomatoes this year. My tomato plants are huge and the yield has been unbelievable. Just last Friday, I picked 44 tomatoes and I only have 12 plants. So far I have had enough tomatoes for us to eat all we want, to can 9 pints, and still had tomatoes to share with family. Thank you so much for sharing your tips!

[Toy du Toit]

I stay in South Africa so I need to source and adapt a little here and there with the products but this is an EXCELLENT idea .... what would be the recommended drip pressure ?

[Kim]

Could you use sardines? Or just purchase fish at grocer?

[Cynthia Sandberg]

HI Joy: Fish fertilizer is not an acceptable substitute for the fish head, as the liquid just quickly dissipates. The fish head slowly composts under the plant, providing a slow release of nutrients. Good luck!