Tomatos

[Mr.potatohead]

Hi all. This is my first post on the easygarden forum. I'm a member on the backyard chickens forum and that site is a great resourse for information and i'm sure this one will be as well. My question is this: At what time in the spring in the northeast do you plant tomato plants in the ground? I'm talking about young plants that have been started in a greenhouse or indoors. Thank you for any responses.

 

[patandchickens]

If you're not going to do anything active to protect them against frost, then just after your last frost date.

If you're willing to go out and throw a box or something over each plant in the event of a forecast suggestive of possible late frost, then a week or two earlier -- more, if you're willing to take a chance. Early planting is more worthwhile if it's a warm spring than if it's a cold one.

If you pre-warm the soil and put a Wall-o-water (or similar product) around each plant, you can push the season as much as 4-6 weeks depending on your luck. Note that *some* years, wall-o-waters will sorta backfire, as you'll ahve early hot weather that will 'cook' the plant unless you remove the wall-o-waters and then, Murphy's Law, you tend to have a later cold snap that you forget to put boxes over the tomatoes

In any case, make sure the plants are well hardened off before putting out -- if they're from a store, ask about their history or assume they're not hardened off.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[Mr.potatohead]

Thank you very much patandchickens for your reply, I will take your advice for sure.

 

[digitS']

Here's a way to find your "Average First and Last Frost Dates" from Victory Seed for your location. Your Cooperative Extension agency is also a source for these dates altho' I find the local power company to have dates that seems to fit better with my experiences.

The Victory Seed webpage uses NOAA information but that info is getting rather dated (1988).

Steve

 

[SewingDiva]

I learned a great tomato trick years ago from a much more experienced gardener and I've done this every year with great results:

Peter's Perfect Tomatos

When you transplant do the following:

1) Dig a hole as deep as the seedling height and twice as wide as the seedling.

2) Fill the hole 1/2 way with a 50/50 combination of peat moss and composted manure.

3) Water the mix and make a thick mud. The water should contain a transplant fertilizer (organic or chemical - your choice)

4) Plant the seedling in the mud and bury it past the original seedling leaves. The tomato will sprout new roots from the buried stem.

5) Water as required for the rest of the summer but do not fertilize again - the tomato has everything it will need for the entire season.

Your tomatos will go gangbusters - trust me! Heirlooms in particular really like it.

~Phyllis