16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
It depends how tall they are. If they are about 8", I would bury them just below the first set of true leaves. If 10" or taller will snip the lower leaves and plant deeper.
It is just a matter of personal choice and there is no set rules for it.
Happy Plant out !
There is no single answer to your question. But I would go by some indicators:
a) if you are buying plants or have room inside , wait a while but if your plants are over grown and you are itching (as was my case) , check these:
1- are your plants hardened off ?
2- is your LFD passed ?
3- has there been lows in low 30s lately ?
4- How do the 10 days extended forecasts look? Any lows in mid 30s and/or lower?
5- what is your soil temperature ? 50F plus ?
If you get favorable answers to above indicators, then if I were you I would go ahead and do it. BUT still be on the look out and be prepared for the " JUST IN CASE".
I have followed those steps myself and have planted mine about 5 days after our LFD (about 10 days ago). Since then the lows have been around 42F and few nights of 38 and 39F. Tonight's low will be 39F again. But as longs as lows are over 36F I am not worried. My tomatoes are already COLD HARDENED. Believe it or not, the are actually growing now.
So, I took a chance and followed my "ITCH FACTOR" and things are ok. YMMV
I have seen two types of bags being used. Simple plastic bags, second brown paper bag. You fill these with soil, poke some holes in the bottom, set them in a tray. The bags mold next to each other and fit nicely in the tray. The plastic bags can be clear or black. Advantage of paper, to transplant you just make few slits on the side with a knife and just set the whole bag in.
I plan to try the paper bags next year.
I bought a big box of trays and a big box of 36-cells 15 years ago and they were cheap in bulk. I still have half of them, so they may last my gardening life.
And I bought a gross of medical specimen vials too. They are great to keep seeds in, in the fridge.
Another vintage thread with interesting topic.
I grew sweet 100 last season. I didn't like it because the fruits were TOO small and the vine was growing like crazy that I hardly could keep up with pruning.
I plant my tomatoes in tight spacing ( about 18" apart, 2.5 sqr-ft per plant ). This way I plant 3 in place of 2. Therefor I do prune systematically.
I am growing Sungold for the first time this year. I will definitely prune to 2 stems, max 3. Also, at the near end of season ( early September) start topping all new growth and flowers. Because I know that the new growth and flowers will not produce any ripe fruits .
In short , there are different gardening styles. As a gardener I believe in being in charge rather than letting plants do as they naturally do.
Sweet 100 is our all time favorite - very hardy plant with good sized fruit - not many splits and very tasty. We grow in a GH out of necessity. I let them grow crazy but train largest branches laterally as well as vertically because they are so vigorous and prolific - we give them plenty of space. Last year we tried Sweet Baby Girl which we thought was a good variety but we switched back to Sweet 100 this year. Sungold did not do as well for us and seemed to have lots of splits and early on - so for now - Sweet 100 it is!
Conventional wisdom says move tomatoes outdoors around Mother's Day in WA state,
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Conventional wisdom? Not accurate, OFTEN.
Also Washington state has MANY climates.
I garden north of Seattle and have planted my tomatoes ( I also started them from seeds inside). Our LFD was around April first. And I started planting out around April 7. I have heard some people mentioning "mothers Day". But I have done it 5 weeks ahead of it.
Tomatoes are more cold tolerant than a lot of gardeners thing. Mine have seen few night lows of 38F. Tonight is 41, tomorrow night is going to be 39F. I am not worried. I have done and tested this many many times before, in CT, in GA and here in WA.
BTW: I started hardening off in my mini hoops too, before planting out. Basically, around here hardening off is for cold not so much for sun and heat.
I don't know how much a hoop house compares with tunnel covers that I use, but I have hardened off plants on my concrete porch then planted them in the ground under tunnels from April 1 to 15. They do bear tomatoes earlier than tomatoes planted out later, they don't always get as big or grow as vigorously or last as long in the garden.
Another vote for Remy Rouge! I'd describe it as more full-flavored than sweet -- though of course everyone feels different about taste.
It was a real survivor for me two years ago despite the Late Blight (I pruned affected foliage daily). [I don't even remember last year, except that the Late Blight hit even earlier than usual.]
Yes, I've grown it, and actuallly was the first person to introduce the variety by SSE listing it. The link at the bottom notes the history behind it.
All I can tell you is that it's very productive, that may not help much but I don't count how many fruits/plant, nor do I weigh fruits per plant.
A link to Google IMAGES may give you some idea of production, but when viewing such IMAGE pages always put your mouse pointer over a picture to be sure it's the variety you want b'c sometimes some other varieties might be in there as well.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Opalka
Should I pinch them to promote more growth before it blooms since it will only bloom once?
No. As others have explained it doesn't just bloom once or even all at once. Blooms develop as the plant grows until it reaches its terminal top blooms at 4-6 feet depending on the variety That can take several months. Removing blooms only costs you fruit.
To get the most from the plants you don't remove anything - no blooms, no stems, no branches, etc. :)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ - Determinate vs. Indeterminates
Due to weather last year I had an awful year for tomatoes. The one plant that kept giving off fruit. Even in the dog days of 100 degree plus dog days was a det. plant. It was a husky cherry red. We got well over 150 of the tiny maters from June till October. I had it planted in an area that got good shade after 5 pm.
I'd have to check Guilford but shoreline is 1 USDA zone "warmer" than the hills of NW CT (I'm at 1000ft). So your last frost date may be early May, not mid-May like ours. Though who knows this year.
Do you have the plants already? What variety(ies)? There are lots of "heirlooms" so it varies, but at least 2 months and maybe 3 after transplanting.
You want to put tomatoes out 1-2 weeks after last frost (so start hardening them off around your frost date), some people say peppers can go out the same time but they really don't like nights under 50 when tomatoes will be fine, so I wait another week or 2 for them (and eggplant).
Looks like Guilford is 6b so last frost date is Apr. 30th with plant out around mid-May. So if you have the tomato plants - you don't say - then how do you plan to grow them? In the ground or in containers? If in ground, what garden soil prep have you done? If in containers, what size containers and what container mix will you be using?
If you haven't bought them yet - I assume you will be buying them since it is too late to start them from seed - do you know what specific "heirloom" varieties are available for you to buy?
Let's get them planted correctly and actually growing before we worry about when you will have fruit as that all depends on the variety and the growing conditions you provide for them. :)
Dave
Maybe more like a ugly muddy brown. :)That represents an unblemished form of optimism and thereby promotes encouragement and enthusiasm on my part. May try Vorlon x KBX... I have babies of each and both are PL's. Maybe call it ForlornEx. How many F1 seeds do you want for 2015 season ?... with expected demand, I will need to ration them prudently with all due diligence.
Reggie
Leaves as they age will often develop scars and damage but it isn't always possible to know the cause.
In this case I would need much more info - what is your soil mix, is the white stuff perlite, what have you fed them if anything and how often, how often do you water and how much, how old are the plants, are there any signs of insect pests, are they indoors or outside and if indoors have they been outside, etc.?
The issues of NPK are very different for seedlings than for plants in the garden and NPK is not the only issues when it comes to fertilizer. So which are these - seedlings inside or plants in the garden.
Have no idea what UN32 or AZ Best Tomato food are so can't help you there other than to say neither are common fertilizers for tomatoes. Miracle Grow, diluted to 1/4-1/2 strength is often used on young seedlings but it is only one brand of many available.
The goal is to use only a balanced fert with a ratio of approx. 5-2-1 or close and that also contains micronutrients.
Hope this helps.
Dave
I got Tx Wild Cherry seeds from Native Seed Search several years ago and only planted one but it grew into a very large plant that produced profusely. They are a small tomato about 1/2 in. diameter and did taste very good imo and if I remember correctly withstood our very high temps pretty good until late summer when most tomatoes succumb to the heat here anyway.
Thank you so much for the help. I will dig in the compost,
I don't have much rotation space either. From what I've read, good healthy compost is the best remedy. I add a few inches each year, fork it gently and let it fall in the holes (because I think there are benefits of not disturbing the soil TOO much each year).