Tomato Plant Care
All of our tomato plants have been greenhouse grown. When you receive your plants, please be patient in acclimating them to their new environment. This means slowly transitioning them from shade to full sun. Please do not place them in a dark place, like a garage, they will shock! We recommend placing them in a partial shady protected area and moving them into full sun over a minimum of 5 days. Moving the plants into full sun too quickly can cause severe sun scald which will damage the overall plant health.
Always plant your tomatoes in full sun with well drained soil! Set the tomato plant deeper in the ground than it was grown in the pot, remove any leaves to be covered by soil, leave at least two sets of leaves on the plant.
Establish stakes or cages in the soil at the time of planting. Staking keeps
developing fruit off the ground, while caging let’s the plant hold itself upright. Some sort of support system is recommended.
- Water generously for the first few days.
- Avoid overhead watering so leaves do not get wet to prevent pests and diseases
- Water well throughout growing season, about 2 inches per week during the summer. Keep watering consistent!
- Mulch five weeks after transplanting to retain moisture. Keep mulch at least 6 inches away from trunk of plant.
- Fertilize two weeks prior to first picking and again two weeks after first picking. Avoid using manures or fertilizers high in nitrogen! If using stakes, prune plants by pinching off suckers so that only a couple stems are growing per stake.
Tomato Guide:
Determinate: “Bush” tomatoes with a generally compact growth habit that produce fruit all at once, then die when finished.
Indeterminate : “Vining” tomatoes which continue to grow and produce fruit throughout the season until killed by frost.
V : Verticillium resistant variety
F : Fusarium resistant variety
N : Nematode resistant variety