Tomato

Planting Tips

• Always plant in gopher cages!
• The “days to harvest” rating is from the time of transplanting 6-week-old seedlings to the first ripe fruit.
• Fruit will not set if the nights are below 55°F.
• Heavy feeders during growing season.
• Use compost with more phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen.
• Avoid blood meal and cottonseed meal for compost.
• Use organic or synthetic fertilizer with moderate nitrogen (5-10-10- or 5-10-4)
• Stems can grow too thick if feeding on too much nitrogen and too thin if not getting enough.
• Leave fruit on the stem as long as you can. If you have to pick it green, you can put in a paper bag. This will cause it to be entrapped in the ethylene gas it releases, which it needs to ripen.
• Do not refrigerate.

Planting

• Dig 12″-15″ holes, put handful of compost, cover with 1″+ of soil, and set plant into ground.
• Should be planted deep. Pinch off the bottom leaves and bury stem.
• Can use bone meal. Rated at 3-15-0 (N-P-K), with 12% calcium. Rich in calcium and phosphorus. Can attract animals, so best to use at bottom of planting hole.