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Guy Wolff Greenhouse Collection Pots bring rustic beauty to any planting, indoors or out. Terracotta…. More >>
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Giant Tree Tomato From Gardeners Choice
Grow juicy, farm-fresh tomatoes at home! Grow bushels of tomatoes the size of grapefruits! Grows up to 8 feet tall. Each plant yields up to 60 lbs of extra large tomatoes.
Easy to plant professional nurseryman’s pre-seeded biodegradeable pots.
Imagine growing tomatoes as big as grapefruits…20 slices from a single tomato. Or how about 60 lbs of tomatoes from one plant?
Introducing the Giant Tree Tomato from Gardeners Choi… More >>
Gardening, the most soothing past time of generations before me. They had all done it. My grandmother. Her mother, my great-grandmother. My mother. They had all grown vegetables and herbs and cooked with them and served them to the family in delicious recipes you could smell for miles around….until I came along. When I began my garden, I had big plans for my garden. I had lush plants growing (in my mind) overflowing tomato plants as far as the eye could see, my mother and I would be out there daily with our baskets just as she and my grandmother were in her garden picking and pruning and we would do the same; it would be so great; she and I the earth in our hands.
Grabbing the shovel from the garage I began my journey to the backyard where I had carefully planned out my small area of a garden. One area for all of my vegetables I would be one day picking for my family and one area for all of my lovely flowers and pots of herbs for my kitchen that smelled so nice and sweet in the breeze. I worked away at the ground carefully removing every rock and small stone I could find and worked my way around until there was a huge area of just dirt. Wow, I thought to myself, it really didn’t look anything like my grandmas garden at all. However, I didn’t get discouraged, I began placing carefully and lining up my rows of peppers and assorted tomato plants, and cucumbers careful to make sure they had enough room to “run” as my mom used to say.
I watered my small area and carefully watched my potted herbs for weeks and not much happened. The chives grew like weeds alright but nothing else did. In fact everything in the garden looked like weeds so it was hard for me to tell if it was a weed or if it was a stem or what? Pretty soon EVERYTHING looked so overgrown that by the time my mom came to look at my pride and joy she was horrified at what she saw. She said well didnt you take the weeds out? I sheepishly said I wasnt sure which were weeds and which were not. She said well with all the gardeners in the family surely you’d learn something? Well, apparently not I thought I’d just know or they’d grow on their own or something maybe I dont know. Gardening isn’t as easy as you’d think. It’s alot of hard work. My mother shook her head and said maybe you’d just better stick to the silk plants and leave the gardening to us. She smiled and said next time why dont you just buy the plants that are already started?
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I had already done that. She would have disowned me from the “gardening family” at that point. So now I’m known as the Non-gardening one. And I receive silk plants as gifts not real ones.
Of course the first one I did receive I did water it for the first two days and then realized it wasnt real so maybe she’s right, I should just stick to the silk arrangements from now on!
Although there are specific tomato varieties that are designed for container growing, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to grow almost any type of tomato in a container. Tomatoes can grow just as well in a container as they do in the ground. As long as one is armed with the proper knowledge and the necessary resources, anyone can be well on the road to harvesting an abundant and delicious crop of tomatoes.
USE A LARGE ENOUGH POT
One of the biggest mistakes people typically make when it comes to growing tomatoes in containers is that they underestimate how big a container they will need. Tomatoes are designed to grow fast. The root system provides the plants with the nourishment they need to produce flowers that will ultimately bear fruit. A tomato plant that doesn’t have a large enough pot will become pot bound very quickly. Look for a pot that is at least as big as a 5 gallon container, if not larger.
The pot also needs to be large enough and heavy enough to support the weight of the top heavy plants. If the pots aren’t large enough and heavy enough, the soil will dry out very quickly and it will be difficult to provide the plants with an even level of moisture. Top heavy plants that aren’t planted in pots that are big and heavy enough will fall over all the time.
TYPES AND VARIETIES OF TOMATOES
All tomato varieties fall into one of two classes: they are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate varieties tend to mature sooner than indeterminate varieties. They produce a very large crop at one time, and that is usually earlier in the season than other varieties. Once they produce the large crop, the plants will bear few if any additional fruits.
Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes typically take longer to yield their crop. Once they do start to produce the crop, they will produce a pretty steady supply of tomatoes throughout the remainder of the season.
The best resource for every type of container food crop is “Container Seeds.
PLANTING AND SOIL
Because the soil in containers dries out so much faster than the soil in the ground, one of the most prevalent problems associated with growing tomatoes in containers is Blossom End Rot. Blossom End Rot is caused by insufficient calcium and/or uneven or irregular watering.
The best way for anyone who wishes to grow tomatoes in containers to try to prevent this is by adding calcium to the soil before putting the plants in it. Bone or blood meal are excellent sources
CONTAINER TOMATO GARDENING Tomatoes can be grown easily in container gardens.
Here’s how:
USE LARGE CONTAINERS Tomatoes are large plants when they mature. For this reason, your container size should be at least 12 – 14″ in width or diameter. Any smaller container than this and your tomatoes will not last the season. With smaller pots, the plant dries out early in the season and the bloom simply doesn’t happen. The choice is yours. Whether you want to be stingy now or repent later. Pay for the bigger pot to ensure that you get great tomatoes in August.
GOOD QUALITY SOIL Use good quality soil all the way to the bottom of the container. By using an artificial soil mix rather than the garden soil; you prevent the soil from compaction. Compaction stunts the growth of the tomatoes and kills them. The soil should also have the right pH balance for the tomato to thrive fully. The soil should be mixed properly and good quality fertilizer should be added at the time of filling the container this is why garden soil is seldom used. Tomatoes need lots of soil with constant watering. You should put in at least six shovels of soil in the container. Any less than that can spell doom for the plant.
LOTS OF FERTLIZERS> Tomatoes need lots of fertilizers, they need at least fertilizing once a week. This leads to great growth and great yield for the tomato plant. Use a good quality fertilizer that’s available. Both organic and synthetic fertilizers are available in the market. You can also use a liquid mix fertilizer, which assimilates quickly into the soil.
WATER & MORE WATER Since the tomato fruit is 95% water, the plant needs lots of water regularly. You have to water the plant regularly or when the soil appears as if it drying out. Don’t be lethargic in watering the plant else your fruit will suffer. In hotter climate, water the tomato plant at least twice a day.
STAKING IT OUT You can grow the tomato plants on stakes and without the stakes. The branches of the tomato plant are easy to break which is why its essential to secure them. By using stakes, you can ensure that they are secured to the stakes. In this way they have less chances of breaking during a windstorm. A windstorm can easily ruin your tomato plant.
You can leave them to flop over the pots but if there are slugs then they will enjoy the tomato fruit as much as you enjoy the fruit. Tomato plants with stakes seem a better option that those without.
PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL This is as important as watering. Pest control as well as disease control is important otherwise the fruit will rot even before it blooms. There are plenty of commercially available organic and synthetic pesticides and fungicides, which can combat your woes. Added to this tomatoes need to be pruned regularly.
CONCLUSION All other factors remain the same as for the tomato plants, which are grown in the soil.
I love a fresh tomato any time of the year. Don’t you? I love my tomatoes so much, that when I am eating others that were store bought and they are not in season (which is like every month of the year at the store) I pick them off and set the aside. Why eat cardboard?
My Gardening approach is simple, for I don’t have a lot of time and I am sure that you don’t have a lot of time either. If I had the time to go out and weed every day, water my plants, talk to them and do everything everyone tells me that I should be doing for them, I probably would. Here are the simple truths to what I am about when it comes to me and my green thumb. I like it easy and productive.
At first, I always used plastic for ground cover. Not the plastic that is sold at the stores, that is as bad as poison. The garden soil needs to be able to breathe. So I use the plastic that comes from the lumber store that covers the wood. This plastic is woven and makes it so that the ground can breathe and at the same time eliminate the weeds. Black side up, white side down. I played white vs black one year…black is best for the garden.
As for fertilizers, I keep it simple. I don’t use much of anything other than one simple rule. What I use this year, I won’t use next year. One year I will do all leaves and till it into the ground. The next I will use manure. The next I will find some compost. The next I start over with leaves. Or if I am feeling really “vigorous”, I proclaim it the year of the Jubilee as found in the Bible and do nothing for the ground, for it is the year of rest.
I have a few variety that I buy as seedlings over and over. When buying, I buy the ones that look like plastic. Meaning the darkest shade of green. I also pick the tallest plant and it can have its first flowers. I don’t buy plants that come in larger pots that are super big… that’s just a waste of money. All my plants get at least 5 feet tall eventually, some have even grown to be 9 feet.
“Is that one suppose to be that tall?”
“Sure…”
So we have bought which ever type you prefer and are ready to shove them into the ground. Wait!, not so fast, the next part is the most important. There are certain plants that have the ability to grow roots up its entire stem. Tomato is one of those beauties. Look at the seedling and find, counting from the top, the top four branches. After identifying them, pinch off all the remaining branches. Dig your hole as deep as the plant is, loosening up the dirt, and fill the hole
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6 outside pockets. Wide mouth for easy access. Ballistic nylon construction. Double stitching. Strap handles. Measures 7″ wide x 12″ long x 9 1/2″ tall. Perfect for organizing and transporting small garden tools, seeds, bulbs, pots and fertilizer. Tools not included…. More >>
Grow a Salsa Garden
Growing plants can be a very rewarding experience. The best thing is walking outside to grab a few vegetables and herbs from the garden, and then making a fresh meal. It’s even better when you only have to go to one place in the garden to get the proper ingredients for your recipe.
Gardens with a theme can be fun and it’s real easy. First you want to choose your “ingredients” for your kitchen garden. A good start for a Salsa Garden is tomato’s, there real simple to grow. You can purchase young plants at your local plant nurseries, or you can start them from seed. Tomato plant sprout very quickly with the proper care, always read the back of the seed packet to ensure proper growth. More plants in the Salsa Garden are, tomatillo, green onion, and basil.
Now that you have an idea of the plants you want to grow, plan your space before you buy the plants or seeds. For this particular garden you need about a 10 square feet of space; it can be circular, square, or whatever shape tingles your design sense. If you bought seeds to start your kitchen garden, plant them in small pots or seed flats (which can be usually purchased along with the seeds) to ensure strong growth before you transplant them into your garden. Till up the dirt in your designated gardening area, so that it is nice and loose, then mark where the plants will go. A good rule of thumb when you planting is to plant tall to small; the back of the garden space should have the bigger taller plants, and the front should have the shorter smaller plants. The tomatillo often grow taller than a tomato plant, so you would want to put the tomatillo in the back followed by the tomato, and then the green onion flowed by the basil. Tomato’s grow more like a vine than the tomatillo does; this means you will need to purchase a tomato fence to properly support the tomato, and purchase simple bamboo poles to prop up the tomatillo. Now that you have a plan go ahead and get dirty!
After a few weeks you should start to see the results of your hard work and constant effort. It is a good idea to constantly take “ingredients” from you Salsa Garden, because it helps with growth and the strength of the plants. Here is a salsa recipe that should knock your socks off.
Hot n’ Chunky Salsa
3 cups tomato
1 cup tomatillo
cup green onion
cup fresh basil
2 tbs hot sauce
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
The easiest way to make this salsa is with a food processor. Just throw all the ingredients into the processor and in a few minuets time you have a delicious salsa. If you don’t own a food processor you can easily chop all the ingredients separately, and then toss them together in a bowl. Use all the juice from the tomato’s to make the salsa have a nice juicy consistency. Refrigerate for about an hour, then serve with chips and enjoy.
Product Description
Guy Wolff Greenhouse Collection Pots bring rustic beauty to any planting, indoors or out. Terracotta…. More >>
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Gardman’s Four Tier Plant Staging is ideal for all greenhouses, sheds and garages. Free standing and stable…. More >>
