It’s just about time now to start our 2nd season, or extended season, or fall planting….whatever….. We should be well into our amending and soil preparation for August planting. I’m ready for some more big ‘ole juicy vine ripe tomatoes, that I’m not finding at the grocery store. Some that have that excellent vine ripe quality that can only come from home grown. My spring tomatoes are long gone, and I’m missing them already. My soil is prepared and “cooking”, now is the waiting, and watching the garden centers to get the best pick of fall starts. Patience, girl.
Tip #1: Pick a spot that will get 6 hours of full sun. This is one of the best secrets Tucson has…sun, and the winter planting season can be really productive for tomatoes. That’s the reason we have such a large snowbird population here. Snowbirds flock to the sun, and we should take full advantage of what Tucson provides best. I love that about Christmas…I’ve still got tomatoes growing.
Tip #2: Tomato roots need space. Even if you grow them in a pot in the winter, which is one of my favorite tricks (because I can follow the sun around, but protect them from cold nights by moving them closer to a wall.) Pick a good sized pot. Nothing smaller than a 5 gallon container. I have used the 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot before with drainage holes drilled in the bottom. They do make it through a couple of years, but are definitely not good for summer. The heat kills potted tomatoes faster than an ice cube melts in a tall iced tea. But winter is a horse of a different color, and those black buckets are fine to use if you aren’t concerned with the appearance. Shoot, I’ll put that black bucket right in my kitchen window if there is a promise of a decent crop of those tasty babies.
Tip #3: Use a 50/50 mix of soil-less potting medium and good compost to fill your pot. If you add vermicompost you’ll really boost your seedlings. Check out the posting “Say Hello To My New Little Friends” to see why worm castings are so wonderful for your plants. You can purchase worm castings, but I warn you, they are expensive. I’m still experimenting with how much worm castings to use, actually. I’ve read some gardeners have grown tomatoes directly in buckets of worm castings by accident and got their best tomatoes that way. Worm castings are harder to come by in our hot state, so I’m a little more judicious with my use of the precious stuff.
Tip #4: Fertilize at least every 2 weeks with a solution of liquid kelp or fish emulsion, and when the plants get big you will probably need to water them every day. Now I’m gonna tell you what took me years to discover, and this has been a real revelation to me: the use of liquid kelp as a foliar spray. Tomatoes respond to this within minutes of spraying. I use 1 tbsp of fish emulsion and 1 tbsp of liquid kelp to a gallon of water and spray it on the 1st week, and then fertilize with it the next week. Heard about it from a Nevada gardener. I’ll forever be grateful to that woman I never met. (And THATS why I love to blog with other gardeners in my area. Because I still have so much to learn.)
Tip #5: Pick the right variety. Choose between indeterminate, which never stop growing taller, or determinate, which stay closer to 3-4 feet. How to decide between them? Simply decide how much trouble you want to go to to prop your tom up. If you have only a small patio space, choose a variety that stays contained in it’s growth. That’ll make it easier to move or cover, if the need arises. I love indeterminates in the summer, when I can stake their “viney” growth easier, but the pots of winter make that just a little harder for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still can’t pass up a good Early Girl start, but the ease of choosing a support cage that wraps around the pot so it moves without falling over is hard to pass up. I usually select some of both. I’m planning to grow 4 tomato plants this fall. I always plant more than I really need….in case they don’t all make it. You know, Murphy’s law… if you only plant one, it’ll die. If you plant 3 you’ll be giving them away. That’s why I chose 4. Just a few more weeks now….
Tip #6: Add a dozen finely crushed eggshells to each container. This tip is from John Starnes, who coaxes vegetables out of Florida sand. I’ll admit, I haven’t tried this in the past, but it makes really good sense to me, who coaxes vegetables out of Arizona sand. So, in the words of my daugters, I’m all up in that stuff . I’m all over that one. Whatever.
Just had to add this tip. When you are setting up your fall garden area and using a redwood bench to stand on, be sure that there is a clear 4 foot area around you, just in case the bench slips and you lose your footing. It would be very unfortunate to land in unfriendly flora, like say cactus. AND, if you really think ahead, be sure you have a large magnifying glass, in case you don’t check for a clearing, and this actually happens to you. Now that is a tip for ya, and a clear lesson learned, not soon to be forgotten.
I am not sure that I want to ask this question but I can’t resist! Did this happen to you?
No, It happened to a Tennessee friend of ours, who’s female name I promised not to put in print, but it was such a hilarious event, which COULD have been me, I had to tell it. Who knows, she may decide to visit this site occasionally, just to see what we say…
I spoke to her and she told me the story!
We both acknowledged that it is good to have someone who loves you to do the “dirty” work!