Planning for a new tomato bed and adding extra soil nutrients like compost or compost should begin at least 2 weeks before you intend to transplant the tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). You can also prepare the bed the previous fall and leave it under a mulch covering until spring or early summer planting. The size of the bed is dependent upon the number of tomatoes you would like to grow, but intend on using at least two square feet of space for each tomato plant.
Select a Blog
Tomatoes need full, all-day sunlight to produce wholesome growth and to fruit well. Avoid areas shaded by buildings or taller plants. In cooler climates, place the bed near a south-facing fence or wall, if at all possible, to help reflect heat and sunlight onto the strawberries. Choose a garden place with loose, well-drained dirt and avoid low-lying locations or soil which tends to turn into muddy or waterlogged easily. Loose loam or sandy loam soil with a pH between 6.2 and 6.8 functions well, since it drains well without drying too quickly, and it’s great aeration so that it doesn’t compact easily.
Soil Improvements
Compost adds organic matterthat loosens and enhances the quality of the dirt whilst also adding trace nutrients. Prior to plant, till the soil to your 12- to 18-inch depth, removing any roots or debris and breaking up dirt clods. Scatter 4 to 6 inches of compost over the new bed and till it into the dirt. If your soil is especially poor or doesn’t drain well, think about a raised bed. Utilize boards or bricks to make a 8- to 12-inch increased edge. Till the top 6 inches of the indigenous soil, and fill the raised bed using a combination of equal parts compost along with loam or topsoil.
Boost Joint
Providing the dirt with a few nutrients before you plant fuels the first stages of root growth and leaf development, helping the tomato crops set more quickly. A soil test done at a testing lab supplies the best guide to your bed’s mineral needs, but you can make a general fertilizer application if you decide to skip studying. For a general application, mix 1 1/2 pounds of a 5-10-10 fertilizer for every 50 square foot of bed, then combining the crust with the top 8 inches of dirt.
Plant Them Right
Tomatoes could be transplanted into their new bed any time after frost risk has passed in spring, however, they perform better when transplanted after the soil temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit. When you transplant, set the tomato crops at the ground up for their very first set of leaves they form more origins on any buried stem portion and establish much better. Spacing depends on the tomato variety, but generally, leave a 24- to 30-inch distance between plants in a row, and set rows 30 to 42 inches apart. Put bets or put tomato cages above the transplants at the time of planting so that the tomatoes have the help they need as they start putting on new development.