Growing Your Own Earlier "Garden-Fresh" Tomatoes
Get a Jump-Start on Tomatoes!
If one of your new year's resolutions was "to be picking your own garden-fresh tomatoes in July" then you might need a change in your garden schedule?
Buying the Plants!
It could be a wise choice to buy some of those "already-started" plants in 4-packs at the garden center. By repotting them into larger containers, the roots will have plenty of room to spread out, causing the plants to become healthier and more sturdy, and with thicker stems and stockier tops.
Moving them into a heated coldframe or your own greenhouse with proper sunlight, will give them a chance to grow into better-rooted plants by the time the weather is settled enough for them to go into the garden. These plants will have a jump-start!
Buying the "end of spring greenhouse plants" in June?
Some of these plants can be a great bargain. Try to get a look at the roots. If the roots are a solid mass of white and growing in a circle, they are root-bound. Growing for too-long in not enough soil, they will need time to recover, even with a root-trimming. Buying late-spring, bargain-priced tomato plants might not be a bargain! The stressed root system may never recover, or, recover so late that tomatoes are just starting to to come on the vine in September.
Buying great plants in spring could mean a bountiful earlier harvest!
Sources:
organicgardening.about.com/od/.../f/tomatotypefaq.htm
Sunset National Gardening Book - By the editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
gurneys.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_15121
Published by Rue Cooper
Rue Cooper is a free lance writer living in Pennsylvania. She watches a lot of television shows and old comedy movies. She is interested in homeschooling, religions, biography, science, history, world cultu... View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentGreat Article! Can't wait to eat a home-grown tomato!
I usually plant seed and haven't gotten mine planted yet because it has been so darn cold! Sounds like a great project for the coming weekend!
This is a great article as tomatoes are now getting so expensive.
eat them right off the vine....good work Rue
Nothing beats a home-grown tomato! Cheers :)