Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

Garden Notes: Tomatoes

I am starting a homesteading binder with a section for gardening.  Here is some information I've gathered about Tomatoes:

Tomato

Amount to Plant
Per person – 3-5 plants per person, double for winter storage
Primary vitamin source:  vitamin C

Soil
Choose a sunny, open, well-drained spot.  Best soil is slightly acid, organically enriched sand or clay loam.  Fruit will ripen faster in sandy soil.  Soil pH should be around 6.5.

Planting
Start indoors from seed six to eight weeks before last frost.  Keep them as close to as possible to 80 degrees for prompt germination.  Then the seedlings should be kept around 60 degrees to prevent overly rapid, difficult-to-harden growth.  When seedlings are 3” tall, transplant to deeper container, burying stem deeper as roots will develop all along stem.  Transplant again when 10” tall into ½ gallon milk containers putting the root ends at the very bottom of the container.  Very Tender – plant when the soil is warm – about 10-20 days after the last frost.  Harden off for two weeks before planting out. 

To plant in the garden, dig a trench and put compost in the bottom to within 3 inches of the ground surface.  Use 1 cup of bone meal around each plant.  Lay the plant down in the trench pinch off lower leaves, cover with 2 ½ inches of soil and firm.  This way the tomato roots will be in warmer soil and will grow faster.  Water in with lukewarm water that contains fish fertilizer. 

You can mulch them after they have been in the ground 4 or 5 weeks to allow the soil to warm.  The best time to stake them is right after transplanting.  Staked plants should be spaced 18 to 24 inches apart.  Or enclose with a wire cage.  For indeterminate varieties, cages should be 2 ½ feet across and 5 to 6 feet tall using large mesh, galvanized fence or sturdy iron mesh used to reinforce concrete.  Companion plant with spinach, radishes or lettuce.

Fertilizer & Care
Determinate types should not be pruned, indeterminate types need to be pruned to keep growth in check.  Sidedress with compost when vines are in flower.

Harvest
Pick tomatoes when they are red and firm but beginning to soften, usually about six days after you notice the first red color.  Twist the fruit from the stem, bracing the plant to avoid damage, or cut off the fruit with a sharp knife.

Plant Yield
Tomatoes are a type of vegetable that gives greatest yield for space and effort.  100-ft row of single row planting will be about 40 to 60 staked plants or 26 unstaked plants and will yield 3 bushels (160 pounds).  Uses 3 pounds per quart jar.  One bushel will provide 15 to 18 quarts.

<i>Untitled Comment</i>

3:34 AM, Tuesday, February 19, 2008 .. Posted by gokings13

do you keep a personal garden journal?
what does it look like?
mine looks like a diary, but I am not sure how 'helpful' it is??
thanks!
Laura

Hi Laura~ I don't keep a journal, but I have been keeping a garden calendar the past couple years. I try to plan out when I need to fertilize, thin, etc. and I write down when I plant things and when things ripen. So I can look at last year's calendar and see what was going on... Thanks for reminding me of that...I'll need to find last year's and put it with these notes!
~Michelle

Edited by mdonohue on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 1:26 PM