Tomatoes

[Nelson-Collier]

Thank you!

Your welcome! Glad I could help!

 

[Acre4Me]

Add crushed egg shell. Everytime I plant my tomatoes I put a handful of crushed eggshell under the root system.

You can also amend soil with Bone meal, which I buy at the end of the season when the stores are trying to get rid of the surplus amendments. Also, gypsum is another common amendment that provides calcium, without changing pH, whereas Limestone will change the pH. Egg shells are easy, of course.

I have a test plot going with tomatoes and peppers. I planted them in my partially decomposed compost pile. The compost pile is partially degraded mulch, some grass, and nearly a year's worth of whole lot of coffee grounds, tea bags (ripped open), and egg shells. Tons of worms too. I added soil to the holes I dup in the compost pile, and planted a few tomotaoes and peppers. We will see if these do any better than the ones in the raised beds of dirt.

3. Add oyster shells.

Easily found in the chicken feed aisle. I've added some to the planting spots this year to see if this will help my tomatoes, as they did poorly last year.

3. Make sure they aren't too watered. Water them once every 3 - 5 days (depending on the heat) extremely thorough. I do this every year and end up with a surplus of tomatoes, plants, and peppers! People generally come to me with simple help and solutions like this.

LOL! This is a difficult year to NOT overwater. So.Much.Rain.

 

[Nelson-Collier]

You can also amend soil with Bone meal, which I buy at the end of the season when the stores are trying to get rid of the surplus amendments. Also, gypsum is another common amendment that provides calcium, without changing pH, whereas Limestone will change the pH. Egg shells are easy, of course.

I have a test plot going with tomatoes and peppers. I planted them in my partially decomposed compost pile. The compost pile is partially degraded mulch, some grass, and nearly a year's worth of whole lot of coffee grounds, tea bags (ripped open), and egg shells. Tons of worms too. I added soil to the holes I dup in the compost pile, and planted a few tomotaoes and peppers. We will see if these do any better than the ones in the raised beds of dirt.



Easily found in the chicken feed aisle. I've added some to the planting spots this year to see if this will help my tomatoes, as they did poorly last year.




LOL! This is a difficult year to NOT overwater. So.Much.Rain.

Thanks for that first paragraph! I forgot completely about bone meal and lime. Never heard of Gypsum! Thanks so much for sharing, God bless!

P.S. Where I live, Eastern NC, the heavy rains have stopped coming for a while. The next 2 weeks are forecasted to be hot dry and sunny, and the same weather has happened about a week prior. So it's pretty bad here if you don't water anything at this time.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

It has been rainy recently but I have a sprinkler system that I use to water them every morning. I live in on Georgia and it has been hot and muggy.

From what I've heard you only need to water your tomatoes every two days depending on rain and how much rain. Is this not true?

 

[katiebrock]

From what I've heard you only need to water your tomatoes every two days depending on rain and how much rain. Is this not true?

I believe you are right. Since I first posted this thread, I realized they may be getting too much water, and now I water them every other day or so. I added some egg shells I have been saving, and that seems to have done the trick! I have tons of tomatoes! Now I am just trying to figure out how to keep all the bugs off.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

I believe you are right. Since I first posted this thread, I realized they may be getting too much water, and now I water them every other day or so. I added some egg shells I have been saving, and that seems to have done the trick! I have tons of tomatoes! Now I am just trying to figure out how to keep all the bugs off.

That's great! I can't wait for tomatoes! I didn't notice the date on the thread...you're quite a bit ahead of me in the growing season down in GA. We didn't have our last frost until after May 20th!

 

[katiebrock]

That's great! I can't wait for tomatoes! I didn't notice the date on the thread...you're quite a bit ahead of me in the growing season down in GA. We didn't have our last frost until after May 20th!

Yep, and it sure has been hot down here! Our last frost was about a month before that.

 

[Nelson-Collier]

I believe you are right. Since I first posted this thread, I realized they may be getting too much water, and now I water them every other day or so. I added some egg shells I have been saving, and that seems to have done the trick! I have tons of tomatoes! Now I am just trying to figure out how to keep all the bugs off.

Plant some Marigolds in between your tomato plants. They scare away bad bugs. I planted some in my garden and the bugs disappeared! No ghost stories here lol.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

Hey, I didn't know there was a gardening spot on this chicken forum! Awesome! I'm a tomato FREAK! Check this out! I dare anyone to guess what kind of tomato this is!

 

[Acre4Me]

Hey, I didn't know there was a gardening spot on this chicken forum! Awesome! I'm a tomato FREAK! Check this out! I dare anyone to guess what kind of tomato this is! View attachment 1857853

I’m growing “pruden’s purple”, but I don’t think it gets purple before turning red.