Tomato Plants?

[HeavenLeigh]

Every Spring Darek brings home a tomato plant from school. Every year I manage to kill the darn thing. So far I have somehow kept this one alive for one full week :eek: and it's growing some.

Any tips on tomato plants? I give it just a lil water everyday and leave it on the window sill. Should I give it more/less water? If it's kind of cool out and I have the window open should I move the plant?

[Mel-icious]

I'd leave it on the sill until its close to your planting out date, your last spring frost. What zone are you in?

Give it a little water when the soil seems dry, even up to the point that they start to droop. Don't keep it wet all the time, as that can encourage disease, particularly indoors, keep it in the sun, and don't spray the foliage with water.

What size pots are they in? If they don't seem like they have enough room in the little pot transplant them into a size bigger, and bury them all the way up to the first set of leaves.

You should be able to plant them outside soon. I'll have to check your date, you do plan on planting them out right?

[HeavenLeigh]

Yep. I'm hoping to let the thing live long enough to be able to plant it. It seems to be in a decent sized pot, it has room to grow. I have no idea what zone I'm in unless you're talking time zones :D. I'm in Southeast Kentucky and our last Spring frost should be around the 2nd week of May.
Before I watered the heck out of them, evidentally that's what killed them. Darek was so upset last year when his died that my parents went out and got another, planted it, and it only grew 1 itty bitty tomato. I take my black thumb after my Mom. She swears she can kill fake plants.
Should I get more soil and put with it? It's growing beyond the soil now but it's still pretty small. Is there any veggie growing nutrient stuff I can buy to put in the soil? LOL....sorry to sound like a dumb:moon: but I'm pretty clueless when it comes to gardening.

[Mel-icious]

Are you planning on putting it in the ground or a container? When you are ready to plant it outside first let it get used to outside, its called hardening off. Bringing them outdoors the first day for 1/2 hour in just partial sunlight in an area protected by the wind. After your plants are outdoors for 1/2 hour somewhat protected increase the time daily to 1 hour, 2, 3, 4, leading up to 8 hours per day. Then leave them out overnight for a full day. As the amount of hours increase you can gradually expose them to more direct sunlight and some wind. Keep in mind the soil will dry faster outdoors due to sun and wind so water more frequently outdoors. The soil in containers will dry faster than your actual actual garden will. This entire process takes about 2 weeks. If there is a thunderstorm or high winds..obviously skip that day. You are trying to aclimate them, not kill them. LOL!

When planting your seedlings in the garden, first look for an area in your garden that you know drains well, and gets lots of sun, a minimum of 6 hours a day. Dig a shallow trench and lay the seedling in on its side. If you can get some compost, you can buy it at nurseries, put a little in the trench, if you can't its no biggie, you can even mix a little sand in the dirt so the roots can areate. Bury the entire plant up to the first set of leaves. By doing this you will build a stronger root system for the plant. Some people say not to fertilize until the plant starts to fruit, some say you can before, so its up to you. If your going organic you can use fish emulsion, if not you can buy Miracle Grow tomato food. I used that last year and it worked great! Once a week using the directions on the box.

Never spray the foliage, and never water in the heat of the sun, you'll burn the plant. Water everyday when in the ground, in the early part of the day, even morning, and not to late in the night as the water will cause bacteria to form if it doesn't have the sun to dry it. I'm not sure if your a smoker, but no smoking around the plant, it can cause tobacco mosiac virus. You can then use hay, or grass clippings around the plant to help keep moisture in, if you use grass clippings try not to use the ones where you have lots of weeds, or you'll be weeding a lot more than you have to.

And that's it. As they grow get some stakes and tie them up to keep them from breaking, some people even let them sprawl, its all up to you. I'm sure your a zone 6 gardener and you should plant them out around May 15th, some say Mothers Day, but I could be mistaken. Try to contact your local county extension cooperative to be sure. If your planting May 15th, start to acclimate them two weeks before. I know around here I don't put mine in the ground until Memorial Day to be sure. But I live in a cooler climate than you.

[HeavenLeigh]

Thanks M! You should open your own greenhouse.....or restaurant :p.

Great advice. I had no idea on the hardening off. It makes so much sense! Keep your fingers crossed for Darek and his plant! It seems to be doing good this year. Then again before I asked for help on it, watering it had slipped my mind a lot. Thanks to me being scatter-brained it's still alive :D

[suzieq728]

M,
Mine are in the ground and are doing great!!! Now, if I could only keep my stupid cat out of the garden I would be happy. That apple somethingorother is NOT working this year, she seems to like it, and is sort of attracked to the stuff. Now I dont know what to do.. Any suggestions???:scratch:

Oh gosh, I reccommened it to someone on the board too, I hope they read this and DONT use it! :eek: