Re: Is anyone working in the garden yet?
My tips for growing tomatoes:
Prior to planting, mix a generous amount of a slow-release granular fertilizer indicated for tomatoes (will have more calcium than a general fertilizer). I like Dr. Earth vegetable fertilizer and Jobe's organics, but others are good, too.
With almost every other plant, you keep the same soil line when transplanting into your garden. Not tomatoes.
You bury 2/3 of the above-ground stem. Pinch off all the branches and leaves from the bottom 2/3 of the stem, dig a deeper hole, and bury all but the top 1/3 of the plant.
Tomatoes go through a lot of water and nitrogen. They love heat and humidity. They need full sun. In hot weather, water deeply and daily. In cooler weather, like right now, water when the top of the soil looks dry.
Mix in more granular slow-release fertilizer halfway through the growing season.
If you use a fertilizer indicated for tomatoes, you are unlikely to see blossom end rot (BER). It's when the end furthest from the stem (where the blossom had been attached) starts to rot. It's caused by not enough calcium. If you do see this, the quickest fix is to mix about 1/2 - 1 cup of cow's milk into a gallon of water. Water the leaves and soil of the plants.
Peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini are all prone to blossom end rot and this is a super fast fix. I do it preventively with my zucchini because by the time you notice it, it is too late to save the fruit that already have it. The rot spreads.
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