Tomato Time?

[dyn99]

Call me crazy if you want…but I planted tomatoes from starts yesterday after work. 7 small plants. Early varieties that theoretically are ready within 60 days. Plus one Roma.

We’ve got a sunny spot that gets sun mid-day through evening in a rock terraced veggie bed, so it should stay warmer than most places.

So…am I crazy to plant them this early? This is year 3 of the veggie garden, and we have yet to get much in the way of ripe tomatoes in the prior 2 years. But we waited until the end of May or the first of June previously to plant.

The weather is supposed to be nice and hot this weekend!

For anyone who cares, the planting beds were a mix of topsoil and planting compost from cedar grove. Plenty of sand content. We amended using Wells Medina’s vegetable garden recipe. And added some organic chicken manure for good measure…

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[MargL]

The first year I planted tomatoes I did it in late April. I had a row cover on them for a couple weeks while the weather was cool but ended up with a bumper crop of tomatoes. It was crazy in a good way!

I don’t know if it was planting them early-ish or the fact that I used Cedar Grove compost / planting mix with a side of manure from E-green landscaping. The second year was very good for tomatoes as well. Now I’m in San Francisco… I’m keeping my fingers crossed I will get tomatoes from the seeds I saved in Seattle! They’ve sprouted but you know, it’s foggy down here!

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[funkietoo]

Tomatoes need four things to produce a good crop.

1) Heat, lots of heat

2) At least 6 hours of direct sun light

3) Fertilized every 3 weeks (they are heavy feeders–we use a mixture of Alaska Fish Fertilizer & Seaweed)

4) Water regularly–they are very thirsty plants.

The ‘tomato’ rule of thumb, is to plant out tomatoes after Memorial Day Weekend. The reasons are that our evenings are still cold and the day temps are unpredictable. Unfortunately, the last few summers have not been hot enough, for long enough, for tomato plants…even if you do wait until after Memorial Day.

It sounds like your plants will get the needed sun exposure. The biggest challenge will be heat. Cover your tomato plants every night. You may even want to put a cage around your plants, then wrap bubble wrap the outside and leave it on 24 hours a day (until end of May). This will keep you plants super warm. At night you can cover the top to keep the heat in.

Another idea is to put the plants back into large, black pots. They can be placed in the sun on nice days, and then brought back in at night.

Good luck.

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[dunnkld]

I always aim to get them in the ground by 1 May (latest frost date?) but I live at sea level (Alki area) and plant in front of a south facing wall. I have had my first tomato as early as mid-June (1 year) but usually it’s mid-July to early August depending on weather. It’s a crapshoot, but if we do get an early summer, I am ahead of the game. If not, they just shiver in the ground but won’t be hurt unless there’s a frost. By bringing them in to ripen on a windowsill, I have eaten homegrown tomatoes up until the first week of December. I think the earliest tomato I ever had was “Fourth of July”.

I put “blankets” on the ground around my tomatoes in the form of wide strips of red knit fabric anchored down with garden staples. This keeps weeds down and holds the moisture in the soil so I don’t have to water much. Too much watering leaches the nutrients out of the soil. They love a top dressing of compost from time to time. Maybe I am superstitious but I have heard the red color makes the plants want to put out earlier. I have been doing this for years with good results although the blankets have faded in the sun over the years so I am not so sure about the “red” theory. I found some cheap red knit yardage at Pacific Iron this year so I am replacing some of my tattered blankets.

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[funkietoo]

Tomato growing tips from a Seattle Tilth Volunteer that raises 3,000 tomato seeds a year:

http://seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw/2009076642_pacificfootgardener19.html

Another good article. The ‘trench tip’ is something I have used very successfully.

http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/10-tips-for-growing-tomatoes-in-the-northwest-2/

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[B-squared]

Personally, i wait until memorial day as well just because the weather can be unpredictably cool – just as it will be ridiculously hot this weekend.

be careful about the chicken manure – it can provide too much nitrogen and then you’ll get lots of leaves and little fruit. I use Walts Organic fertilizer (Rainy Pacific NW blend)

fertilzer http://waltsorganic.com/

i like the idea of putting them in black pots until its a little consistently warmer out. maybe up against a south facing wall.

This weekend is the Tilths edible plant sale so stock up on your edibles!!!

http://seattletilth.org/

I am a volunteer there – check out the lists online for what they have. TONS of varieties including herbs and edible flowers.

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[funkietoo]

Walts is an excellent organic fertilizer.

The Seattle Tilth sale is excellent! I go every year.

Also, please remember Furry Faces Foundations 14th Annual Plant Season. We have GREAT tomato and veggie plants, plus lots of perennials, etc. We have repeat customers that will only by their tomato plants from us, year after year.

The first sale is:

May 18th & 19th; from 10 am – 4 pm;

at 3809 46th Ave SW

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[Magpie]

I save my dry cleaning bags and bubble wrap. I wrap the bubble wrap around the bottom of the tomato cages and secure it with duct tape and then I put the dry cleaning bags over the top and tape them to the bubble wrap. I had tomatoes a couple of weeks before anyone else. I also have raised beds made of stone. I will be putting my tomatoes out either this weekend or next weekend.

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[dyn99]

Thanks for all the tips. I did use chicken manure compost based fertilizer (not pure manure), but only added 6 cubic feet to 120 sf of veggie beds. And we turned it at least 4″ in, so not much overall content. I’m going to try the bubble wrap idea when it gets cold again…that’s a good one! And the new spot gets 12+ hours of sun per day. So I am crossing my fingers this year!

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[Author]

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