Help me succeed

[Craigaria]

Hello everyone! I have been reading the forum for the last week or so, trying to take in all the info I can.

I planted my first tomato plants last year. Three of them actually (better boys). This was my first time ever attempting to grow anything. No soil prep, just planted them and used miracle grow every two weeks. I also kept all the suckers and low branches trimed. The plants grew large but produced only a handful of fruit and they were not very large.

This year I want to step it up a little. I am only going to plant 3 or 4 plants, but I am hoping for better production and size.

I started a 5x5 bed and tilled in some composted horse manure. I was going to add some top soil soon, also.

I have been looking into a few different heirlooms but I may need some suggestions for planting in Georgia, just east of Atlanta. I would like to try for some huge tomatoes and for a plant that will put out large numbers of sandwich sized fruits.

Any suggestion on which plants, more soil prep, etc, would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited about this growing season, and I want to do it right this year!

Thanks in advance, Craig

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Craigaria

Hello everyone! I have been reading the forum for the last week or so, trying to take in all the info I can.

I planted my first tomato plants last year. Three of them actually (better boys). This was my first time ever attempting to grow anything. No soil prep, just planted them and used miracle grow every two weeks. I also kept all the suckers and low branches trimed. The plants grew large but produced only a handful of fruit and they were not very large.

This year I want to step it up a little. I am only going to plant 3 or 4 plants, but I am hoping for better production and size.

I started a 5x5 bed and tilled in some composted horse manure. I was going to add some top soil soon, also.

I have been looking into a few different heirlooms but I may need some suggestions for planting in Georgia, just east of Atlanta. I would like to try for some huge tomatoes and for a plant that will put out large numbers of sandwich sized fruits.

Any suggestion on which plants, more soil prep, etc, would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited about this growing season, and I want to do it right this year!

Thanks in advance, Craig

Sounds like you are on the right track.

For a few tips I would suggest less miracle grow and more soil prep. At a certain point in its growth tomatoes need less fertilizer which causes good foliage growth and lets them stop growing leaves and start growing Tomatoes! Phosphorous is good and other things like calcium help sometimes depending on your soil, but the BEST thing to do is provide lots of compost that will slow release nutrients all year. So start with the soil and use less or even eventually no miracle grow at all. (once your soil is ideal)

[Doug9345]

I second what Red Barron said and last year was tough in a lot of places for tomatoes. Tomatoes don't like it any better than people when the temperatures head for 100ºF

[Cole_Robbie]

You have the right idea in amending the soil beforehand. If I had to venture a guess about your garden last year, I'd say that the phosphorous in your Miracle Grow never made it to your roots. It does not move well through soil, but Nitrogen does, which is why you got big plants with little fruit. The P needs to be worked into the soil, or at least the hole under the plant. Everybody has their own methods. I have had good luck with bat guano and Osmocote.

You might try having one hybrid plant as your "sure thing" while you experiment with heirloom varieties. The hybrid variety Big Beef is very popular. You can also visit farmer's market vendors and ask them what variety they grow.

I have read that purples and blacks will tolerate the South's hot summers better than other varieties. Cherokee Purple is one of the most popular heirlooms. It's from the Cherokee Nation, originally of eastern Tennessee (now western North Carolina), which is not far from you.

[Craigaria]

Thanks for the quick replies.

So for the soil, should i add store bought topsoil to the manure compost, or should i just add something at the bottom of the holes when planting. Is bat guano easy to get?

It was also suggested to me to cover the dirt with news paper and mulch after planting. Anyone ever tried this?

The Cherokee purple sounds great! I hope they are carried locally. Do they get very large?

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Craigaria

Thanks for the quick replies.

So for the soil, should i add store bought topsoil to the manure compost, or should i just add something at the bottom of the holes when planting. Is bat guano easy to get?

It was also suggested to me to cover the dirt with news paper and mulch after planting. Anyone ever tried this?

The Cherokee purple sounds great! I hope they are carried locally. Do they get very large?

You can try buying topsoil. It is good for beginners that are just learning and don't know a lot about soil improvement yet. But you can also skip the topsoil and add aged manures and composts and other soil amendments to make your own soil into rich topsoil. If you can't find bat guano, it is ok. Composted horse or cow manure works great, just about any manure is good for the soil.

I have been using newspaper and mulch for well over 35 years. It is probably the best easiest most productive thing you can do! Then year after year you can either till in and start fresh with more newspaper and mulch each year, or go "no till" and just keep adding more on top in layers.

I started over 35 years ago with tilling it in and just adding fresh each year. Now mostly I use "no till" (except direct seeded crops). Both work good.

[Craigaria]

Good deal, I have an endless supply of composted horse manure. My daughter is a barrel racer and her horse ranch has a huge pile. The rear of the pile is two to three years old.

So am I correct in assuming that I should just plant directly into this compost?

Also, if I use the guano, do I just add a couple tablespoons in the hole when planting? Or is this not needed if I have the manure compost allready?

For a little background info, my neighbor has a large garden that we all pitch in on and reap the rewards. So if it is anything like last year, there will be plenty of veggies (and tomatoes) to go around. I am just looking for some showcase tomatoes to show off and enjoy

My perfect vision is to have some really large tomatoes on one plant and another plant that is breaking under the weight of all the tomatoes growing on it.

Hopefully I'm not setting myself up for disappointment.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Craigaria

Good deal, I have an endless supply of composted horse manure. My daughter is a barrel racer and her horse ranch has a huge pile. The rear of the pile is two to three years old.

So am I correct in assuming that I should just plant directly into this compost?

Also, if I use the guano, do I just add a couple tablespoons in the hole when planting? Or is this not needed if I have the manure compost allready?

For a little background info, my neighbor has a large garden that we all pitch in on and reap the rewards. So if it is anything like last year, there will be plenty of veggies (and tomatoes) to go around. I am just looking for some showcase tomatoes to show off and enjoy

My perfect vision is to have some really large tomatoes on one plant and another plant that is breaking under the weight of all the tomatoes growing on it.

Hopefully I'm not setting myself up for disappointment.

Usually you will be fine with that 3 year old composted horse manure. To be sure just sprout a couple beans in it to "test" it. Sometimes hay and feed can be treated with herbicides and such that will effect your tomatoes. So get a couple Dixie cups and plant some beans in it. As long as the beans do good, then the tomatoes should be good too.

If you are just trying for some good showcase tomatoes, First amend the soil then I would paper and mulch BEFORE you plant your tomato seedlings out. Then a week or so later pull back the mulch and tear a hole for each plant. Dig a hole and mix that soil with more composted manure and transplant your seedling in deeper than it grew. Deeper the better. I mud mine in "special" water, but that's just me. Then pull the mulch back around the plant.

Plain water works too, if your soil is already ideal, and you don't have to "mud in" either. Mudding in is also not necessarily needed either, you can fill the dirt first and water after if you wish. Those are just things I do for that little extra edge.

Other things I do for that "extra" edge is companion plant and side dressing grass clippings to the mulch all year. Also a foliar spray of compost tea in the early growth phase helps, but I stop that once fruit starts setting.

PS
"special water" is water inoculated with a product like tomato tone, or others may have their own recipe which could include any number of compost teas, manure teas, seaweed extracts, dilute fertilizers, aquarium water, willow extract, comfrey extract or whatever "secret" recipe they like.

"mudding in" means filling the hole with water first, then put the seedling and then filling the soil around it.

"companion plants" for tomatoes include, but are not limited to, marigold, basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, purslane, cilantro, tarragon, carrots, Alliums (onion and garlic family), celery, Geraniums, Petunias, Nasturtium, Borage, dandelion, etc. Just be sure to keep rosemary away from basil, alliums away from carrots parsleys, and keep all brassicas (cabbage family) away from all nightshades (tomatoes eggplant peppers).

I typically use basil marigold (and sometimes cilantro borage) just to keep it simple.

[Cole_Robbie]

Mulch is popular. There is plastic sheeting if you have drip irrigation, woven material like landscape fabric, or just simple paper. You can use old cardboard boxes or butcher paper, too.

You'd probably have to order the bat guano. Hydroponics stores in Atlanta would carry it. www.wormsway.com has it. I use Jamaican bat guano for its high phosphorous. Different guanos have different NPK numbers.

Yeah, both the tomato and the plant of Cherokee Purple should be fairly big. It's not too hard to find.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_purple
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Cherokee_Purple

[Fusion_power]

Grow a variety like Red Brandywine, Bradley, Druzba, or Lynnwood. These will all produce a good crop of tomatoes under adverse conditions. If you want to grow a hybrid, I would suggest Big Beef.

DarJones

[dustdevil]

I would also consider contacting a Tomatoville member who lives in the Atlanta area...ScottinAtlanta comes to mind.

[Craigaria]

Great reply Redbaron! I know what I need to do now.

Scottinatlanta introduced himself to me in the welcome forum. I was hoping to pick his brain a little too.

[Craigaria]

One more question, how deep should my topsoil layer be? Right now it is about 8" deep before it hits red clay.

Also, I forgot to add earlier that I added about two shovels of lime when I put in the manure

Just thought of this too... What kind of bean should I use for testing, and is there one that I can plant now while it is still cold?

Thanks

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Craigaria

One more question, how deep should my topsoil layer be? Right now it is about 8" deep before it hits red clay.


Just thought of this too... What kind of bean should I use for testing, and is there one that I can plant now while it is still cold?

Thanks

8" is more topsoil than I have.

Any bean will do. We are just testing for herbicides or other things in the manure that might harm the seedlings. Just use Dixie cups for your test and put them inside where it is warm. Beans sprout fast.

[Craigaria]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

8" is more topsoil than I have.

Any bean will do. We are just testing for herbicides or other things in the manure that might harm the seedlings. Just use Dixie cups for your test and put them inside where it is warm. Beans sprout fast.

Cool, going to do that today