Questions and Answers related to January 2010 Newsletter
Question: What is feed?
Answer: Often a plant needs extra food, just to boost its growth, and so we feed it with fertilizer, tomato fertilizer will help boost the plant and the flowering and roots. Try to use organic food so that you tomatoes remain organic too. You can get feed/fertilizer from any good garden nursery. Often manure is also used as a fertilizer for the tomatoes by topping the soil with a little manure and with water the nutrients will seep down.
Question: What size pot to plant seedlings in?
When planting seed, use about a 7 inch pot, planting 3 seeds per pot. Once the seeds have germinated, and are around 4 inches tall, you can then transplant them. Transplant only one plant into a 12 inch plant pot so that the tomato can easily grow and get affected from another plants growth.
Question: Can we grow one seed per pot?
Yes of course you can grow one seed per pot, it will require no transplanting hopefully, but from past experiences I have found only 2 out of the 5 seeds I plant give a resulting plant, and sometimes a plant might die. If you are not limited in space and pots and soil then it definitely is a good idea to plant one seed per pot.
Question: can the pots be of plastic or is it recommended we use earth pots?
First of all, for those who might not know, earth pots are sometimes referred to terracotta pots or clay pots and these are porous .Non-porous pots are those made of plastic or are glazed pots. Now porous pots (earth pots) provide better soil aeration and helps in proper growth of plants. Plastic plants cause excess water retention, restrict airflow. From my personal experience I have found that those plants planted in earth or clay pots did tremendously better compared to plastic container pots.
Question: what proportion of cow manure and soil to use?
One third cow manure and two thirds of good soil should be fine, ihave come across people who have sowed tomatoes in 100% cow peat. If you have had trouble growing seedlings, try using special potting compost/soil; remember the soil must be fine, light and not clay like.
Every few weeks place some cow manure on top of the soil, with watering the nutrients will go down naturally into the soil.
Question: My seedlings never grow?
Well when planting your seed, make sure you gently place the seed, and the soil must have no lumps, as it will make it difficult to sprout thru. When you first water the seedling make sure you don’t pour the water over, try cupping your hands with water and drizzling it over the new planted seed, this will prevent the seed from coming onto the surface. Try growing moneymaker tomatoes as they are more resilient to grow.
Question: once the seed leaves are visible does the plant need as much sunlight?
YES! Tomato plants need full sunshine and less than three hours of afternoon shade. If temperatures regularly soar above 90, some sort of mid-day shade can be desirable, especially if nights don't cool down significantly. A minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight is needed, the more sunlight the plants get the more energy they have and the more fruits will be produced.
Some extra notes on tomatoes
When transplanting the tomato plant, insert gently a stick and using suitable string tie the main stem of the tomato plant to the stick, for support, the plant will grow at least 5 feet tall.
As your tomato grows taller and taller you will notice that the oldest leaves, which are right at the bottom of the stem will turn slightly yellow, pinch these leaves off, as they will only stunt the growth of the plant and won’t produce any fruit.
When the tomato plant starts to produce flower decrease your watering, but make sure that the soil doesn’t get too dry.
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