How do I tomato plant?
May 20, 2018 9:26 PM   Subscribe

I bought 2 tomato plants on a whim from Whole Foods. I know less than zero about gardening. What do I do now?

So far the most I've ever done is keep a basil plant alive indoors for 9 months, and even that almost died a few months ago.
The plants
Tag they came with
One is an Early Girl, the other is a Lemon Boy.

Some specific questions:

1) I assume it's ok to keep the plants outside? I'm near San Jose, CA, so it does cool down at night but it's not super cold out or anything.

2) Should I transplant them into the ground? The area I would plant them is probably 2ft x 2ft, is that big enough? Pic, with my women's size 8 feet for scale. I could pull out some neighboring plants if that's way to little space, but I'd rather not. Or will they be fine in their current 2 gallon buckets?

3) Do I need to do anything beyond watering them?

4) Our neighborhood has tons of squirrels, whom we frequently see with the neighbor's avocados. Are they going to go after the tomatoes? Is there anything we can do to prevent it/make it harder? What about the outdoor (but non-feral) cats who frequently come through our yard?

Thank you Metafilter, for helping me grow tasty tasty tomatoes!
posted by matildatakesovertheworld to Home & Garden (25 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I would have said yes, plant them in the ground, but your tomatoes are already established in their big pots and transplanting them now (let alone digging holes big enough) would stress them. Keep them in their pots. Tomatoes in pots need regular water and fertilizer. You can buy fertilizer specific to tomato plants. As a novice, that's what I'd recommend you do.

Your best hope regarding the squirrels is that they don't notice your tomatoes. If they do find them, you can build cages around your tomatoes using 1/4" or 1/8" hardware cloth. (Basically, square chicken wire with really small holes.) Your neighborhood cats won't bother the tomato plants, and they may actually keep the squirrels away.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:39 PM on May 20, 2018


Best answer: My recommendation would be to buy a pack of 7-gal fabric pots and split a 2cf bag of "garden soil" between them. This is how I grow tomatoes in my rental yard. The squirrels mostly just want water, I cut up oranges from my tree but they'll use a frequently-cleaned water dish as well.

They need water on a regular schedule, and if you're doing it by hand you can water them 1.5C by hand every other day unless it is very hot where you are, if so on those days 1.5C every day, make sure you get it right at the roots.

There's more to it, but in your first year bagged soil will do it. You may want a tomato cage for each of them, but youtube is another great resource for searching that term and getting more detail. My faves are CaliKim29 and CaliforniaGardening and even if you're not here in socal their advice is pretty reliable.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:40 PM on May 20, 2018 [2 favorites]


They like sunshine and lots of water. I would transplant them, that is plenty of room, I wish I had a garden like that! I just grow tomatoes in my window in Oakland. I think 2 gallon container is really small even my small window container tomatoes are in pots bigger than that. Maybe mix in some compost or fertilizer into your ground then put them in.

Fabric pots is a good idea if you don't want to dig, Berkeley Indoor Garden has them in all sizes for cheap.
posted by bradbane at 9:42 PM on May 20, 2018 [2 favorites]


Best answer: PS, regarding the weather: Tomatoes will set fruit so long as the average nighttime temp is above 55. You definitely want to keep them outside.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:46 PM on May 20, 2018


If it's legal where you live, you might like to plant them close to cannabis plants, alternating first one, then the other in line. Both plants profit from the proximity of the other; the results can be spectacular.
posted by aqsakal at 10:15 PM on May 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I'd transplant them into the space you have unless your soil is terrible or the spot doesn't get enough sun (at least 6 hours a day.) If it seems reasonably well drained and not too sandy or clayey or rocky I would dig in some manure or compost and then plant the tomatoes. If your soil isn't great those big fabric pots seem like a good idea.

You'll want tomato cages similar to the ones built into the pots, but bigger. If you get big enough cages you won't have to do anything to the plants except water them and tuck the growing branches inside the cages every few days if they're hanging out. If your cages aren't big enough for your plants you may need to prune the plants so they don't overwhelm the cages and fall over.
posted by Redstart at 10:54 PM on May 20, 2018


I am on team They Look Too Established To Transplant. That is, if you're able to take care of them properly, with regular water and fertilizer. If you're forgetful like me, then it's worth transplanting them. 2 gal is really too small, but if you keep up regularly with water and fertilizer, they will probably do alright.

Tomatoes like sun and heat. Don't put them somewhere too shady.

We haven't had a problem with squirrels or cats in our tomatoes.
posted by salvia at 11:31 PM on May 20, 2018


Another option, assuming the pots have drainage holes, is to just put the pots on that patch of ground you have available. Just put the pot right there, no digging or anything. What will happen is the plant root will grow through the drainage hole into the soil.

Water regularly and use tomato-specific fertilizer at recommended intervals. Tomatoes (and peppers) require a different NPK composition than "all-purpose" fertilizer.

In my experience birds are much more likely to peck away at tomatoes than squirrels, especially during dry periods.

If I were you I'd also plant some basil near the tomato pots, or just sprinkle some basil seeds. Apparently there are a number of benefits to tomato plants from having basil growing nearby. Me, I just think it's handy to have both tomatoes and basil in one place :)
posted by research monkey at 4:01 AM on May 21, 2018


Tomatoes need full sun, as much sun as you can get them, and regular watering (not on the leaves!!). If that spot is in full sun, I'd heavily amend the soil with compost and a mix for containers and plant them in there. Water well while they establish.

As far as taking care of them, you want to pinch off what in Italy we call "femminelle", the small shoots that grow from the crooks of bigger branches. It'll help you have a better harvest if the plant isn't working on those.
posted by lydhre at 4:17 AM on May 21, 2018


This is the correct link, sorry.
posted by lydhre at 5:19 AM on May 21, 2018


My father-in-law produces amazing tomatoes every year in pots no bigger than that - no need to transplant them. Water them often and keep an eye out for bugs and worms.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:09 AM on May 21, 2018


I grow tomatoes in pots but rather bigger pots. If your fence will shade them more than half the day, I would transplant into those nifty fabric bags, with some good garden potting soil, and put them in a pretty sunny space. or dig holes bigger than the pots, add some potting soil and/or compost (garden center, walmart) and water them a lot. As they grow, they may need water 2x a day. Freshly picked tomatoes are the very best. These are nice big healthy plants, they should do fine.
posted by theora55 at 7:25 AM on May 21, 2018


Nthing "full sun and keep an eye out for worms and bugs".

And - it's almost a cliche that I recommend a Moosewood cookbook for the cooking AskMes - I actually have another Moosewood cookbook for you as well. This book is actually a good book about culinary gardening (meaning, it's a gardening book, but focusing on fruits, vegetables, and herbs); there is some really good tomato-specific gardening advice in there, plus loads of general advice on "can I put them outside" or "when do I transplant or do I even need to". ...Plus recipes for what to do with all the stuff you've grown.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:48 AM on May 21, 2018


If you transplant, you should bury the stem. This will grow more roots.
posted by H21 at 7:58 AM on May 21, 2018


When you are ready to get fruit, gently thump or flick each flower blossom with your index finger and thumb to help assure pollination.
posted by DB Cooper at 8:03 AM on May 21, 2018


Squirrels and other outdoor critters will love your tomato plants. They tend to wait until just before you are planning to pick them and then eat them all. Big ones will get nibbled from below by varmints, too, so they look totally normal from the top, but when you go to pick them you will get a handful of squishy tomato (guess how I know?)

You can wrap your tomato cages in small chicken wire or bird netting to help prevent this! Other than that, your advice above is sound and they'll be fine outside. I'm in San Jose and we've always grown tomatoes outside easily. Keeping them for ourselves has always been the harder part--our urban wildlife eats well.
posted by assenav at 9:11 AM on May 21, 2018 [1 favorite]


Definitely just leave them in those pots. Especially since they have the supports, it looks like the intention was keeping them there and not transplanting. Nthing everyone else that said they were too big to transplant anyway.

One recommendation... If you haven't already, amend the soil with lime. Tomatoes can be prone to blossom end rot if they lack the necessary calcium (which the lime provides). My first TWO years, this happened to me. And there's no bigger bummer than having a ton of tomatoes you were caring for all season develop a nasty rotten bottom.
posted by pdxhiker at 2:34 PM on May 21, 2018


You will also need to look for and remove horned tomato worms. They have always found their way to my tomato plants in Southern California. They can quickly eat through many leaves so be vigilant.
posted by conrad53 at 4:22 PM on May 21, 2018


I really don't think they're too big to transplant. I was thinking about suggesting that you could cut the bottoms off the pots and stick them in holes or bags of dirt if you were worried about disturbing the plants by transplanting. But then I decided that there is really no significant difference between doing that and just sliding the plug of soil out of the pot and into a hole in the ground. If the soil is moist you should be able to push/pull the whole contents out of the pot and have it hold together. The roots hold onto the soil. I do it every year with tomato plants in one gallon pots and I envision it working about the same with a two gallon pot. You won't be breaking roots or even losing any significant amount of the existing soil so it shouldn't be much of a shock to the plant. I think it will be worth it because the plants will be able to grow bigger root systems and go longer without watering.
posted by Redstart at 7:47 PM on May 21, 2018


If you can't decide whether to trust the "transplant" team or the "don't transplant" team, you could turn it into an experiment. Stick one plant in the ground and leave one in the pot and report back in the fall which worked better. (It would be a better experiment if both were the same variety, but you'd still learn something from it.)
posted by Redstart at 7:53 PM on May 21, 2018


Response by poster: That corner does get full sun for much of the day. The soil in that area is a bit dusty looking. Doesn't seem very rich, although again, I don't know much about gardening. I assume adding a bag of tomato fertilizer when I transplant would fix most of that though?

To those saying not to transplant, will the size of the plant and/or harvest be limited by the current size of the cage then? That makes me lean towards transplanting...
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 9:34 PM on May 21, 2018


I think an ENTIRE bag of fertilizer may be excessive. Read the package and talk to the garden shop staff to see how much to use.

Fertilizer is like food - it just seems like adding a full bag is like dumping eighteen roast chickens on someone's doorstep all at once, instead of bringing them ONE roast chicken once a week for eighteen weeks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:57 AM on May 22, 2018


You don't just want to fertilize the soil, you also want to make sure it has a good texture - holds some water but doesn't get completely waterlogged, lets roots grow into it easily, has little air spaces that let oxygen get to the roots, etc. So rather than buy a bag of fertilizer pellets, I would buy some compost and dig that into the soil. It not only fertilizes, it improves the quality of the soil.

It's not the cage that will limit the size of the plant and harvest, it's the limited amount of space the roots have. If the plant can't grow a big root system it can't get as big as it would otherwise. And a smaller plant will have less fruit.
posted by Redstart at 6:16 AM on May 22, 2018


No fertilizer needed. Just compost (can buy a bag at a reputable garden center) - a couple of inches on top. Tomatoes need calcium in the soil to help fruit set, so I add washed and crushed egg shells to my tomato soil. I use pots - large ones, with one tomato plant per pot. If you crowd them the plants will not have much fruit. You can plant herbs or annual flowers around the tomato stem, though.

Pull off the bottom leaves as the plants grow because the plant will waste too much energy growing extra leaves. You want them to put the gusto into fruit.

NO nitrogen fertilizer!! You will have leaves galore but no fruit! You don't actually need fertilizer, just compost. I'd buy bigger pots than you can imagine you'd need, a good quality potting soil (NOT topsoil) and a bag of compost. Bury some crushed eggshells in the soil, plant the plants deep, covering several inches of soil (the plants will send out more roots, making a stronger plant able to absorb more nutrients). Lots of sun, pull off bottom leaves, water evenly, meaning no feast - or - famine watering once tomatoes have set or you will have tomatoes with split skins. As they get larger tomato cages are a good idea, but if you wait until the plants are really large, you will never get the cages over the tomato plants.

And if squirrels are problematic, pick your tomatoes before they are quite ripe. Whenever I wait just one last day the squirrels get them.
posted by citygirl at 4:24 PM on May 22, 2018


The majority of tomato varieties are warm season plants so as long as the lowest average temperature doesn’t dip below 50-55ºF, you should be fine to keep your plants outside. The growing temperature for tomato seedlings is between 58-60ºF.

There are cold hardy tomato varieties as well which can tolerate conditions at or below 55ºF. One of the most popular hardy varieties actually happens to be Early Girl. Most tomatoes should only be planted after any danger of frost has passed, so you should be fine.

Transferring your tomato plant from a container to the ground

Depending on the size of your tomato plant, moving them to the ground is a good option. Tomato plants regularly outgrow their pots and while tomatoes do suffer a little transport shock along the way, they can recover quickly. Allowing tomato plants to get bigger in pots first allows them to build up a bigger and stronger root system.

If the tomato plant is 4-5 inches tall then they are fine to plant into the ground. Be sure to space them out enough to grow properly. Most plants come with labels specifying what the full size of the plant will be to give you an idea on spacing.

Tomato plant care

Water generously in the first few days after planting. Then water well throughout the growing season, watering deeply for a strong root system. After five weeks, add mulch to help retain moisture and control the weeds. Make sure to tie growing stems to a stake with string to help it grow strong. As the plant grows, pinch off the small shoots that grow in between the big branches.

Building cages to enclose your plants is probably the best option to keep squirrels away. You can surround either individual plants or an entire small garden to help protect your tomatoes. You can find mroe advice about growing soft fruit here.
posted by joebailey at 2:53 AM on December 3, 2018


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