Friday, July 10, 2009 3:08 PM CDT
Yard and Garden: Handy ways to feed and water your tomato plants
By Kathy Hummel, Master Gardener
Been thinking about planting tomatoes, but haven’t gotten around to it yet? If you purchase good-sized plants, it’s not too late to plant them. Look at all those fuzzy “hairs” on the stem. They’re actually wanna-be roots. Plant new plants deeply, burying about three-fourths of the plant!
But while you’re digging the hole, how about some easy things you can do to make watering and feeding your tomatoes a little more efficient? You can soak tightly-rolled newspapers in water for 24 hours and bury them under your plant. Or, you can use water-retentive polymers and work them into the soil.
Here’s a handy way to feed your plant when you water: (Tomatoes are heavy feeders, requiring a lot of fertilizer.) Punch a few holes in the bottom and sides of a milk jug with a nail and bury it next to your plant with the mouth exposed out of the soil.
To make a bigger target for watering, make a funnel from another milk jug by cutting off the top about 8 inches, slitting the mouth so it will insert into the buried jug. Pour your fertilizer solution into it. The holes will release your fertilizer solution gradually over time and the newspaper will retain it close to the roots.
Using this watering device keeps water off the foliage, which cuts down on the spread of disease. It makes better use of your time, as well as well as cutting down on the water you’ll use because the water and fertilizer go directly to the roots.
As your tomatoes ripen, if you notice a pale, brown spot at the bottom that turns an unappetizing black, you have blossom end rot, a deficiency of calcium. There are several things you can do to prevent blossom end rot from destroying your tomatoes.
When you plant your tomatoes, add a handful of crushed eggshells to the planting hole. This will add calcium to the soil. Another condition that seems to contribute to blossom end rot is irregular levels of moisture.
Tomato plants take in nutrients, including calcium, through moisture. Inconsistent watering deprives them of these nutrients. So water regularly; every four to seven days is usually sufficient. During droughts, or if you are gardening in containers, you may need to water every day.
To prevent leaf diseases, water the soil, not the leaves, keeping the foliage as dry as possible. To keep the soil consistently moist, cover it with a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch. This also helps keep weeds down. Keep the mulch away from the stem of the plant.
Another thing you can do is spray the plants with liquid calcium, readily available at garden centers and nurseries. Just follow the directions on the label and spray it directly on the plants.
Two wonderful companions in the vegetable garden and the kitchen are tomatoes and basil. The key to growing basil is to give it plenty of sun (6 to 8 hours) and well-drained soil. Deep soak the plants frequently during dry spells, especially if you are growing in containers.
Basil tells you when it’s thirsty: it wilts, but recovers quickly when watered, if you catch it before the vascular system collapses.
Chopped Tomato and Basil Sauce
Ingredients:
4 medium sized, ripe tomatoes (about 1½ pounds)
¼ cup olive oil
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped fresh basil
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. hot red pepper flakes or to taste
Instructions:
Remove and discard the cores of the tomatoes and then coarsely chop them into a large bowl.
Add the olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and red pepper flakes to the tomatoes. Stir well.
Cover and set aside a few hours to release the tomato juices and let the flavors combine.
This will keep for one week in the refrigerator.
A commercial: Do you have a 6- to 12-year-old grandchild who would enjoy a super hands-on, make-it-and-take-it gardening experience while interacting with you, their beloved grandparent?
On July 20, 9 a.m. to noon at the 4H Center at the Coles County Fairgrounds in Charleston, I will be conducting an intergenerational gardening workshop for grandparents and grandkids (with the help of other master gardeners).
You and your grandchild can work at your own pace at the seven activity centers: Construct a miniature bog, create a tic tac toe game for the garden, plant a secret garden in a jar, learn how to recycle kitchen and garden waste into “black gold,” create wind chimes to hang in your garden and concoct your own snack from garden yummies.
This workshop is sponsored by the Academy for Lifetime Learning, an offshoot of the School of Continuing Education at EIU. The purpose of the academy is to provide all community members over the age of 50 an outlet for their creative and educational needs. You can find out more about the Academy on the Web at http://www.eiu.edu/~adulted/current/lifetime_learn.php or by e-mailing all@eiu.edu or director Janna Overstreet joverstreet@eiu.edu.
The cost of the workshop to academy members is $15 (plus $20 materials fee; non-members $25 (plus $20 materials fee). You can call 581-5114 or 800-446-8918 to register.
If you have any horticulture questions, call the U of I Extension office at 345-7034. Volunteer Master Gardeners are in the office from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday and from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday and Friday. This column is based on information and materials at the University of Illinois Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A., Charleston, 61920; phone 345-7034; or Web site: www.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/.
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