It’s still not too late to get tomato plants into your garden! Check out the below tips and ideas to have a thriving tomato plant…and a delicious home grown addition to your meals soon!

Plant your tomatoes deep

When planting tomatoes, if they are tall or spindly, carefully break the lower branches off and set your tomato in your planting hole up to the branches that are left.  All of the tomato stem that is buried will become part of the root system, creating a strong, sturdy plant.

Water deeply

When watering your tomatoes, if possible water in the morning and soak the ground thoroughly at the root zone. Tomatoes should be watered only at the root zone; watering the leaves and the entire plants can cause spreading of any fungus spores that may be present.

1 week = 1 inch of water

Your plants should get at least an inch of water each week, allowing plants to dry out between waterings. Tomatoes that are allowed to dry out between waterings will have better flavor.

Maintain plant size and shape

Cage, trellis or stake tomato plants. Pinching suckers from branches will help with maintaining the overall size also. Growing tomatoes vertically and off the ground will ensure less rotting, disease, and pest problems. It will also provide better sunlight, air circulation and ease of picking.

Use a calcium enriched fertilizer

The tomato disease Blossom End Rot occurs when your tomato plants cannot take up enough calcium from the soil. Fruits get a soft, black area on the bottom. Using a fertilizer that contains calcium when transplanting seedlings and also later in the season will give them the nutrients they will need.