Well, as any parent would say, eventually you have to let the young ones go off into the world and make their own way. That’s what I’ve done, I’ve finally planted tomatoes. It was hard for me, knowing how unsuccessful I’ve been so far this year, I had this gut feeling that none of them would make it, but I had to push that feeling aside and do what I knew had to be done. They were steadily outgrowing the baby pots to the point they couldn’t support themselves, also called becoming “leggy”, so I knew something had to be done. The weather here is not calling for freezing temps for the next week, overcast and rain on and off through the next week, so they won’t have to roast in the sun after being in the comfort of the indoors. I’ve let them have some outdoor time to harden them up, all indications say that the time is right. So I took my biggest and brightest superstars of each variety (I’m growing seven different kinds) and have put them in the raised bed. Here we go….
These were my superstars. They are huge. Some couldn’t even remain upright….it was definitely time, as they need support from a tomato cage.I loaded them, along with my pepper varieties, up in a nursery lid for transport to the garden. I started by digging a hole in the center of where I placed the cage. I already had the cages spaced out and attached to my existing trellis for support, as hopefully one day these little babies are so loaded with fruits, they can barely hold the plants up!!For the plants in the solo cups, I gently squeezed all sides of the cup until I was able to tip it over and the root ball fell out. Never, EVER pull on the plant itself, baby plants are too fragile and will bend or snap in an instant. Put your plant in the hole you dug and create a slight hill around the plant. Make sure your hole was much deeper than you needed, so that a lot of that “leggy” plant is now underground, the same way we transplanted the new sprouts into deeper cups a few weeks ago. All those vine fuzzies have the potential to become roots and will make your plant even stronger. Peat pots are helpful and make this step easier, because you put in the entire pot. The plant grows through the sides. Same method, though….deeper planting, bury as much of the leggy vine as possible. Red solo cups are still there to remind me what kind of tomato each plant is, until I make a proper label. The marigold in the corner is to repel pests, insects hate marigolds, so I throw a few around for good measure. I also make some irrigation tubes for my tomatoes, that I will affix to each cage. They are alittle young now to be sprayed, so it’s the sprinkle watering can til I think they can handle it, but installing while the plant is small makes the job easy. I got ten foot sections of PVC from the local hardware store and cut each in half, leaving them at 5 feet. I capped off one end and drilled a small hole just above the cap. I used this lovely product to secure the caps on the end, then gave the pipe a little tap, more like a bunk, on the ground, to make sure it was as far on as it could go. Hubs warned me it dried quick and he wasn’t lying….I had to move fast!!I secured a pole, cap and hole end down, inside each tomato cage. Not super tight yet, because as the plant grows, I may need to adjust where the spray hits the soil for optimum watering. Hindsight is 20/20….I think I may have cut them alittle shorter, if given the chance. But I really want the plants to get a big drink when they are older, so I will deal with this unsightliness. Don’t put them on the plants, just nearby, as we will adjust this as the plant grows. See how they wilted after all that handling today. They were not happy plants at all. This is the final setup for the tomatoes. Peppers didn’t make it in the ground, as I don’t believe in rushing things just for the sake of getting them done. I want to do it right, and after the luck I e had so far in the garden this year, I am taking no chances.
So there you have it….tomatoes. WEBCAJUN has a great tomato video online about making the PVC water pipes, someone had made a really fancy version and he simplified the heck out of it, as he normally did. Over the next week or so, I hope to have all my planting done in the garden and be in watering and maintenance mode. I hope your gardens are coming along nicely, also. Whether it’s in pots, buckets, on a deck, in a field, or even an apartment balcony….anywhere can be a garden and we can grow together 💜🌱💜
Let’s Grow Together 
Good job!! This was so informative. And I love the idea of planting the marigolds to keep away insects and other pests.
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It looks great. Love the irrigation. Mine have to be watered by me
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