Tomato Transplants

The month of April means it’s time to transplant those tomato seedlings that we’ve started and grown over the last few weeks. Let me share some tips on when and how I do this. Most gardeners grow tomatoes in one of three ways: in-ground, raised beds or containers. I prefer growing in raised beds or containers because the growing mix provides a good root zone environment through better draining, which helps reduce a lot of tomato stress issues. When transplanting in raised beds I use The Maxbit tool to drill the planting hole. I like to plant densely and will space 4 or 5 transplants about one foot apart. Adding dolomite to the planting hole before the tomato plant will help to ward off blossom end rot. Top dressing with controlled release fertilizer, followed by watering, finishes off the process. Planting in containers works the same way, except for the number of plants. I plant a single plant in a 5-gallon container following the same process. Drill the hole, add some dolomite, place the plant, fertilize, and water in. Now April is a great time for us to transplant our tomatoes, but you have to be careful because the transplants don’t like temperatures below 50 degrees. That’s why it’s important to know the last spring frost date for your area. It’s funny, I’m an ornamental hort guy that loves to grow tomatoes. I hope these tips help get you started, and that you have the best tomatoes this year. I’m horticulturist Gary Bachman and I’ll see you next time on Southern Gardening.