Are your tomato plants looking a little purple around the edges? No, it’s not a disease or pest problem. Your plants are trying to tell you that they need more phosphorus! This is a common problem early in the season, when the soil is still a bit cool and roots aren’t established enough to seek out all the phosphorus they need.
We’ve discovered a simple solution – spraying our tomato transplants weekly with fish emulsion for the first month or two, and holding off on mulching for the same time period.
The spray gives the plants a quick nutrient boost, and the bare soil allows quicker warming to encourage speedy root growth. Foliar fertilizers are remarkably efficient compared to soil -applied fertilizers because they don’t lose nutrients due to leaching.
By midsummer, our plants are growing like gangbusters and their roots are getting all the phosphorus they need.
A COOL IDEA
Full sun is generally a must for growing healthy, high- yielding tomato plants. But in some cases, they can get too much of a good thing! Those of you in the South will have much happier plants if you give them a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day.
No, you don’t need to go out and hold a beach umbrella over them! Simply plant them on the north side of a taller crop, such as corn or okra. That way, they’ll still get plenty of light, but they’ll be spared the worst of the heat – and they’ll produce a whole lot more top – quality fruit to thank you!
THE ACID TEST
When it comes to that “true” tomato flavor, not all tomatoes are created equal! You see, it’s a combination of sweet (sugars) and sour (acids) that gives the fruits their distinctive taste.
Some people like their tomatoes a bit more on the acid side, while others prefer them sweet and mild. How can you guess which varieties are which? It’s easy!
In general, red tomatoes tend to be more acidic, with gold, yellow and white-fruited varieties are more on the sweet side.
Want to know more about growing tomatoes? Go to the posts titled “HOW TO” FOR GROWING TOMATOES, Michele Obama, It’s Now Time For Sowing Tomato Seeds or How To Grow Tomatoes: From Seeds to Seedlings, or Upside Down Tomatoes
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Yours truly for a great garden with outstanding berries, herbs, veggies and flowers.
Polly, Organic Gardener
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You’ve got some good articles on this site. We too have had a lot of great results using a fish based fertilizer (Bill’s Perfect Fertilizer). We mix it with some Spray-N-Grow and apply it to the leaves of our plants. I’m glad to see someone promoting foliar feeding as it is true that it’s a lot more effective in providing nutrients to your plants.
I’m in zone 8a, and I can definitely attest to the fact that my tomatoes are doing fine with the few hours of shade on the north side of my house. It’ll only get hotter, too, and the north garden is a retreat from the blazing sun!