So That’s What I Did Wrong With My Tomatoes! (Notes from a Class on Gardening)

“Gan”-“Green Thumb” and I are lucky enough to live in a community that offers free classes on organic gardening every-other month at our local library. A local nursery, feed store, and a product line called “Nature’s Guide” are the sponsors, and there’s a new guest speaker each time. We recently attended a short, one-hour class that was taught by a very knowledgeable man by the name of Sabino Cortez. Among other things, Sabino is regularly heard on the radio show “Living Natural First”, and he also has his own company and website called Erath Earth . I have to say that I probably learned more about gardening in Texas in the one hour that I spent listening to him than I have learned in many months. Mostly, I found myself slapping my forehead and thinking to myself, “So that’s what I did wrong!” My forehead was glowing red by the time I left the library!

The big eye-opener for me was that even in January we are supposed to be thinking of our gardens. This is the time to be getting beds and garden spots ready. To control weeds in our lawns he recommends putting out the corn gluten meal early (it is known as a pre-emergent, meaning it is meant to stop weeds before they pop up; once they’re up, it’s not so effective). There is an article on the “Living Natural First” show blog that talks more about natural weed control, if you are interested.

Tomatoes: This is where I failed miserably in my first gardening attempts. I got a few tomatoes, but that whole thing about harvesting them throughout the whole summer seemed like just a myth. Here’s what I learned, to the best that I can make out my notes (I absolve Sabino Cortez of any lack of memory on my part):

1. Start garden prep now; compost is one of the most important amendments that you can add to your soil, especially for vegetables. Lay down a layer of compost between ½” – 1” thick on your soil and work it into your soil gently, keeping it at the top 2” of soil. He stressed using good quality compost. He said that it should be “fine” textured – if you can recognize individual components of the compost (such as wood chips, etc.), then it probably isn’t “finished” yet. Unfinished compost will actually grab nitrogen from the soil to use to help break down the unfinished components. A good compost looks like soil. Of course, some of the best is the stuff you do yourself; you always know what is in it. If you want to be “organic”, he said that you have to be careful of “bulk” compost when buying from an unproven source, as it sometimes has herbicide in it. (I had a little trouble following this part, but if memory serves, some compost has horse manure in it, which is generally not a problem. However, if the horse ate hay that was treated with herbicide, then it passes through, and goes from hay - to horse - to manure - to compost - to your garden. Once introduced into your garden, it can be a factor for up to 15 years!) He gave us a way to test compost for herbicide: Plant a raw peanut in a pot (they grow fairly quickly). When the plant has some growth on it, including some leaves, make a compost tea from the compost in question and water the peanut plant with it. If there is herbicide in the compost your peanut plant will usually die within 24 hours.


2. He also recommended something called “soft rock phosphate” (a natural form of phosphorus), and he stressed that tomatoes and peppers need this. If I’m reading my notes correctly, he recommended picking out the spots where you want to plant tomatoes, digging a nice deep hole, and then mixing at least 30% compost with the soil before putting it back in the hole, stopping at about 4” from the top of the hole. For that top 4”, mix ½ to 1 cup of soft rock phosphate with the soil, and fill it up!


3. Another amendment that he recommended was dried molasses. This helps to provide carbohydrates that all of those microbes in your soil need in order to “colonize”? (Who knew there was so much stuff happening out there!)


4. A major mistake that I made last year was planting my tomatoes in 5-gallon pots. Tomatoes like a lot of root space – if you have to plant them in a container, it will need at least a 10-gallon container. But overall, the deeper the soil, the longer the plant will hold up, with 3-4 feet between each plant.


5. All vegetables are “full sun” plants.


6. Good compost will give tomato plants all the nitrogen that they need to get started. Don’t give tomatoes nitrogen until they have fruit. From what I understand, if you give nitrogen at the beginning, you get a tall plant with lots of growth, but not much fruit. Once you see the fruit forming, then you can add some nitrogen; however, he stressed that you should not put the plant food too close to the base of the plant. You should put it about 6”-8” on the outside of the plant.


7. Another “Oh, no!” moment came when Sabino talked about watering your new tomato plants. He said that we should plant our new transplants, water them well, and then walk away. Don’t water them again until they start looking “droopy”. Apparently too much water is a real culprit because constant watering means that the tomato plants don’t develop a large, deep root system. This deep root system is needed when that 101 degree Texas sun is beating down on us in the middle of summer. The bigger the plant gets, the further away you water – it needs to “look” for water.


8. Another mistake I made when wanting to undertake organic gardening is that I pretty much equated “organic” with “don’t do a whole lot”. It still takes work, especially in the area of pest and disease prevention. Waiting until you have a problem is too late; you really need a weekly, routine foliar feeding in order to prevent insects from getting a foothold in the first place. He talked a lot about compost tea, garlic, and orange oil. If you would like to learn more, the “Living Natural First” show has a wonderful organic glossary that gives a quick summary on many products and treatments used in organic gardening, and it is brief enough that even a novice like me stayed interested and understood it.


9. I think I will have more tomatoes this year!

If you live in Texas, then I have another neat resource for you. I found a website called “Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide” and it is through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Even if you don’t live in Texas, I would bet that your local extension agency has something similar for your area. I found this guide when I was looking for the average date of the last spring frost for our area. In addition to giving “last frost dates”, this guide addresses which vegetables are best suited for large or small gardens, gives light requirements for certain vegetables, tells which vegetables are easily transplanted, and much, much more! More than anything, I was surprised at how early some plants are supposed to be planted. According to this guide, in my area, there are things that I need to be thinking about planting soon! Anyway, this guide looks great to a novice like me.

So there you go; “Gan”-“Green Thumb” and I are getting excited about our prospects for having at least some limited success this year. We’ll let you know how we fare!

Happy planting and good luck!