How Not to Plant Tomatoes

Indigo Cherry Drops. Pink Bumblebee. Lucky Tiger. Boxcar Willie.

No, these aren’t the names of horses who ran the Kentucky Derby this year. These are the varieties of tomatoes I picked up to play with in my garden this season. Aren’t they fun?

Tons of Tomatoes, Peppers and Other Warm Season Plants at the Boise Farmers Market Plant Sale this Weekend

This weekend, Boiseans celebrated Mother’s Day and the start of tomato planting season. I spent Saturday picking out tomatoes, peppers and edible flowers for my clients and my own garden. As I shopped, I heard a lot of gardeners talking through the varieties they wanted, and it reminded me of my first few seasons growing tomatoes.

San Marzanos. Sungold. Brandywine.

These are the varieties I used to choose, just like most gardeners. They’re also the varieties I see at the grocery store, the farmers market and in my CSA. They’re familiar. This season, I’m imploring you to plant different tomatoes, and I’m going to give you a few of my favorite tips for how NOT to plant tomatoes.

Don’t Pick Out the Same Old Varieties

We are lucky enough to live in a city where farmers grow for market really, really well. I have a good amount of garden space, but I hardly ever have enough tomatoes ripen at once to make sauce. Throughout the growing season, I harvest a few pints a week, and I make salads or burst tomatoes in the oven for weeknight pasta. At the end of the season, though, I buy 20 pounds of paste tomatoes from my favorite farmers and make sauce for the winter. In fact, I just defrosted my last bag of freezer tomatoes just in time for tomato season to come back on.

This season, pick your favorite varieties, but add in something weird, some oddball and watch how it grows. For a whole list of tomato varieties available this season, check out Next Generation Organics plant list. Their tomatoes will be available for sale at the Boise Farmers Market this weekend and the Boise Co-Op this season.

Don’t Plant Too Shallow

One of the biggest issues I see in folks’ gardens is that their raised beds are too shallow for deeply rooted tomatoes. When you look at a tomato stem, you see hundreds of tiny hairs. Those tiny hairs will actually produce roots if they’re buried beneath the soil. When you buy a tomato, strip most of the leaves, just leaving the top few sets, and then bury the plant up to just below that set of leaves. That’ll ensure it’s well rooted for optimal growth.

Don’t Just Plant and Walk Away

This has to be the #1 mistake I see folks make in the garden. They plant and walk away. They think their plant has soil, sun and water, and that’s all it needs, and it’s true, for a little while. When your plant starts growing lots of leaves, flowers and fruit, however, it is working HARD. It’s important to be sure that your tomato plants, which are heavy feeders and take a lot of nutrition out of the soil, get something back into the soil they’ll keep growing in.

Once tomato season is in full swing, I add compost near the base of my tomato plants almost weekly. If you’re forgetful about fertilizing, take a cue from your plants. The more you harvest, the more you ought to feed! I rarely use vegetable-specific products in my garden, so I go for compost, worm castings, compost/worm tea, kelp meal, seaweed extract, etc. Look for organic, natural soil amendments, like my favorite brand Down to Earth when you’re shopping.

There you have it. I hope your tomato season goes well, and that if you run into trouble, that you’ll reach out to me. For those of you who want a weekly nudge from me (when to fertilizer, how to prune, when to harvest), join the summer session of the Boise Kitchen Garden Club by clicking the button below. We start this Thursday with our weekly email!