Tomato Planter Tips

Three primary things you need to provide your plants to grow beautiful tomatoes:

• Full Sun - a minimum of 6 to 7 hours per day
• Water - water every day and water SLOWLY!
• Fertilizer - consistent feeding with a tomato-targeted fertilizer

Here’s what to look for:

• Dark green leaves, with no yellow or spots.
• Thick stems
• Stocky plants - The ideal tomato transplant should be just about as wide as it is tall.
• No roots sticking out of the container
• Plants without flowers or fruit

We recommend that you do fertilize your tomato plant. Add ½ cup of vegetable time-release fertilizer to the Topsy Turvy® Tomato Planter as you add the potting soil. This will feed your plant for the first 2 weeks. After that initial feeding, we recommend you Topsy Turvy® Super Growth Formula specifically for tomatoes. Add ½ cup of properly diluted fertilizer every 2 weeks while the tomatoes are very young. Once the plant gets large ( hanging down 2 to 3 feet ), fertilize every 10 days. When plants are very mature, (6 ft long with 15+ tomatoes) you should fertilize every few days.

Bird damage is common in all areas. One control method which works quite well is to take old nylon stockings and cut them into pieces 10 to 12 inches long. Tie a knot in one end of the stocking and slip the open end over the entire cluster of tomatoes. Secure the end above the tomato cluster with a rubber band or twist-tie. Birds will not be able to peck through the nylon. Slip the stocking off the cluster and harvest the ripe fruit and replace it to protect later-ripening fruit. Also, birds damage fully mature fruit more readily than breaker or pink fruit. Harvest in breaker or green-wrap stage. Gardeners have tried many ways to reduce bird damage. Scarecrows, aluminum strips, tin foil plates and noisemakers will work until the local birds become accustomed to seeing or hearing them. Fabric covering materials such as Grow-Web and Reemay can also be used as a barrier mechanism.

Generally, yields will be increased by harvesting the fruit at first blush or pink instead of leaving them on the plant to ripen fully. A tomato picked at first sign of color and ripened at room temperature will be just as tasty as one left to fully mature on the vine. Picking tomatoes before they turn red reduces damage from birds.

Never refrigerate tomatoes picked immature. Place them in a paper bag at room temperature and allow them to develop full color. When they are fully ripe you may leave them out at room temperature.  Those handled in this manner will be of high quality and full flavor.