The month of May has arrived here in Oregon with beautiful, sunny weather. Needless to say, gardeners are itching to get their tomato plants into the ground. (Including all of us here at Cascade Minerals. After all, our company mascot is “Mr. Tomato!”)
Do we go for it? Should we wait? These are the questions on all of our minds.
Fortunately, garden writer Kate Bryant addressed these questions (and more) in a May 2011 article that she wrote for the Portland Monthly. She recommends waiting a few weeks longer, until nighttime temperatures stay at 50 Fahrenheit or more.
Kate’s other tips include:
- Plant tomatoes when a soil thermometer (about $10 at nurseries) indicates a soil temperature of 60 Fahrenheit or higher.
- Choose stocky, leafy plants over tall, thin ones. If your only choice is a scrawny plant, bury the plant up to the first set of leaves. This will help it root along the stem and support a stronger plant.
- Don’t plant tomatoes in the same spot year-after-year. Rotating plants helps discourage soil-borne disease.
- Give tomato plants plenty of room. Space them at least two feet apart to help with air circulation and prevent disease.
- Water regularly (“deeply and every few days”). Don’t overcompensate—too much water when the plant is loaded with tomatoes can lead to cracking. Steady watering is best.
- Read more of Kate’s tips online at the Portland Monthly.
To grow juicy, delicious tomatoes like those you remember from your childhood (not the waxy, tasteless tomatoes on the shelves of most supermarkets today), add minerals and trace elements back to the soil using an all-natural remineralizing soil booster like Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster.
Why? Because tomato plants require a multitude of nutrients to produce bright-red, rich-tasting juicy fruit. This makes tomatoes excellent benchmarks for determining the health and vitality of the soil that they grow in. Minerals and trace elements (like magnesium, calcium, silicon and iron) are essential to the growth, health and productivity of plants and people. If there are not enough minerals in the soil, there aren’t enough minerals in the tomatoes—and you’ll get fruit that is dull in color and in taste.
So be patient. Wait just a few weeks longer to plant your tomatoes in your garden and follow these tips—and you’ll be handsomely rewarded!
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Cascade Minerals all-natural soil booster is made from massive basalt stones from Central Oregon’s legendary Cascade Mountains. We crush these rocks to product a finely ground, 100% natural product that releases the essential minerals and trace elements that plants and humans need to flourish. Application instructions: Rake or lightly till approximately one cup of Cascade Minerals into the soil around your tomato plants. Apply once per month to ensure the growth of healthy, productive plants.
Some other tips for those tomato lovers!
Plant varieties bred for the area by Oregon State. The set fruit during the cool nights!
Splurge on a few grafted plants. They have much stronger roots to take up the minerals and are less susceptible to late blight that usually hits in August just before ripening. Cut the tops off in September to get those last ones red before frost.
Thank you, Julia. Great tomato planting tips!