Without a doubt, the most important day in a tomato plant’s life is the day it’s planted outdoors – which is exactly why it’s so important to avoid 5 of the most common and costly planting mistakes often made when gardeners plant their tomatoes in the ground!
Whether you grow tomatoes in a traditional garden, raised beds or in containers – how and when you put your tomato plants into the soil on planting day can make all the difference between starting your plants down the road to success – or putting them at risk of failure right from the start.
One thing is for sure, putting transplants into their permanent home is quite stressful on the entire plant. Not just for the roots below the soil surface as they try to adjust – but also for the stems and foliage above the ground dealing with direct sunlight, fluctuating temperatures, wind and rain. But all too often, that stress is made far worse by how the plant is planted.
But here’s the good news. By simply avoiding 5 all-too-common pitfalls – and instead providing your tomato plants with the right space and soil conditions from day one, nearly all of that stress can be greatly reduced. And because of that – you can have your transplants growing stronger and faster than ever!
Avoiding The 5 Most Common Tomato Planting Mistakes
1. Planting In The Same Space & Soil Year After Year
One of the biggest mistakes made in vegetable gardens as a whole is not rotating crops from year to year. And that mistake is amplified when growing tomatoes!
Tomato plants use a tremendous amount of resources from the soil. Unfortunately, if you keep planting your tomatoes in the same space or soil each year, the nutrients they need most are all but depleted from the soil.
But the news gets worse when planting tomatoes in the same space. Beyond a lack of available nutrients, planting in the same soil leaves tomato plants vulnerable to two of the biggest ailments that affect tomato plants, blossom-end rot and tomato blight.
Blossom rot is due to a deficiency of calcium in the soil. And if tomatoes grow in the same exact soil year after year, the calcium in the soil can be lacking or completely gone. Tomato blight on the other hand, is caused by spores. And once the spores are present in the soil, they can stick around to destroy crops for multiple years.
By simply rotating where you plant tomatoes each year, they can find the nutrients they need. They can also grow in spore free soil to keep disease at bay. This includes changing the soil in containers every single year. See: How To Prevent Blossom End Rot.
2. Planting Too Early – One Of The Most Common Tomato Planting Mistakes Of All!
Another big mistake is jumping the gun and putting your tomato plants in the ground too early. Tomatoes are a warm weather and warm soil crop.
Planting too early can cause a long list of issues for tender, young tomato plants. Both early on – and as the plants mature into mid and late summer. When the soil is still cold, the roots of tomato plants do not act or perform to the best of their abilities.
Because of this, they do not absorb nutrients or water from the soil well. And as they sit and lag in the soil, they also become extremely vulnerable to rot, mold and other disease.
Worse yet, planting too early can leave your plants susceptible to a late frost or even a possible killing freeze. Frosts can injure tender foliage and impact future growth by stunting the plant. If the frost is hard enough or if a freeze occurs, it can actually kill off the entire plant in short order.
How To Know When To Plant
A big key to success is to avoid the temptation of planting too early simply because you have had a few warm days. Allow warmer weather to settle in so that soil temperatures can heat up as well. It can take a full week to ten days of 70 to 80 degree daytime temperatures to warm the soil adequately. And it’s vital to wait until that happens before planting.
Listen In To Our Podcast Below On How To Jump Start Your Tomato Plants!
For best results, soil temperatures need to be at 60 to 65° before planting. An inexpensive soil thermometer is a great way to check the soil to see if it’s ready. Simply put the probe in the soil to instantly to see the temperature. Affiliate Link : AcuRite Soil Thermometer Probe
As simple as this sounds, planting when the soil is warm will pay huge dividends. A smaller plant planted in warm temperatures will easily outgrow transplants twice its size that were planted in cool soil. Whatever you do, wait until that temperature warms!
3. Planting Tomatoes Too Shallow
All too often, gardeners plant their tomatoes far too shallow. When you plant your tomatoes, you need to plant them deep! The deeper your roots can grow, the more easily they will develop strong, healthy, and resilient roots. Planting deep also allows plants to have less chance of drying out and more ability to absorb nutrients.
Forget shallow three to four inch holes that barely cover the top soil level of your tomato transplants! Instead, dig down eight to ten inches to create your planting holes. A post hole digger can be perfect for this, creating a nice, wide deep hole in seconds. Affiliate Link: Post Hole Digger
Finally, before you plant your tomatoes in the hole, it’s important not to commit the next common planting mistake on our list – failing to fill your planting hole with power!
4. Failing To Give Tomato Plants Power
As mentioned earlier, tomato plants consume a lot of nutrients from the soil. And that is exactly why it is vital to give them a big dose of power right as you plant them!
Fill your planting hole with compost, worm castings, crushed egg shells and coffee grounds to accomplish this. A cup or two of compost will help provide energy and help plants absorb moisture. A half cup of worm castings will do the same and release their energy slowly as the plant grows. Affiliate Product Link: Worm Castings
Three to four crushed egg shells will help provide calcium to your tomato plant as it grows. This is pivotal for eliminating blossom rot. Calcium also helps develop strong cell structure in the stems. Be sure to pulverize the egg shells with a grinder to get them to work fast for your plants.
And how about the coffee grounds? A few tablespoons of coffee grounds can help power your tomato plants with a low dose of nitrogen and other trace minerals. They also help retain moisture, helping keep plants hydrated.
Mix all of those powerful materials with the soil in the planting hole as you plant your transplants. Plant them down far enough that you cover the first two sets of leaves. All along the buried stem, new roots will grow off to absorb even more energy and water from the soil.
5. Mulching
Last but not least, don’t forget to mulch your tomato plants! And not just with a couple inches of mulch, but with a thick, protective layer four to six inches deep.
Leaving soil bare around your plants will cause all types of serious issues for your plants. For one, it dries the soil and roots of the plants out at a rapid rate. And tomato roots need their moisture. Mulch also regulates the soil temperature, keeping it from soaring or plummeting on cold or hot days.
Failing to mulch also allows competing weeds to easily move in. As weeds take hold, they steal moisture and nutrients from the soil, and away from your tomato plants.
Mulch tomato plants with a thick coating of straw, shredded leaves or compost to help insulate and protect plants as they grow. A few inches on container tomato plants is equally important to help insulate plants. Here is to planting your tomato plant with success – and to a big harvest this year as well!
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This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!