Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Midwest Gardening: Late May and Planting Tomatoes

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oldnewgreenredo

We've been so busy catching up in the garden, greenhouse, and yard. This late UPPER MIDWEST Spring stymied any yard work in the month of April, and then the blistering heat drove us into the house during mid May. 

We always seem to have CRAZY weather. But, this last week we have been killing ourselves with yard clean-up, fertilizing, and planting. Yesterday I filled over twenty-four 8"or larger pots with dirt from the compost pile, for: peppers, cherry tomatoes and flowers. Our little wagon cart got a real workout as I hauled them around the yard.

Here in the Midwest, 
NOW is the best time for
planting
Tomatoes


Since we no longer  use peat pots, or starter pods for starting seeds,  I had transplanted small seedlings from our starting mixture (1/3 peat moss with Miracle-Gro potting soil) into larger deep pots 2-3 plants per pot with the same soil. I fertilized once. Here you can see the root formation ---from the larger pots.  Excess weak plants were clipped off early on. We also keep a large fan on in the greenhouse to encourage thick strong stem structure.

oldnewgreenredo

HERE: We trim all but the top three sets of leaves off our plants when we plant them. A sharp knife or scissors will do a good job. All the clippings go to the compost pile.

oldnewgreenredo

Here's a planted drink cup and showing the fabulous LONG roots.


Fill your holes with water and then plant as deep in the ground as they can go--up to the first leaf branches.
 YES---12" or more deep! 


Metal tomato cages are placed immediately...so the plants roots will not be disturbed. The plants look short because they are planted so deep. All along the buried stems, roots will grow, making your plant even stronger and give a higher yield. 

(Learned this one from my Mom in law!)
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Fertilize in a week or so to give the plants time to acclimate to their new home.

oldnewgreenredo

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I think I have one more day of planting. It is chilly this morning in the low 50's, with two days of rain forecasted starting tomorrow. 
Wish me LUCK and that my back holds out!

oldnewgreenredo


I can't wait to have a selection of  produce available twenty-feet from my kitchen.
NUM!

Photos and some text are from my garden post in 2019-2020 when we had similar weather pattern.  I guess I'm still on time for a great Midwest Garden.

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Sandi