deltzy
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What do YOU put in your planting hole?

Hey guys, I'm based in the UK and about to start my tomato seeds. I was just wondering in advanced what do you put in your planting hole when you transplant your plants?

I was thinking of putting rock dust and bonemeal, would this be fine and what has worked for you??

hardland
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I'm originaly from UK London, now based in FL. I don't put too much in my first pot up from seedlings, just a tsp of bone meal in a 1/4 gall pot. Then I go into 6-7 gall containers, and add some Lime and more bone meal. Please bear in mind I'm a novice, but seem to be doing OK with the great advice I've got on here... :D :)

Bobberman
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deltzy wrote:Hey guys, I'm based in the UK and about to start my tomato seeds. I was just wondering in advanced what do you put in your planting hole when you transplant your plants?

I was thinking of putting rock dust and bonemeal, would this be fine and what has worked for you??
+++ I think the hole itself should go down deeper like by using a long narrow pry bar. I push it into the ground arour a 15 inches or more then move it around in a circle & I have a funnel shapped hole wide at the top.. I pour some weak liquid fertilizer or osmocote into the hole and set the plant into the hole about 6 inches down with a extended hole below the plant ! It seems that the plants roots will then go deep where there is more moisture. Works great for me and is easy to plant quick without digging! Any pipe will do the same thing and will even work in a hard crusted soil with rocks! The heavy pipe with a sharp end just pushes the dirt out of the way and makes a nice deep hole I use the same method for peppers!
Last edited by Bobberman on Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

erlyberd
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It all depends on the soil test results. Then I have a better understanding of what is needed for fertilizer and ph adjustment.

Otherwise I always add compost and broken down horse/cow manure. Last year I was lacking nitrogen so I added bloodmeal. In the past I used to add extra limestone to help prevent blossom end rot but really never had a problem with it.

Get a soil test.

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rainbowgardener
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Just compost. Best thing for tomatoes is just very rich organic soil.

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lorax
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Compost, crunched up dry seaweed, and crushed eggshells (my soils are high in everything but calcium, so I have to do something to combat BER).

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GardenRN
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I have never added anything to the holes. This year I will be adding some crushed egg shells because last year I had a problem with blossom end rot like lorax. I read that it could be cause by a calcium deficiency and that egg shells can help. They certainly shouldn't hurt so I'll give it a try. I also will be adding some blood meal over all this year as a nitrogen fix. But the bloodmeal will be put in the garden before I actually transplant. Sometimes we get so caught up in the "adding this or doing this" to make the plants bigger, stronger and more productive that we forget that it doesn't have to be as complicated as we make it. It is a plant, it wants to grow.....that's what it does! It's the only thing other than making seeds that that plant is here on earth to do. Any given the opportunity it will do just that. The only time I think you need to be overly additive or baby the plant is when you're trying to get it to grow somewhere where it really doesn't want to.
Even though I will be adding eggshells this year to my tomato holes but I think crop rotation will take care of the problem even more than the shells. I have had my tomatoes in the same spot for the last 3 years and last year was the first BER problem I've had. It effected about 1/4 of my fruits which was enough to make me think ahead this year.

erlyberd
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GardenRN, Given that the bloodmeal is not cheap I was thinking of trying alphalfa meal if I can find it or something similar.

My Agricultural Experiment Station tells me to use Cotton Seed Meal but I've heard it can be loaded with pesticides so I don't use it.

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GardenRN
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I don't blame you erlyberd! I wouldn't want to take a chance either, it would ruin everything I have done so far trying to keep chems OUT of my garden! I honestly don't know how alfalfa meal compares to blood meal. I guess the thing to look at would be what the disbursement rate is and see how far two identically sized bags would get you. The alfalfa might be half the price for the same sized bag but only cover 1/4 of the area, or visa versa. I don't know which is "better". But that'd probably be where I'd start. I guess it also depends on if you are using it for a nitrogen fix. Which is what I need for my corn.

erlyberd
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Sorry, I meant alphalfa pellets as I'm not even sure they make a meal product. I would think it would be a decent nitrogen fix and can be purchased in 50 lb bags. I'll try and look into it further.

I thought the blood meal worked well but its a bit pricey, but it beats dumping chemicals all over the place. Like all of us gardeners I'm still learning.

DoubleDogFarm
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The pry bar conical hole idea may not be good in heavy or clay soils. The slicking of the side walls will create a flower pot effect.

I like to enrich the whole raised bed. I want the seedling roots to leave home and seek out nutrients, not stay home bound in a nutrient pool. A ring of compost or fertilizer scratched into the surface around each plant would be better. MHO.

That said, has anyone put banana peels in the hole for tomatoes? What does this do?

Eric
Last edited by DoubleDogFarm on Sun Jan 30, 2011 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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lorax
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Yup, I have.

It provides a higher PK rating as well as balanced micronutrients. There's not a whole lot of nitrogen in bananas or their peels, but they're ridiculously high in the other nutrients that tomatoes like.

I actually chop up banana peels and use them as a dig-in enrichment when I do the compost thing in beds where the tomatoes are going.

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rainbowgardener
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Haven't specifically put banana peels in the planting hole (maybe I will try it some time) but lots of banana peels go into the compost pile, so I figure when I put my compost in, it includes a lot of the banana peel nutrients.

One reason why compost is such good stuff is that includes so many different nutrients from so many different sources...

filmnet
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Homemade kitchen compost, fruit, eggshells,greens and last years compost, all mixed in a new compost, Coast of Maine, Lobster compost . and a sppon full of garden Lime, sweetens the dirt
[img]https://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss256/filmnet1/dirt.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss256/filmnet1/garden-2.jpg[/img]

DoubleDogFarm
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Homemade kitchen compost, fruit, eggshells,greens and last years compost, all mixed in a new compost, Coast of Maine, Lobster compost . and a spoon full of garden Lime, sweetens the dirt
Yes, this what I am talking about. Feed all the soil, not little pockets.

Eric

Dixana
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DoubleDogFarm wrote: That said, has anyone put banana peels in the hole for tomatoes? What does this do?

Eric
:oops: Confession time...I bury chopped banana peels in holes all over my garden. Why? Worms. Worms seem to LOVE nanner peels and they swarm the area....then I dig them up and we go fishing... :oops:

Anyway, when I plant any transplants I don't fill in the holes with dirt I fill them with mushroom compost and worm poo. I use the dirt I dug out of the hole to mound around the plant. It seems when I do this I don't have any transplant shock.

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tomakers
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I fill holes over the winter with vegetable scraps and plant into these in spring. I don't add anything else until the plants show new growth and then I side dress with 15-15-15, or last year I used Tomato Tone which appeared to work well and is organic??
JMO,
Tom

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Gary350
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Tomatoes are one thing I am pretty good at growing my Grandfather tough me how to grow them and I have 40 years experience growing them. Do not plant tomatoes until after all chance of frost has past. Plant in full sun and in good soil. If you soil has some gravel or sand that is fine. You may want to till some organic material like peat moss into the soil.

I dig a hole about the size of a 10" flower pot for each tomato. Half the dirt from each hole goes into a 5 gallon bucket to be used later. I dig my holes 2 ft apart in rows 12 plants per row. 3 rows are 3 ft apart.

I put a small hand full of 15/15/15 fertilizer in each hole. I put a small hand full of nitrogen in each hole too. A small hand full would measure about 2 tablespoons full. Then I fill each hole with water. Return later when the water has soaked into the soil and it is completely gone.

I dump all the soil I saved in 5 gallon buckets on the cement drive way. I throw on several hand fulls of lime 1 hand full for each tomato plant. I also dump a pile of compose next to the dirt that is the same size. When the pile of dirt and pile of compose are mixed I want it to be 50% compose. I stir it with a shovel for a few minutes then I get the garden tiller and use it lake a large mixer. Get it all mixed well then dump it back into the tomato holes.

In the evening when the sun is low in the sky plant 1 tomato plant in each hole. Rake the soil up around each hole with your hand to make a levy to hold water so you have a donut levy around each tomato plant about 10" circle. Give each plant a drink of water about 1 pint will be fine. Put on the tomato cages.

If you have problems with cut worm sprinkle crushed corn around the stem of each tomato plant. If it rains sprinkle some more crushed corn around each plant. In about 3 weeks plants will be large enough and strong enough you won't have problems with cut worms so the crushed corn is no longer needed.

Give the plants 1 pint of water every evening at sun down for about 2 weeks. After that no more water let mother nature take care of the plants. No more water will force the roots to grow deep in search of water. In the summer when it is hot and dry those deep roots will save the plants life. The leaves may curle and wilt a little in the hot afternoon sun but next morning the plant will be fine. Deep roots will let you take a 2 weeks vacation with no fear of dead plants when you return home.

If you live in a geographical location where the summer sun is extremely hot it can burn your tomatoes. Sun burn tomatoes have white spots on top. If you plant your tomatos close 2 ft apart like I do it crouds the plants and makes them shade each other. If you live up north where it is not so hot the plants do better if they are not crouded so much. When I lived in Michigan and Illinois I planted tomatoes 3 ft apart but in Tennessee I have to plant 2 ft apart other wise I loose a 30% of my tomatoes because of sun burn.

About 3 times a week I hoe the grass and weeds in my garden. I go out early in the morning it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to hoe the whole 30' x 50' garden. I only have to hoe until July then it gets too hot and dry for grass and weeds to grow.

Nothing much left to do to the tomatos from July to Oct except pick tomatoes, eat tomatoes and can tomatoes in mason jars.

To prevent tomato blight mix 1 tablespoon of copper sulfate and about 5 tablespoons of lime in 2 gallons of water. Spray the plants once a week to prevent blight. Once your plants have blight it is too late to spray.

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soil
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Feed all the soil, not little pockets.
yup I'm with you. I amend my soil not my planting holes. that way the tomato roots can go far, deep and wide in search of organic matter.

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rainbowgardener
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Well, I do some of both. I have trouble making enough compost to cover very far, so I put some in the planting holes and spread a thin layer around. But my soil is also pretty enriched from all the mulching. In the spring, I turn under the fall mulch and then once everything is planted/ sprouted and the soil well warmed, lay down a new layer of mulch. Also last year I started making a compost infusion (not really compost tea because not brewed, just put compost in warm water with molasses, stir it around for a little while and then use) and watering with that, to continue adding nutrients and microbes all around, not just in planting hole.



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