will my tomatoes survive?

[LuzRD]

Hi all, first time gardener and i just planted last week.

i had been bringing my seedlings in and out of the house to harden them before i planted but the day i put my tomatoes in the ground they werent looking so good. I went camping the next day (this past saturday) and my sister came over and watered everything. when i returned monday afternoon my tomatoes looked even worse than when i rushed to get them planted before the long weekend.

when i planted them they each got a couple handfuls of seaweed and shrimp compost around the roots and where then watered.
I water at night and even have some trenches to get water deep down to the roots.

i checked the soil a little while ago and just under the surface it doesnt feel wet to me, but its really dark. which tells me that its not dried out, but maybe its not wet enough (again i don't know what im talking about.)

the cucumbers i planted were all laying down on the ground when i returned on monday, but they SEEM to be recovering after watering them (still look a little sickly, but MIGHT make it). again makes me think its a water issue with my tomatoes.






oh and they are Parks whopper tomatoes if it matters

[opabinia51]

Looks like you just watererd them but, that they haven't been watered enough. So, give them a good watering (for about an hour if your watering restrictions allow it). And fertilize them with liquid fish or liquid seaweed fertilzer and hopefully they'll be okay.

Don't water them everyday. Watch the soil and stick your fingers in it to see how damp it is. And Like I say, give them a nice deep watering.

[LuzRD]

i just got back in from watering them JUST now, they hadnt been watered when i took those pictures a few hours ago. i watered late last night but it was getting too dark to see so i probably didnt water enough.

i gave everything a good thorough drink this time. when the water was starting to collect in little puddles i moved onto other areas, and returned to each area a few times to insure that the ground was deeply watered.

ill check on them again tonight to see that the ground is still damp. how deep should i check? (just under the surface? an inch? couple inches?).

i did a search but couldnt find an "idiots guide to watering" haha. but my sister and my Dad have much greener thumbs than i and i can check with them this weekend for more details.

thank you opa!!

[opabinia51]

You are most welcome Luz, just stick your fingers in the soil to see if it is damp or not. That should be deep enough.

If the water is pooling then you have clay based soil which is not a bad thing at all but, you should ammend it. Add lots of organic matter. For now the easiest thing to do would be to simply add compost. You can buy all sorts of different versions of compost from Fish compost and so on.

You could also get some fir or other non cedar based sawdust and mix it with manure and work that into your soil as well. Stay at least a couple of inches aways from the stalks of your plants.

This fall, gather up all the fallen leaves and go over them with your lawnmower (a few grass clippings in there won't hurt a thing, and if you mow the leaves over your lawn, you'll get the benefit of a bit of leaf mold in your lawn as well.) and place the leaves ontop of your plant growing areas. Cover the leaves with coffee grounds (from local coffee shops, I geet mine by the bucket load from an organic cofee shop that roasts it's own beans), grass clipping, and/or manure. I like to do several layers of leaves (I actually alternate the types of leaves I use as well) and whatever greens I'm using (Coffee grounds, grass clippings, grape pomace, manure, seaweed and so on.) Eggshells won't hurt either. I actually get buckeet loads of them from a nearby cafeteria. Most of this stuff is free or very cheap.

Anyway, have whatever manure your using as the last layer. (I use between 2 and 3 different types of manure; horse, steer and chicken).

You can also dig trenches in your garden and put the same things in the trenches and cover with soil.

Doing this will increase the pore size in your soil and prevent the water from pooling and causing fungal diseases and it will increase the water holding capacity of your soil.