Support your tomatoes, they depend on you.

Tomatoes are the number one favorite amateur gardener choice for summer food gardens. If we love them so much, we should treat them with love and care, right? It’s simple enough to do. Tie them up!

Last year I tried an experiment and did not stake my tomatoes. I thought, “Aren’t they vines and aren’t they supposed to grow along the ground?” I saw an internet article that said it would make no difference…It was a disaster for me. They barely produced any tomatoes and those that were on the vines, did not ripen. Last year was not the best year for tomatoes climate-wise but I could have done much more to support mine. Do yourself a favor, learn the lesson from my experiment and get your tomatoes off the ground.

Staking is not just for vampires…

A stake should be about six feet tall. You will need to place it on the north side of the tomato, two to three inches from the stem and drive it about one to two feet into the ground.

Now that you have the stake firmly in place, tie ‘em up. I know, it sounds so rude! But while tomatoes need to be held up in order to produce an abundance of fruit, they have no natural way to do it themselves. They need our help. A few things to remember:

• Use something soft
• Keep it tied loosely
• Place the under a sturdy non-fruit branch

Tie the rag strip to the stake first. Make a nice square knot. With the loose end gently place it under a strong branch. Never place the tie under a fruit branch as it may snap the branch laden with fruit.  Then tie the rag strip again to the stake. At the end of the season those rag strips can go into the compost with your tomato plants as long as you have used a natural fiber like cotton.

As the plant grows, keep adding your rag strips about every 12 to 18 inches.

If you are the type of person that likes your garden neat and tidy, I suggest the stake method. This is for the gardener that likes to pinch back suckers and is diligent about it. Cages obstruct your hands for this.

Sew? Use your sewing fabric scraps for bright, cheerful veggie ties.

Cage the wild tomato!

And just because you’ve put them in a cage, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check to make sure they don’t need a little help in there. If need be, make sure your tomatoes are upright in the cage with a loose rag.

If you do choose the cage method try to avoid using the wimpier store-bought cages for heavy tomatoes like beefsteak varieties. The weight of the fruit will likely tip over the cage. If you want a sturdier cage for your beefier tomatoes, it’s easy enough to create them yourself. It’s very simple. You can use hardware cloth or fencing materials.

First, get out your wire cutters and buy a roll of the wire mesh of your choice. Cut the mesh in any diameter you feel comfortable with, I like to make mine tighter (18″) circles because it means I have less worry over supporting. At the bottom, cut a few inches of the horizontal layer of wires off to create little stakes to go into the ground and keep the cage steady. The circle itself will enable self-stabilization of the cage.

Now, fold over the wires where you cut them and voilà! It’s a great way to get a cheap, heavy, stable tomato cage!

That’s it, that’s how to support a tomato and be rewarded with a better yield of yummy juicy tomatoes.

Photos are all of the Frank Mastini Memorial Garden in Cine’s citystead

Photo by Our Enchanted Garden

The Benefits of Deep Watering

Here in the Northwest the grass grows green in the winter and brown in the summer. We solve this problem by either getting rid of the grass or watering a lot. But watering on opposite days isn’t the complete solution. It also isn’t the greenest solution. The water does not go deep enough and what you do use is wasted on runoff. You find yourself in a neverending cycle of watering. Deep watering will encourage the roots to go deep, looking for food and water, which is exactly what we want them to do to end the cycle. It encourages your plants to become stronger because they get more nutrients by getting deeper and creating stronger systems that don’t need as much watering. That makes healthier plants, especially veggies, for you. But let’s take this one step at a time… shall we? First let’s look at the facts then the how to’s.

Joe Lamp’l, in his book The Green Gardener’s Guide, details quite a few methods for efficient methods for getting the most bang out of your watering buck.

Tidbit to Know: A residential system applying 1 inch of water to an average-size 5,000-square foot lawn delivers a total of 3,000 gallons of water.

3000 gallons! That’s more than twice as much as you need. If you water the lawn (or garden) without deep watering methods, your lawn will only grow roots less than 2 inches deep. That will force you to continue to water more often thereby wasting our precious water resource. Even if you water for 20 minutes, the way the soil absorbs will not allow it to seep far enough to avoid evaporation. The ability of soil to absorb water is known as soil percolation. The percolation of the water through the soil stops at the top if it is overwatered to start, especially if the ground is very dry. It simply runs off. The soil near the surface will dry out faster (evaporate) due to the exposure to the elements. Deep watering allows you to water less often with less water and gives your garden the ability to withstand the highs and lows of the temperatures of our Northwest growing season. Thus, you break the cycle of dependency on frequent watering.

“Now, deep watering doesn’t mean turning on the sprinkler and leaving it on while you go and play a quick nine holes! The surface layer of most soils become quickly saturated after watering for only a few minutes, and then all the water applied runs off and is wasted. Research shows that the most efficient and effective way to get water down deep is to water an area for a short time until the upper surface is saturated–say, ten minutes for most soils (less if it’s on a slope)–then stop and let that water soak in for thirty minutes to an hour, and then water again for a few minutes more. This allows the water to be deeply absorbed into the soil while reducing runoff, and ultimately lets you go much longer between watering.” — Joe Lamp’l The Green Gardener’s Guide (reprinted by permission)

Simple, right? Go out, turn on the sprinkler or drip hose for ten or so minutes, wait an hour, then go out and soak it good again for less time. That adds up to less water used, less money spent, and less time of your time spent on watering which frees you up to tending to the garden (or golf or archery or baking bread…).

Now what about those container/raised bed gardens we’re all using now to conserve space and keep the TAGRO in? Here’s a brief tutorial from Anarchy in the Garden on how to solve that problem (see Sources below). Adriana, the author of this piece (used by written permission) takes a 1 gallon pot she saved from a nursery and reuses it for this deep watering project. All Adriana did was simply poke holes into the sides and bury it in the garden. Then she filled it it with water and let it percolate through the holes slowly and naturally as the garden needs it.

Have fun watering and remember that the greener you are the greener your garden will grow.

Sources:

Joe Lamp’l
TAGRO: Tacoma Grow
Anarchy In The Garden
Photo by: Our Enchanted Garden *creative commons attribution*