Worse tomatoe plants ever?

Jul 28, 2007 4 Replies

or if you don't have a ready source of aged poop compost will do, or if you don't have a ready source of compost aged poop will do. I

f you have neither simply piling spray free grass clippings on the soil for several months prior to planting will help, throw in some used coffee grounds as well, some leaves as well. Give a few months for it to break down and then plant. Not absolutely scientific but better than doing nowt. It all adds organic matter into the soil that will benefit the soil. I did a raised garden last year with grass clippings, coffee grounds, some old hay, old bits of wool, paper, a bit of fresh poop & a layer of soil over the top. Left it a few months & planted tomatos into it, they did fine.

rob

Worse tomatoe plants ever? The last couple of years my tomatoe plants have grown shorter and shorter. Also not getting near as many tomatoes. I only have a small plot and can not rotate crops. What to do to get better plants next year?



Do you ever amend the soil with fertilizers and mulch? As you remove the plants

and the fruit every season, you are depleting the energy of the soil. You coluld have some sort of pathogen in the soil, but I would focus on the fertilizer first.

Sherw> Worse tomatoe plants ever?

If your garden is small and you can't rotate very much, follow the previous post. Also keep in mind that when you till a garden continously, You create a hard pack in the soil where the bottom of tiller blades press down the soil creating a hardpack or pan very dense in nature. Take your garden fork or spade and turn this over loosening that hard pan. The hardpan doesn't let the roots to go deep enough. and fully spread out. I plant my tomatoes at least 7 in. deep in loose soil and since I have my garden either plowed or deep dug. The roots of my tomatoes in the fall garden clean up can be 12-20 in. deep. By the way my garden is medium in size 80ft x 300ft., and I have over 190 tomatoes in it.

As adie hard raised gardener I suggest several 4 ft. x 4 ft. gardens and rotate from one to the other each year. Thanks, Johnny

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