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Show lakeside Review, May 6, 1981, Page Wide Variety Available Soil Tests Can Indicate Tomatoes Need Little Effort, Small Space Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables grown in home gardens. They grow under a wide variety of conditions with a minimum of effort, and they require relatively little space for a large production. Of tropical American origin, tomatoes do not thrive in very cool weather. They are suited to spring, summer, and autumn culture over most of the North and upper South, and they will grow in winter in the extreme South. Each tomato plant may be expected to yield 8 to 10 pounds of fruit. The number of plants needed will depend on the size of your family. To spread the tomato harvest over the growing season, stagger planting dates at 2- - to 3 week intervals. Some tomato varieties are adapted to only certain areas of the country; others are more widely adapted. Choose a variety that is suitable to your part of the country and is resistant to fusarium and wilts. These diseases are likely to be a problem, and the only practical method of control is to grow resistant varieties. A list of tomato varieties for home gardens is given in the guide, page 4. Tomatoes grow best in fertile, well drained soil, but they will grow in almosts any kind of soil. Choose a site that receives direct sunrays all day. m Soil To help maintain proper temperature and moisture for germinating seeds, cover the flats or pots with panes of glass or sheets of plastic until the After seedlings break through the soil surface. germination, remove the cover and water the soil but only as often as necessary to keep it moist to the touch. When seeding into flats, place seven to eight seeds per inch in rows and cover the seeds with Vfc inch in rows and mixture. Transplant young seedlings into growing containers as soon as the stems have straightened and the leaves have opened which is usually 10 to 14 days after sowing the seed. The earlier the seedlings are transplanted, the quicker they recover from the shock of being uprooted. Use 3 or 4 inch clay or peat pots or paper drinking cups with a hole punched in the bottom. When transplanting young tomato seedlings , hold the plant by one of the leaves; even slight pressure on the stems can cause permanent injury. A rich topsoil with a very light addition of commercial ganlen fertilizer or one of the artificial soil preparations may be used to grow the transplants. The best temperatures for growing transplants are from 65 to 75 degrees F. during the day and 60 to 65 Need to Add degrees at night. The young plants should be exposed to as much sunlight as possible. For the best results, keep the plants in a hotbed or cold frame. If neither is available, keep them in front of a window with a western or southern exposure. Seeding Into Containers When seeding in pots or some of the new plantgrowing containers, fill the pots with starting mixture to within about Vfc inch from the top of the pot. Plant d one to three seeds to one-hadeep in the center of each pot. After germination, pots with more than one seedling should be thinned to a single plant. Transplanting to Garden one-thir- lf Plant tomato seedlings outside when the soil has warmed and there is little threat of frost. If there is danger of frost after the plants are put outside, protect them with paper or plastic coverings, a All contain soils naturally some plant nutrients derived from method to indicate whether P or K fertilizer is needed. It is recom- to the crop. of the scale, we do find some garden soils marginally detrimental On the other end decomposition of soil minerals and organic deficient or deficient matter. .Also, P or K. Plant growth phosphorus, P, and may be limited unless potassium, K, added in fertilizers, manures and crop residues generally remain in the soil until used by crops. The majority of home gardens on the Wasatch Front have sufficient P and K levels, and additional quantities are not always needed. In gardens were heavy annual applications of P fertilizer or manures have been added, soil P levels are often found to be soil tested once every fertilizer is applied to four to five years. It is a establish a basic fertility good investment, usually level. resulting in a savings in A soil test is the best fertilizer costs. may "rly SPRING SALE t Ready Mad Frames newspapers, or boxes. Remove the covers during the day. Set tomato plants into the garden at about the same depth as they were growing indoors. It is not necessary to remove the containers if they are made of peat or paper. However, if clay containers were extremely levels high. used, knock the plants out of the pots before of Excessively high P mended that home gardeners have their 25 S. 37 to 50 Off Ipritagr artfl State, Clearfield 823-190- 1 become Preparation The time and method of preparing the soil for planting depend on the type of soil and the location of your garden. In general, a cover crop should be grown in the garden during the winter to add organic matter to the soil. This is especially important with sandy soils that contain little organic matter. Spade the cover crop into the soil in early spring well in advance of planting. Heavy clay soils in no rthern areas benefit from fall tilling and exposure to freezing and thawing during the winter. Also, gardens in dryland areas should be tilled in the fall and left rough so that the soil will absorb and retain moisture that falls during the - - winter. Do not spade or work soil while it is wet unless the ' work will be followed by severe freezing weather. To test for moisture, squeeze a handful of soil. If it sticks together in a ball and does not readily crumble under slight pressure, it is too wet for working. Take the soil samples at both the surface and a few inches ' below. Sometimes the surface is dry enough, but the lower layers are too wet for working. ' Moisture may also be tested by inserting a shovel into the soil. If soil sticks to the shovel, it is usually too wet to work. Fertilizers applied during soil preparation will help tomato plants grow rapidly and produce well. The kind and amount of fertilizer you need depend on your locality and the natural fertility of ycur soil. fertilizer (5 percent nitrogen, 10 Generally, a percent phosphoric acid, and 5 percent potash) gives - Sometimes good results. just manure or a nitrogen fertilizer is needed. Fertilizers that contain small amounts of iron, zinc, manganese, and other minor soil elements are necessary only if your soil is deficient in these elements. Soil composition is best determined by a soil test. Contact your county agricultural agent or State .experiment station for information on soil test. should be applied either a few days . Fertilizer before planting or when the tomatoes are planted. A good practice is to spade the garden plot, spread the fertilizer by hand or with a fertilizer distributor, then ' go over the soil two or three times with a rake to get it in granular condition and to mix in the fertilizer. If the soil is left extremely rough, cultivate it once lightly before fertilizing. Because of the small quantitites of fertilizer , required for some garden plots, it is easy to apply too Chemical fertilizers should be much fertilizer. weighed before application. If your garden measures 500 square feet and a soil fertilizer is needed test indicates 400 pounds of a for 1 dcre. vou should use 5 pounds. Use lime only when a soil test shows it is needed, not apply lime in larger quantities than the test garden soils that are in a high state of fertility do not require additional lime. If needed, however, any of the various forms of lime, may be lime, such as hydrated and used; but the unburned, finely ground dolomitic limestone is best. Fiftysix pounds ofburned lime or 74 pounds of hydrated lime is equivalent to 100 pounds of ground limestone. Finely ground oystershells and marl may be used as substitutes for limestone. Sometimes tomato plants need the calcium rot. provided by lime to help prevent blossom-en- d When using lime, spread it after plowing and mix it thoroughly into the topsoil. Although it can be applied in the fall or winter, it is best to apply lime in the spring because some of it may be washed from the soil during winter. Seeding Outdoors In areas with a long growing season, tomatoes may be seeded directly into the garden. Work the soil into a somewhat granular condition. Sow the seeds in rows 4 to 5 feet apart. Keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate. When the seedlings have 3 leaves, thin them out so they are spaced about one every 1V4 to 3 feet. Seeding Indoors In the more northern areas, the growing season is likely to be too short for heavy tomato yields, and it is desirable to increase the length of the growing season by starting tomato plants indoors. Sow the tomato seeds 5 to 7 weeks before the plants are to be transplanted into the garden. The seeds may be planted directly into small pots and growing containers, or you may sow them in flats and later them individually into growing contransplant tainers. The first method involves less handling of the smal plants, and there is less chance for the spread ol tobacco mosaic virus. Also, seedlings develop more rapidly because the roots are not distrubed by transplanting. However, seeding into flats and transplanting into pots is preferred by some gardeners because less space is required initially and weak seedlings can be discarded leaving only the best plants for transplanting. Loam or sandy soil, sand, shredded sphagnum peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite may be used in various combinations to start seedlings. Some of these combinations are: 1 part compost-- 1 part sand-- 2 parts topsoil; 1 peat moss-- 1 vermiculite; 1 peat moss-- 2 ssand; 1 peat moss-- 1 perlite or sand-- 1 soil; Save $20.00 AVI 20 21" REAR BAGGING ROTARY engine. Big rear bag catches more than 2 n handle and heigh' bushels of grass! adjusters. vermiculite; -- 1 vermiculite-- perlite. Various prepared mixtures for starting seeds are available commercially. To insure good germination of tomato seed, the soil must be kept moist. 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