2012 Tomatoes

I planted my tomatoes today. I bought 7 total transplants today, and this season I will be planting more tomatoes that ever. The varieties are Arkansas Traveler, Celebrity, Jet Star and Big Boy.

Actually, only 4 or the 7 transplants were planted directly into the garden. This is because I'm conducting an experiment this season, but I want to say a few preliminary remarks before I describe the experiment. I planted today, of course, but I think the truth is that the crop would have been unsuccessful if I had waited until mid to late April to plant them. The reason: tomatoes will not set fruit during very hot weather. On the other hand, the tomatoes will become mature and set fruit in suitably warm (but not too hot) weather by planting them in early spring. But planting them in early spring leads to other problems: occasional frosts and high winds. In any case, 4 tomatoes went directly into the garden, and the other 3 were planted into bigger pots with additional potting soil and alfalfa meal (fertilizer) added. These plants will keep growing as long as bigger pots are provided when needed, but they are portable enough to be hardened off gradually. They can easily avoid the cold and wind and they will be planted into the garden when conditions are right.

Update 3/24/2012: So far, anyone would agree that the tomatoes in pots "look better" than ones in the garden, although the ones in the garden look normal for their time of planting. All plants were fertilized with an even mix of bone and blood meal, then watered with a molasses solution.