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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Simple Garden Life Podcast, a program dedicated

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to keeping the art of gardening simple, fun and always rewarding.

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Now Here are your hosts, Jim and Mary Competti.

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Speaker 2: Hello and welcome everybody to Simple Garden Life Podcast. I'm

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your host, Jim Competti, along with my wife Mary, Mary.

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How you doing today, I'm doing great.

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Speaker 3: How are you doing?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing good. Actually today I'm doing great because we're

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talking about probably my most favorite subject that it's been

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a while since. We have tomatoes and how to grow tomatoes,

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but more importantly, how to super jarge your tomato planning hole.

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And when we talk about that, we're talking about four

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ingredients that you have to add to every planning hole.

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We've done it for years and man doesn't ever make

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big success for your plans.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and it's hard to believe.

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Speaker 4: We're only about four weeks away for us from planning

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our tomatoes in our garden.

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Speaker 2: I know we're in April right now. It's the twenty

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first we've got We usually like to go about the

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last week of May here, just to be safe. But

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before we get into today's pododcast, let's remind everybody if

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you have a question about the podcast. Do you want

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to email us about a question about gardening, You can

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always do so at the farm at Oldworldgarden dot com.

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You can also follow us on Simple Garden Life, Facebook

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or simple We're like the website which where we host

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all the podcasts but also a lot of articles when

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it comes to everything to do how.

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Speaker 4: To garden, and a big shout out to all of

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our participants. This past weekend at our Spring Garden Conference

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at our farm we.

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Speaker 2: Did we had our first one here at the farm.

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What a fun time talking with all the gardeners, giving tours,

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doing some live demonstrations. We'll do that every year, so

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stay tuned for next year. We also have some great

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things coming up to the farm that's done in our

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Summer Dinner series which will be once a month where

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we have our big outdoor dinners. So you can always

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keep charge of that at ow garden dot com or

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the farm at ol World Garden spacebook. So now let's

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get into it. How to supercharge your tomato planning the

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whole four mustad ingredients. You know, what you put in

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your tomato planning hole when you plant, It really makes

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a huge difference on how quickly you're prying how your

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plant grows, excuse me, and how well produces. People forget

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it's not just about those nutrients marry being long term.

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It's when you put them in that planting hole right away.

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It really helps the tomato plant avoid transplant shock and

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get grown right now.

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Speaker 4: I think a lot of people have a sense of

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not denial, but a sense of security of when they

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plant their tomato plants. They get it from a nursery,

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they have already things nutrients and fertilizers in the soil,

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but there's some things you can do to really get

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your plants off to a great start.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I think the other part of that, and I think

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this is what you're hitting at as well, is that

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people put the plants in the ground, they cover it

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up with their ordinary garden soil, and they think, well,

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I'm going to fertilize this later, I'm going to do

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these things that I need to do. But really, you know,

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whether you grow your own transplants or pick them up

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at your local nursery, the real key is to get

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the ingredients that are going to power those plants. You know,

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it's going to set the stage for that big root

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growth early on and let's face it, roots of the

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tomato plant are the most important thing of all to

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its overall success. The bigger, the and more robust the

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tomato plants root systems can grow, the more easily it's

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going to absorb those nutrients and moisture that it needs

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to grow and produce. Not to mention, a good root

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system really helps with that stability. We all have seen

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tomato plants topple in the middle of summer. But the

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bigger your roots, the less you have to worry about it.

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Speaker 4: Right, And people don't realize sometimes that tomatoes are Tomato

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plants are heavy feeders.

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Speaker 2: Massively heavy feeders. I mean they're gonna take as much

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as corn. They take a lot of nitrogen early on,

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but then they take a lot of potassium and calcium,

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and they need a lot of trace nutrients. And the

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best way to do that is to give them all

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of what they need right from the start. And when

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we talk about planting tomatoes, before we get into those

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four important things, let's just cover a couple of things

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that really make a lot of sense. We talked about

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this this week in fact, at the Garden Conferences. First

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of all, plants, your tomatoes deep you have to plant

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them deep. You know, all of those little hairs along

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the line of a tomato plant at the bottom, those

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actually went under the soil and plant in the soil

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grow more roots. And people sometimes think, oh, well, there's

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five leaves up here. I don't want to bury those.

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But tell them what you do.

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Speaker 4: Right when I get a tomato plant or I'm ready

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to put them in the ground, you know, dig a

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hole deep enough that not only can you put these

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four ingredients that we're telling you about, but also you

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plant them down to the first set of leaves.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, if you have an eight to ten

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inch tomato transplant, it should really only stick out of

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the soil three inches by the time you're planting. That

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sounds crazy and it sounds terrifying, but it's the way

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to do it. You prone off those lower leaves, you

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put that in the soil, and it goes now merry

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plants and does all this. As I said this weekend

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at our conference, I do have a hard work because

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I have to be in front of it a crystal digger.

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But no, it's it's all joking. Aside. We use a

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postal digger. We go down eight to ten inches in

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the soil, and then we amend that soil and we

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make sure we plant those tomatoes deep. That is a

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huge part thing, a huge part of what can really

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make a tomato get off to a good start as

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that deep planting hole and then putting those great ingredients in.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and in general, tomatoes grow in best and fertile,

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well draining soil, not hard, thick clay soil. So if

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you do have clay soil, you're gonna have to amendor

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soil to make sure your tomato plants grow successfully this year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and that goes beyond even what we're putting in

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that planting holewood. You know, if tomato plant can't find

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the nutrients it needs right off the bat, you're gonna

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see it. We've all been there. When the tomato plants

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turn a little yellow, they're slow to grow, they go

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through this long transplant shock. That's all because they can't

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find the nutrients they need. Yes, it can have something

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to do with the outside temperature. Your soil really needs

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to be, you know, minimum of sixty degrees, but sixty

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five degrees is best, So let that soil warm up

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before your plant. That's key. Yes, you have to have

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some good weather and have some good rain, or you're watering,

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But at the end of the day, it's it's the

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nutrients that that plant can get that are really going

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to get it off to a great start.

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Speaker 4: And it's natural for all tomato transplants to have what

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we call transplant shock. It's really kind of like sending

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your kindergartener to school for the first time.

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Speaker 3: You've protected the child.

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Speaker 4: All these years at home, and now you're setting them

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on the bus to a whole new facility to a

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teacher they've met one time.

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Speaker 3: Same thing with your tomato plants.

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Speaker 4: You're putting them out in the garden in a unprotected

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area that they're not used to.

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Speaker 2: I love that analogy, and I'm going to take it

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one step further. So now you're not just sending your

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kid on that bus with no lunch. You're giving him

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a lunch. It's going to power them through the rest

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of the day because he's going to have that fuel

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that helps him or her understand what they're doing, get

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to lunch, and keep on going. Because now your tomato

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plants are going to do the same thing. So let's

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get into it. Let's talk about what's really important for

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those four ingredients. We'll cover the first one here because

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it is by far the most important I think overall,

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and that is we put composts in every single tomato

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planting whole, actually put it in every single planting hole

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of every vegetable we do. But why the compost Because

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it's full of energy and nutrients, and even better, those

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nutrients are in a form that are easy for the

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roots of the tomato plantes to absorb, and that means

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they can get the food they need right from the start.

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Speaker 4: Right And no longer is it that you have to

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be a farmer or big massive backyard gardener to get composts.

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Speaker 3: Compost is available at most big box stores.

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Speaker 4: Yes, you can grow your own or make your own,

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and we do that as well, but you can find

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it in stores.

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Speaker 3: You know, and even if you plant one or.

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Speaker 4: Two tomato plants, it's absolutely necessary to put compost with

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your tomato.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, compost goes beyond having just those nutrients

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we talked about. It also does a lot of other

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great things for your plants and your soil. First of all,

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it is wonderful and absorbing moisture and holding it nearly,

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in fact, nearly ten times more than plain soil. So

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that means when you water or when it rains, they

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can have the moisture they need to grow, you know,

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their foliage, their blooms, and their fruit all at the

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same time and not be drying out so much in between.

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Speaker 3: And that means also means less watering.

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Speaker 2: That's right. And then compost also helps to loosen the soil.

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You know, it's got a very light makeup, and loose

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soil helps those roots expand quick And we talk about

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transplant shock, that's one of the things roots need to do,

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and that's why they go into that shock. They can't grow,

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they can't get more nutrients. But by having composted in

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that hole it really matters. So how much compost this

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is a big question. How much compost should go into

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each planting hole. With compost, I really don't think you

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can go wrong. I think for us, what it's two

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to three cups, sometimes four cups, just depending how bad that.

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Speaker 4: Soil wasn't well, how bad the soil is, and how

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bigger tomato transplants are. If you have a small tomato transplant,

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you could get away with two cups of compost in

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your planting hole.

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Speaker 3: But if you have a.

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Speaker 4: Tomato transplant that's already a good eighteen to twenty four inches,

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obviously you're going to need to add a little bit more.

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Speaker 2: That's right, So you know, three four cups for something

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like that. And for an added benefit, you know, once

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you plant that, remember to put a little bit more

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compost around that planting hole on top, because every time

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you water or it rains, that composts nutrients are going

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to lead through the soil and really help your plant.

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And one last thing before we take a quick break

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here and cover the final three. You mentioned big transplants

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versus small. If you're in the nursery, if you did

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not grow your own transplants, don't think that the bigger

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plants are the way to go. Actually, if you can

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find a decent sized eight to ten inch transplant, that

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is better than getting that foot long tomato in a

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giant pot that already has tomatoes.

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Speaker 4: On it, Right, And you really want to kind of

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stay away from, like you said, the ones that actually

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have tomatoes already growing as the fruit or even blooms,

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you really want to stay away from that. Get one

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that has nice green foliage, and then that's the perfect plant.

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Speaker 3: To plant.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And people ask, why why do you want to

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do that, Well, it's because that tomato plant's going to

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suffer the most from transplant shock a big tomato plant.

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Just think when you transplant a big shrub or a

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big plant, it takes longer for that to recover, and

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that length of recovery during that time, that smaller transplant's

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going to take off and surpass it, just like that.

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So there we go. There's our first one that has

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to go in the hole. Two to three cups, maybe

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a little bit more if it's large, if it's large.

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And that's compost. So we'll take a quick break here

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and we'll be right back with those final three most

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important things to put in your tomato planting hole. And

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we are back talking what to plant, or I guess

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should say how to plant your tomato, meaning what to

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put in that planet tomatoing hole. Just don't cover that

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soil back up over your transplant. You've got to give

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it the power needs. So we talked about compost, how

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important it is, and I said, it's quitely my most favorite.

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I'm gonna probably say that with every one of these ingredients,

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but the second ingredient definitely.

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Speaker 3: Is it's my favorite.

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Speaker 2: Yea, it is, and it's a must do. And that's

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worm castings. And people say worm castings, you know, but

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they are a must for tomato planting. They they are

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perhaps nature's finest, slow and low release fertilizers. They're you know,

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castings to the maneuver earthworms, that's what they are. Earthworms

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work through the soil and you know, they digest it

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and as they do, what comes out the other side

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they leave a casting which are loaded with like the

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perfect amount of energy and again, like compost, it's super

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easy for plants to absorb. For the roots of tomatoes,

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castings just give them instant energy. We put castings in

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our potting soil or our seed starting soil when we

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grow our in tomato plants, marry and the difference is amazing.

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Speaker 4: It is, you know, just put a little bit of

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castings into the sea starting store on our seeds that

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have those, they grow tremendously better than was.

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Speaker 3: I don't same thing with tomato plants.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And what makes it so special is that energy

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is delivered low and slow, but just is absorbed so

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easily by the roots of a tomato plant. And that's

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that's a key for tomato plants when they're young. You know,

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they don't want a massive dose of nitrogen or phosphorus

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or any of the elements that can go into it.

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They want that low and slow but easy to absorb nutrients.

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Speaker 4: One thing to look forward though, if you, I mean

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most of us don't have our own worm castings.

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Speaker 3: Many of us do, but a lot of us don't.

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Speaker 4: When you go to buy your worm castings, make sure

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that you're buying one hundred percent worm castings. Sometimes these

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bags are mixed with other soil amendments or nutrients. What

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you're looking for this time pure worm castings.

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Speaker 2: As they become more popular, it's more popular for some

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of these companies to start putting fillers in them, or

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they'll see added fertilizer. That's not what you want. You want,

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as Mary said, one hundred percent pure castings. So now

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how much we've actually increased this over the last few years.

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You know, we now use I would say definitely a

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half a cup. I mean we used to say a

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quarter cup to a half cup. But they're so they're

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not going to burn your tomato plants, they're not going

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to hurt them. So a half a cup goes a

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long way. And again it's that ability for those roots

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to absorb and worm castings do the same thing that

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compost does. Loosens the soil. It allows for the water

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to be absorbed quicker and better. And then also it

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allows it to absorb them easily, so you can't go

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wrong with them.

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Speaker 4: And after planting your tomato hole, we actually along with

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the compost, we spigger worm castings around the base of

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the plant, now not to the base where it's touching

293
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the stem, but in a like four and a half

294
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you know, six inch circle around a little ring around it. Again,

295
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so the next time you water, the next time it rains.

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That is providing more nutrients through the soil.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, so compost again, we're gonna just recap compost two

298
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,879
to three, maybe even four cups if it's a massive plant.

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And then too, you know, half a cup is really good,

300
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a quarter cup of work, a half a cup worm castings.

301
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,120
And then number three and this is a huge one too.

302
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But it's how you put it in is egg shells,

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00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,399
but not just eggshlls, not crushed in your hand. It's

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got to be pulverized into a powder. Eggshell powder. Mary

305
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:17,840
I think this is where people make the mistakes. They

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think about eggshells and they're loaded with calcium. They can

307
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,519
help blossom in rod, they can help prevent it, and

308
00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:24,919
they can also Calcium is important for the health of

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00:13:24,919 --> 00:13:27,519
a plant and for its blooms. But when you crush

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them up or put partial pieces of egg shells, that

311
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doesn't help this year's crop.

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Speaker 3: No, it takes a long time for those eggshells to

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break down. Think about it.

314
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Speaker 4: If you do have a compost pile, if you go

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00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,279
to throw an eggshell out, it takes a long time

316
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for that to break down. So you need to give

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it a boost by breaking it down before you put

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it in your tomato planting hole.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know calcium is so important, and that's

320
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,559
eggshells are made up of over ninety percent of calcium.

321
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You know, it's just amazing what they do. It's the

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health of the plant. They build strong stems and roots,

323
00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,360
and of course it's critical when it comes to warming

324
00:14:00,399 --> 00:14:02,279
that fruit. When you get that blossom in rot that

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00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,960
appears on a tomato plant, that is usually, but not

326
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,600
usually it is the result of the plant not getting enough.

327
00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,480
Speaker 4: I think we should probably explain for those people that

328
00:14:10,519 --> 00:14:11,840
don't know what blossom and rot is.

329
00:14:12,039 --> 00:14:14,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know it's that little black area on

330
00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,320
the end of the blossom with the tomato forms, and

331
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,000
all of a sudden you'll see your tomato have that

332
00:14:18,279 --> 00:14:20,480
soft spot on the end, and it ends up ruining

333
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:21,039
that tomato.

334
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Speaker 3: Right.

335
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Speaker 4: Think about a tomato that's half grown, or it starts

336
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to even starts to turn red. You go to pick

337
00:14:27,159 --> 00:14:29,159
it and you turn it over in the bottom of

338
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:30,960
it is all black and mushy.

339
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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I hate when I put my fingers, and I.

341
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Speaker 2: Do want to explain to a lot of people that

342
00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,639
grow tomatoes that is a very common occurrence for the

343
00:14:38,679 --> 00:14:41,399
first four or five tomatoes that appear on your plant,

344
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,840
because they're immature. The plants still learning how to do things.

345
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The tomatoes are trying to learn.

346
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Speaker 3: How they're still the roots are still absorbing nutrients.

347
00:14:49,799 --> 00:14:53,000
Speaker 2: And they don't understand that, and so they think, oh

348
00:14:53,039 --> 00:14:54,960
my gosh, I've got blossom in what you do on

349
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,559
those initial ones. But we always tell people when we

350
00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,759
do this, and we were telling that this weekend at

351
00:14:59,759 --> 00:15:03,039
the conference, pull those first few tomatoes off, I mean

352
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:04,919
the first five or sixth at form. First of all,

353
00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,600
it's gonna take them forever to mature. They're most likely

354
00:15:07,639 --> 00:15:09,720
going to have blossom and rot. You don't need them

355
00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,240
on there. And what that's going to do by taking

356
00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,480
them off is allow the plant to continue to produce

357
00:15:13,519 --> 00:15:15,600
more power and more power so that what it does

358
00:15:15,639 --> 00:15:17,440
produce it's next set it to me is they're going

359
00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,240
to be really good. However, if you don't have enough

360
00:15:20,279 --> 00:15:23,320
calcium in the soil that blossom rock can continue on it.

361
00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,919
If you have an extended period of bossom rock, you

362
00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:27,759
have an issue. And that's where that egg shell powder

363
00:15:27,799 --> 00:15:30,360
can really just knock it away when you plant it

364
00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:30,879
right away.

365
00:15:31,039 --> 00:15:33,080
Speaker 4: So it's not very common to go out to your

366
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nursery to find a bag.

367
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Speaker 3: Of eggs shell powder. So how do you get eggshell powder?

368
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,559
Speaker 2: Well, if you save your eggshells, you know, you crushing

369
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,320
down by hand to a certain point. We put ours

370
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,919
in a coffee grinder and we just you know, grind

371
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,080
them up and they into the finest powder we can

372
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,600
and then it's perfect and it's it's the reason it

373
00:15:52,679 --> 00:15:55,399
works is you said it best. It takes so long

374
00:15:55,679 --> 00:15:58,080
for them to break down, it doesn't really break down

375
00:15:58,159 --> 00:16:00,440
until next year and help next year's crop. But when

376
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,039
you make it in a powder form, it's instant. The

377
00:16:03,159 --> 00:16:05,919
water comes through, it absorbs into the roots, and it

378
00:16:05,919 --> 00:16:07,399
can happen. So that's why you want to do that.

379
00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:09,360
Speaker 4: And I just want to clarify that we don't use

380
00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:11,440
the same coffee grinder for our coffee beans as we

381
00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,559
do our eggshell powder. We bought inexpensive coffee grinder that

382
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,240
we use solely for things like that for the garden.

383
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:19,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you can get one now for fifteen

384
00:16:20,039 --> 00:16:23,120
or sixteen dollars, and it's just we just use that

385
00:16:23,159 --> 00:16:26,480
for grinding that up or grinding other things up. But

386
00:16:26,519 --> 00:16:27,879
you know, there's eggs shells, Like I said, they have

387
00:16:27,919 --> 00:16:31,600
over ninety percent calcium carbonate, and by putting them in

388
00:16:31,639 --> 00:16:35,440
your hole, it's just unbelievable how much they can they

389
00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,679
can do for plants. So again, magical question. We talked

390
00:16:38,679 --> 00:16:41,399
about the amounts of what to use. You know, about

391
00:16:41,399 --> 00:16:44,840
the equivalent of you know, three to six eggs shells

392
00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,840
per hole, which when you grind them up, I think

393
00:16:47,919 --> 00:16:49,759
what you and you say about two tablespoons.

394
00:16:49,799 --> 00:16:51,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's pretty much what I use.

395
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, And actually I've seen some eggshell powder on sites

396
00:16:55,759 --> 00:16:57,480
now that it's for sale. So if you don't have

397
00:16:57,639 --> 00:16:59,879
a source, I think you can try to find it online.

398
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,039
That's a great way to do it. But I'm telling you,

399
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,079
save your eggshells, grind them up, use them in there.

400
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:06,240
It's an amazing thing.

401
00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:08,880
Speaker 3: And if you don't have enough eggshells, Jim, we should

402
00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:09,680
tell them what we used to do.

403
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, go to your local breakfast place and

404
00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,519
take a five gallon bucket in, maybe patronize the breakfast

405
00:17:16,519 --> 00:17:18,839
place and have a breakfast there. Every weekend. We had

406
00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:20,519
a little small hole in the wall that we would

407
00:17:20,559 --> 00:17:22,920
go to. We would take them two five gallon buckets

408
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,240
and they would save their coffee grounds, their egg shells,

409
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,680
and all their potato peilings and everything else for us.

410
00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,160
And we would go in, usually on Saturday morning, and

411
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,359
have breakfast and leave with two buckets full, and we

412
00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,640
would give them two more. We did that for a

413
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:37,319
long time before we had our own chickens and our

414
00:17:37,319 --> 00:17:39,440
own ability to have as much. But same thing with

415
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,359
coffee shops. You know they're going to save the grounds

416
00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:42,559
for people, and they're more than.

417
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,440
Speaker 4: Happy to even Starbucks, I think save coffee grounds for people.

418
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,880
And they actually put the patron's names up on a chalkboard,

419
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,000
and I've heard in some occasions.

420
00:17:49,599 --> 00:17:51,680
Speaker 2: I love it. I love it. So okay, so we've

421
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,680
done three and four. We've got composts, we've got warm castings,

422
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,559
and we have eggshll powder. We'll come back with that

423
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,119
final tip and final tips on growing tomatoes after this

424
00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:09,440
message we are back. We've covered the first three important

425
00:18:09,519 --> 00:18:11,200
things to put in that tomato planting hole. First, we

426
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,519
talked about digging your tomato plant hole with a postal digger.

427
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:16,279
The nice thing about that is you're not taking a

428
00:18:16,319 --> 00:18:19,200
big scoop of dirt out, just a nice area for

429
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:21,720
the whole. It's easy on your back. And then once

430
00:18:21,759 --> 00:18:25,119
you lift that soil out, mixing in these ingredients, you know,

431
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:30,279
two to three cups of compost, the worm castings, you know,

432
00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,279
half a cup or so, and then the eggshell powder

433
00:18:33,319 --> 00:18:36,000
two to three tablespoons. Two is more than enough. And

434
00:18:36,039 --> 00:18:39,480
then comes number four with your coffee grounds. Another free

435
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,359
resource for people. And we're not talking about fresh coffee grounds.

436
00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:45,880
We're talking about used coffee grounds. Right, they have to

437
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,559
run through that coffee maker in order to get the

438
00:18:48,559 --> 00:18:51,359
acidity out of them. But when they do, those coffee

439
00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:56,039
grounds are just unbelievably healthy for your tomato plants and

440
00:18:56,079 --> 00:18:56,680
for your soil.

441
00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 3: Right, both coffee grounds contain nitrogen and other trace elements

442
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,480
that helps your tomato plants grow big and strong.

443
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, nitrogen is a key factor for tomato plants. I

444
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,960
mean you're talking about it is what helps plants grow.

445
00:19:08,079 --> 00:19:09,559
You don't want to hit your tomato plants with too

446
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,400
much nitrogen. But coffee's perfect because it's a low dose,

447
00:19:12,559 --> 00:19:15,759
just enough to keep it green and growing without overproducing

448
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:16,839
too much foliage.

449
00:19:17,079 --> 00:19:18,880
Speaker 3: Just like you can't have too much coffee in the

450
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:19,359
morning too.

451
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 2: Well, you've been telling that I can't, so that might

452
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,440
be a problem. Apparently I'm limited now to cups. Apparently

453
00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,519
there is a point where it's not good, kind of

454
00:19:28,559 --> 00:19:29,079
like a tomato.

455
00:19:29,279 --> 00:19:31,079
Speaker 3: It's right, too much, just enough?

456
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,119
Speaker 2: Well, you know we talked about they contain the nitrogen

457
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,119
and other ingredients. But how much should you mix in?

458
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,279
You know, two to three tablespoons is really good for

459
00:19:39,319 --> 00:19:42,119
the planting hole. You said this too. That's another thing.

460
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,160
We usually put a few more tablespoons up on top

461
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,000
of the soil when we're done in that in that

462
00:19:46,079 --> 00:19:48,599
mix of compost, and what it does is it helps

463
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,519
to it helps to you know, really control the moisture

464
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,640
and also get things in and also just give that

465
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,079
little bit of nitrogen boost.

466
00:19:57,799 --> 00:19:59,799
Speaker 3: That they Yeah, just don't do the fresh coffee grounds

467
00:19:59,759 --> 00:20:02,720
because those fresh coffee grounds have just too much acid

468
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:03,960
in them. They have to be spent.

469
00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:06,519
Speaker 2: You're right, you know that's the big thing. So once

470
00:20:06,759 --> 00:20:10,039
your tomato plants gets boosted, or once once they get planted,

471
00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,440
then you're going to fertilize them after a few weeks.

472
00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,599
Just remember, once you start fertilizing your tomato plants, we

473
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,720
like to use liquid fertilizer and look for a fertilizer

474
00:20:18,759 --> 00:20:22,599
that's higher in phosphorus than it is nitrogen. You want that,

475
00:20:22,839 --> 00:20:24,880
you know, NPK numbers is going to tell you the

476
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,200
three numbers you need. In that first numbers, nitrogen, you

477
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,680
want it to be low, so maybe a five ten

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ten or a five fifteen. You want that phosphorus and

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calcium or potassium to be higher because that's what drives

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blooms and plants and not just overall growth. I think

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we've covered it.

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Speaker 3: With I'm excited for planning season.

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Speaker 2: I am too, So listen, thanks for joining us today.

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We'll be back next week with another one. Here's some

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knowing what to put in your tomato planting hole this

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year and having your best harvest of tomatoes ever.

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Speaker 3: I'm Jim Campetti, I'm Mary Capetti.

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Speaker 2: All right, Happy gardening, everyone, Happy gardening.

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00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,720
Speaker 5: We hope you've enjoyed this episode. Subscribe to the Simple

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00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,640
Garden podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or most of

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00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,160
your favorite podcast apps. You can also head over to

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simplegardenlife dot com where you can listen and read all

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00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:10,880
of the show notes to every episode.

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Speaker 3: And if you have any questions, any ideas for show topics,

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00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,240
or if you want to share your favorite garden tip,

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00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:20,160
email us at the farm at owgarden dot com.

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Speaker 5: Until next time, Thanks everyone,