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Hey there my friend's! I don't know how many of you garden but I do know that even if you have limited space you can still grow a small garden in pots on your terrace or in a small bed.
(My Tomato bed! I also recommend mulching! It helps hold moisture in the soil and keeps the weeds from choking out your plants! It also keeps you from having to pull weeds when it's stinking hot! One more thing. I like to lay sweat hose down in my garden bed under my mulch. It helps conserve on water 💧 and keeps the moisture near the roots where it's needed!)
Today we are talking specifically about Tomatoes 🍅! I was always taught that when planting Tomatoes you always use a tblsp of epsom salts! The reason for this is that epsom salt contains magnesium. Magnesium aids in early root and cell development. It also aids in plant growth and it will slow blossom end rot!
For those of you who don't know what that is. It's pretty much what it's called. Usually before your Tomatoes 🍅fully rippen, the bottom where the blossom was, starts to rot and it ruins your Tomatoes and all your hard work! The other thing I do when planting Tomatoes is add a source of calcium to the hole as I plant. They will get some calcium from the epsom salts but my soil always needs more! So I add a cup of lime or this year we saved up our 🥚 egg shells, I blended them down to a fine powder and used that instead. Because egg 🥚shells are calcium! There will be some people who will tell you not to use epsom salts on your plants. The reason they say this is because your soil may already have all the nutrients you need to grow a healthy plant. These people are usually more experienced gardener's who have amended their soil in the fall. They have also probably tested their soil to see what nutrients they need to add. Let me say again, in order for your plants to get the best benefit this must be done in the fall! So if you are questioning whether to use epsom salts and additional calcium then test your soil. You can buy the kits and do it yourself or take samples and send them off to a lab! For me, doing these two things have always helped my Tomatoe harvest. I live in Missouri / United States. Here we have lots of clay in our soil so amending or adding nutrients has always helped my garden! One more tip for Tomatoes 🍅! If you want evenly sized fruit (yes a Tomatoe is a fruit) pinch off the little suckers that grow right next to the stem! There you are! Those are my tips for Tomatoes! Again 1 tblsp of epsom salts when you plant and 1 cup of calcium. Once a month in order to keep your plants healthy and growing make a solution of 2 tblsp of epsom salts per gallon of water 💧and spray on your plants!
That's it for now! Be sure to check out my YouTube channel under Tricia Peelen for more gardening tips. Talk to you later! FG Farm Girl