Tomatoes heirloom or hybrid they are the most popular grown vegetable, which is actually a fruit.
They are delicious and nutritious, in all forms. Eating tomatoes cooked is the best way to help your body assimilate the nutrients.
Tomatoes require consistant amounts of calcium (Ca), to strengthen cell walls to resist bacterial and fungal infection.
Inadequate amounts of calcium partnered with inconsistant moisture levels are the main causes of Blossom end Rot.
Two organic ways to integrate calcium into your soil is to recycle eggshells, and boil bones to remove leftover flesh and cartlages. I prefer eggshells and will dry them in a low temp oven and grind in a mortar and pestle, you get nice powder about a teaspoon is enough for each plant.
(you can also use bonemeal, tums, and calcium supplement pills)
When planting, place calcium into the planting holes so the roots start transporting it immediately to the new transplant.
Give seeds a good start by planting seeds inside egg shells.
Wash and allow to air dry then fill with soil, carefully make holes in the bottom with a pin.
Plant seeds inside and place in a warm windowsill.
You can give them additional applications of calcium throughout the growing season. Let eggshells sit in a gallon of water about a week (easily made ahead), calcium will leach into the water then use this for your tomato plants,
I will post Tomatoes other important nutrition need in another blog later. We will be talking Potassium (K)
Have a great Garden
Test Your Soil
Feed Yourself Well
~V
I personally will be growing several tomato varieties this year.
ReplyDeleteSouthern Belle, Black Prince, Kellogg Breakfast, Possibly the black rose, and pink caspian. Always a grape or cherry, and start my second batch of seeds about 6 weeks into the season, for a later crop, I will try to do several tomato blogs this month, one on Potassium, Determinate/Indeterminate, Heirlooms, general growing tips.
This year we are only growing 4 tyes of Tomatoes, and there are already tomatoes on despite strangly cool weather patterns and escapee goats into the garden.
ReplyDeleteWe're growing in 2014 Sudan's Strain of heirloom Beefsteaks as our late tomatoes.
Park's Whopper, Roma, Jubilee, & Black Krim as our main crop. We're excited to see them full of blooms this week and lots of bees around the farm.