How to: grow a perfect garden tomato
Elizabeth Sobrevilla, head flower gardener for Messiah, has been beautifying the campus for 19 years and knows her way around a vegetable garden, too.
- Tip #1: Choose a spot that gets at least eight hours of sun daily.
- Tip #2: Purchase a tomato plant. Work 2 inches of compost into the soil and place plant 6 inches deep in mid-May. Tomatoes don’t do well in cool weather, so wait to plant if the nights are below 50 degrees.
- Tip #3: Add 3 to 4 inches of mulch to about a 2-foot radius around the plant.
- Tip #4: Put a really sturdy, 6-foot-plus structure — like a four-cornered cage of rebar or a sturdy wooden trellis — around the plant. Tie the branches of the vine to the structure as it grows.
- Tip #5: Water regularly to keep your plant moist, not soggy. Soak the soil slowly and deeply. This encourages the roots to grow deeper.