Tomatoes!

Although several people have told me that tomatoes shouldn't get set out until Mother's Day, my garden books say it's safe once the last frost has passed. My seedlings still have a bit of growing to do before transplanting but I wanted to get the tomato bed set up. Therefore, I took a trip to Home Depot today and along with tomato supplies, wound up with 4 tomato plants to transplant.

Since I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to spend tending the garden this summer, I'm trying to plan ahead as well as I can to prevent weeds, and in the tomatoes' case, to stake the plants well from the very beginning. Tomatoes need to be staked because otherwise they will just form a heap of vine on the ground.

Normal wire tomato cages are said to be flimsy. The plants fall over and break and the tomatoes get mushy on the ground. One alternative would be to make your own tomato cages from concrete reinforcing wire. Apparently this is the cheapest and best alternative but sounds like a lot of work. Luckily, Home Depot had a slightly higher quality, triangular tomato cage for sale.

Here's my setup.
- Black plastic, to raise the soil temperature, prevent weeds, retain moisture in the soil, and prevent migration of certain fungi present in soil from transmitting to the plant (this would happen during a rain storm if the soil is exposed). I understand red plastic would be better.
- Tomato plant, planted deeply. Remove lower branches and plant it so just the top sticks out. This helps tomatoes grow strong root systems.
- Cage around each plant.
- Marigolds interplanted. In addition to being pretty, they are said to prevent pests.
- Basil interplanted. This is said to improve the flavor of tomatoes, and is convenient to harvest together for cooking.
- Plastic bottle cloches, to keep the plant warm. One of the tomatoes was too big for a cloche so it will try to survive uncovered. If it dies I will just try again.