Tomato Plants

Tomatoes are a great plant for beginners to grow. They grow fairly easy and in many climates. I live in eastern Wisconsin, where the weather is always changing drastically. Tomato plants also look great when full grown. When growing well, they can become quite bushy. Nevertheless, tomato is such a versatile fruit and can be used in so many recipes; it is worth the little effort to grow them.

Starting with a quality soil is important for any gardening. I have other articles that deal with the making of quality dirt so we won’t go into it here. If you have the time or insist on the look, you can mound the soil to be planted in, but I never bother with this step because my garden is far too large and would take too much time. The plants grow just fine without being on mounds.

If starting from seed, plant indoors 4-6 weeks prior to placing outside. If starting with pregrown starter plants, or once the indoor seedlings are ready, begin by digging the hole to place the plant. Make it deep enough to bury the roots and stem up to the first branch. Place the plants about 2 feet apart in a row and keep rows a little farther apart. I do this so when they are fully grown I can access all the plants to harvest. Some will ripen faster than others and you do not want to step all over the plants trying to harvest them.

After planting, watering is the most important factor to a healthy high quality crop. The steadier watering the plants receive the larger and better the fruit will turn out. I have installed a rainwater barrel system and an automatic watering device to mine, but again that is an entirely different topic. The plant itself will tell you about your watering habits. If the leaves begin to turn a yellow color, chances are they are receiving too much water. If the leaves are turning brown, they are not receiving enough water. Finally, if the tomato looks nice but the skin is splitting open, the water is coming in too much at one time; try to spread out the watering.

One final pointer is to avoid watering in the middle of the day when the sun is hottest or the plants may scorch from the reflective properties of the water. Good luck and happy gardening!

Growing Squash

Squash is another very simple plant to grow. It is a perfect addition to a beginner’s garden. Be sure to have plenty of room as squash plants are very viney. They start from one rooted plant and re-root in several other areas after they vine out in several directions.

Squash are nice to grow because of their ease. Squash can adapt too many soil types. They can grow in cold or warm soil, damp or dry, and packed or loose soil. Squash is possibly the one and only plant I have never had die on me. They are pretty much self sufficient and produce very nice flowers just before the squash appear.

To care for the plant, just give it water when watering the other plants in the garden. If using a fertilizer, go a little lighter on the squash plants if at all. Most time you do not even need to worry about them lying on the ground while growing because the skin is so protective. Most plants will rot when sitting on the ground but squash rarely does.

In my experience, for each original plant put into the ground about 5-7 squash will grow. This can range quite a bit though. Last year I had one plant that gave me only 3 while another produced 14. Don't worry too much about the squash, save that time for the plants that are less self sufficient. Good luck and happy gardening!