An important part of a bumper tomato crop is suitable plant nutrition. Tomatoes thrive in nutrient-rich soil. When soils are deficient of nutrients, tomato plants grow poorly and are further vulnerable to pest damage and disease. Amending soil the fall before planting can help keep the tomatoes well-fed all season. The vine plant flourishes in full sun and well-drained, loamy soil that is within a pH assortment of 5.5 to 6.8. Tomatoes grow well in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2a to 10b.
Dig a 2-foot-wide hole. Pour water into the hole, then wait two hours for it to drain.
Loosen the soil to a depth of 12 inches when the water doesn’t drain within two hours. Add 3 inches of compost, 3 inches of garden soil and 3 inches of decomposed pine bark to the top layer of the clay soil. Till the mix until it’s well blended.
Test the pH of the soil having a home pH tester. Collect pH data from six to eight regions of the planting site.
Insert 40 pounds of dolomite lime per 250 square foot to acidic soil and 15 pounds of sulfur per 250 square foot to alkaline soil with a drop spreader. Employ 5 pounds of lime per 100 square feet using a drop spreader should youn’t have a pH tester.
Implement 4 inches of compost in addition to the soil, then until it to a thickness of about ten inches. Till approximately 100 pounds of compost for a bed 8 ft long and 2 1/2 feet broad.
Mix 1 pound each of cottonseed meal, hoof and horn meal, kelp meal and feather meal in a large container. Insert 2 pounds bonemeal. Expand the fertilizer well with a wooden spoon for a bed 8 feet long and 2 1/2 feet broad.
Expand the fertilizer mix on the planting site, then until it to a thickness of 6 to 8 inches.