Itching for Spring - An Experiment to Establish Tomato Plants Early

We have been experiencing temperatures at least 10 degrees above average for the last week, with at least one record high temperature set. This warm spring-like weather has been encouraging buds to swell on perennial plants around the yard, including the primrose jasmine weeping over our path to burst into bright yellow.

With the mild temperatures, I felt like I should be getting the summer vegetable plants planted in the ground. I know that we can still experience freezing temperatures for several more weeks, but with global warming causing deviations from historical weather patterns and more plants in the greenhouse than we can ever find space for in the garden, we decided to experiment.

A friend described a planting technique that she had recently seen at a local nursery, so we decided to give it a try with our tomatoes.

This year we decided to create a more organized support system for our tomato plants. Last year - our first garden attempt - we decided to mostly let our plants do their thing and see what happened. The indeterminate, sprawling tomato plants did create a nice ground cover for the garden, but also sprawled across our pathways. Especially in the fall and with the heirlooms, we noticed that the plants spent more time and energy on their exponential growth and less on ripening fruit and it was a scavenger hunt to locate the fruit that was on the plants.

Therefore, we are using a staking system of two stakes at either end of 3-4 plants with a double-thickness of garden twine wrapped around the stakes at sequential heights as the plants grow to provide support and keep the plants growing vertically. Utilizing trunk segments removed from yaupon holly encroaching on the street in front of the house, we buried support posts. Between the posts we strung the first level of twine to guide the placement of the tomato plants. We utilized the posts to separate tomato plant varieties, planting 3 Sun Gold and 4 Brandywine Pink, spaced about 18" on center.

4 posts create 3 planting runs

Now comes the experimental part. For each plant, we dug a deep hole. The plant was centered in the hole  below the twine, with the top of the vegetation still about 4 inches below the existing soil level. Then the hole was back-filled with soil freshly amended with compost just to the level of the existing root ball. Then we pinched off the cotyledons and wrapped the stem with foil to protect against cut worms. We cut the bottom off a black plastic nursery pot and centered it around the plant. When placed, the pot stuck several inches above grade. The soil was then moved into place around the pot.

Plant centered under the twine

Plant placed deeper than existing grade

 We hope that the black pot will protect the plant from cold winds and absorb the sun's heat to help plant growth. Additionally, the soil should help insulate the plant during cooler weather. Once the plant grows above grade, the pot will be removed, any low branches pinched off, and the soil back-filled into the hole to promote more root development for the plant! Remember, all those little hairs on tomato plants are potential roots. Building off suggestions from a book that gives tips on devices for maximizing solar impact, I created homemade cloches/ mini-greenhouses for half the plants as an experiment. I cut the bottoms off of gallon milk jugs and put them over every-other pot/tomato plant. The jug caps can be put on at night if it is cold to lock in more heat. Additionally the milk jug is a protective frame over which insulating material can be piled if the temperature drops. The first level of twine of the tomato staking system put in place to guide planting placement is also the perfect height to hold the milk jugs in place! 

Milk jugs placed over pots, held in place by twine