On Sunday February 20 we transplanted our tomatoes. We had some germination issues so were short on plants. We had to direct sow some rows as a result. Plants are spaced 32″, we were going to do some rows at 24″ but the plant shortage prevented that. In all we should end up with about 160 plants. Since we are new to this we are trying three different heirloom determinant varieties. Rutgers Improved, Red Rocket, and Homestead 24. We plan on saving some seed in the future.

We are attempting to interplant the beds with carrots and beets although the temperatures are not the most favorable. We warm up fast this time of year and are already hitting high 80’s. Oh, bush beans as well which should be ok in these temps. Still researching to find out what cash crops are possible to plant along with my larger main crops. The season for cool crops is very short here and ending so it seems that options are limited.

We will use Florida weave for support. The area that these tomato plants are in is #4 on my soil test that can be seen in a previous post. Daikon radish cover crop was mowed down and tilled in prior to planting (unfortunately the day of planting so I’m concerned about possible nitrogen lock up in the short term). SeaShield, SeaStim, Rejuvenate, and Myco Genesis innoculant was also applied. BioCoat Gold was also used at planting.

I will keep track of yield and how the plants are doing through the season.