How to Treat Your Ground to Plant Tomatoes

Prepare the soil before growing tomatoes.

Many home gardeners choose to include tomatoes in their warm-season vegetables. Tomatoes need to be planted in the early spring so they can grow and mature to harvest in the summer and fall. The mature fruit of the tomato plant is eaten in a variety of ways. Use tomatoes in your home cooking by adding to sauces and heating or eating raw in a fresh salad. To benefit a growing tomato plant, prepare the soil before planting seeds or transplanting young seedlings.

Things You'll Need

• Soil
• pH soil test kit
• Lime or sulfur
• Peat moss or compost
• Fertilizer (6-24-24, 8-32-16 or 5-10-10)
• Shovel

Instructions

1. Test the pH of your available soil by following the specific instructions on a pH soil testing kit, found at a local hardware store in the gardening section or at some nurseries. Tomatoes grow best in soils in the 6 to 6.8 range, which is slightly acidic.

2. Add lime to make the soil more acidic and lower the pH or add sulfur to make the soil more basic and raise the pH. Consult a local cooperative extension service to determine how much lime or sulfur to add to your soil, giving them the current pH level of your soil. Mix in the lime or sulfur in the spring or fall.

3. Till the soil for adding organic matter and fertilizer by digging trenches 6 to 8 inches in depth with a shovel.

4. Add peat moss or completely broken down compost to the soil to amend the soil with organic matter.

5. Mix in fertilizer with nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium proportions of either 6-24-24, 8-32-16 or 5-10-10. The extra phosphorus and potassium will help develop strong, fruitful growth. Add 1 lb. of fertilizer for every 100 square feet of soil.

6. Cover the organic matter and fertilizer by filling trenches back in with soil.

References

• University of Missouri Extension: Growing Home Garden Tomatoes
• Food Gardening Guide: National Gardening Association