Comments on: How to Grow Tomatoes

on 9/28/2008 I found that tomatoes and peppers need more calcuim than the soil usually supplies them. Blossom end rot is a signal that they need more calcium. I add about a 1/2 cup of non-fat powdered milk to the fertilizer when planting. You can also sprinkle the powdered milk around the base of the plant.

on 6/24/2008 What do you mean when you say "harden off seedlings"?

on 6/19/2008 I personally use about two tablespoons of Epsom Salts on each of my tomato plants.

on 6/6/2008 i am a novice at growing tomatoes. However, my tomatoes are "MUSHY" inside. They also have a slight discoloration in the flesh. They have little "LIGHT COLORED LINES" in the flesh. They don't taste as good as some. I put 80% of the plant in the ground as stated. I also feed them with MIRACLE GRO FOR TOMATOES and I keep them watered. What am I going wrong? I have followed all instructions but can't seem to get it right...HELP!!!!I have some in CONTAINERS and some in the ground...HELP ME!!!!They get a lot of sun too.

on 6/6/2008 I do everything that I am suppose to do for growing tomatoes. But the problem that I have is; they are MUSHY and have little "light colored" "lines" in the flesh of the tomato...What am I doing wrong?..I keep them watered and fed with "miracle grow for tomatoes HELP!!!

on 5/6/2008 How much epsom salts do you suggest?

on 4/30/2008 As per the instructions it says to place egg shells when planting the tomatoes. Should they be raw or cooked egg shells? Does it matter?

on 4/30/2008 As mentioned in this article it says to place egg shells when planting tomatoes. What is better egg shells from raw eggs or cooked eggs?

on 2/20/2008 wait, sun and water make tomatoes grow!?? Someone aced 1st Grade Biology.

on 4/25/2007 you can plant tomatoes up to the first limb on the plant, and put eptsom salt in the hole when planting, you will get more than you can eat.

on 8/8/2006 Fire ants ruined my tomatoes one year. The next year, I planted my tomatoes in pots, and smeared the outside of the pots with a mixture of hot sauce and petroleum jelly (to water-proof the hot sauce). No more critters!

on 8/8/2006 You can also use the suckers you remove from your tomato plant to grow more tomato plants! Just root your sucker in a pot and water it. Tomatoes also love the occasional addition of Epsom salts to their water. The magnesium boosts their flavor like crazy. Ground oyster shells also work in place of eggshells for calcium.

on 3/20/2006 I cut the bottom out of a small coffee can and pushed it down about 2 inches around the tomato seedling. This helps protect the seedling from cutworms and prevents runoff of water and liquid fertilizer. Just discard the used coffee can at the end of the growing season.

on 3/14/2006 From Michigan to Florida - be sure to buy some chicken wire if the tomatoes are being raised from small plants. The plants should be placed in fairly large pots or the rabbits and other varmints will surely enjoy them before your reap the harvest.

on 2/7/2006 I have always put a banana skin in with the tomato seedling, a few inches away from plant, they seem to thrive with the added potassium.