I was at a local store the other day and noticed a lady selecting a few pretty crappy looking tomato plants. I wanted to tell her not to buy them, but the sales clerk was standing right there so I didn’t {shame on me!}.
In case you are buying your tomato plants this year, here are a couple of things to look for to make sure you get a healthy plant:
- Choosing your variety: Determinate, Indeterminate, or Heirloom? For the first two, check out my post on determinate vs. indeterminate tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are from seeds that are passed down from generation to generation. They usually have more flavor, color, etc. but they are more susceptible to disease.
- Next, I know this seems counter-intuitive, but go smaller. I’m not talking itty-bitty, but 4″-8″ is a great place to start. They seem to do better when transplanted, because they are still small enough to develop a strong root system in your garden with relatively little transplant shock.
- Examine the leaves. Look for leaves with uniform color {no yellow or brown spots}. Choose plants with 4-6 leaves.
- Check out the stem. It should be straight and sturdy, like Forest Gump after his leg braces.
- Check the soil of the container–make sure it isn’t dried out {indicating that the plant has probably endured some level of stress while at the nursery}.
- Choose a reputable garden center–sometimes the little extra money can make a lot of difference to the overall tomato yield. Plants that have been cared for by knowledgeable professionals can give you a nice big jump start.
Taking a little care up front in choosing your plants can totally add to the success of your garden {though, nothing is full proof, believe me, I have killed what started out as perfectly healthy plants}.
Do you buy your tomato plants? What varieties will YOU be buying this year? What do you look for when your are choosing your plants?
~Mavis
These are the tomatoes I will be growing in my garden this year:
- Cherry Rainbow Blend {perfect for salads}
- Italian Roma {for eating fresh and sauce}
- Ace {for canning}
- Cherokee Purple { the best tomato on the PLANET!}
- Better Bush { for eating fresh}
- Principe Borghese {for roasting and dehydrating}
- Green Zebra {LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one}
- Sun Gold {My daughters favorite}
- Red and Yellow Pear {great for snacking and on salads}
- Speckled Roman {A new variety I’m trying this in 2013}
- Black Krim {The HH’s favorite}
Alex says
My fav tomato plants that we get for our garden are believe it or not from Costco. They yield such great crops and grow like crazy! Thanks for a great article!
DaveB says
I bought 3 healty y looking tomato plants from Costco this year. Everything looked great until a recent outbreak of small caterpillars which are destroying the plant. I carefully severely pruned the worst one and found 4 cocoons with a larger host in each one. All of my other tomato plants have no problem so far. I bet the plants were infested when I bought them.
PattyB says
The saying goes, “you can’t plant tomatoes until Mother’s Day in Colorado.” Coming from SoCal that was total culture shock. I planted anyway. I got 3 tomatoes all year.
So today is May 1 and I woke up to, More Snow! Geeze, it was 82 degrees Monday! So I wistfully stare at my bairn garden once again. Will I ever get to plant tomatoes?
Mavis says
Still snow? Oh my word! Let’s hope you can plant those tomatoes soon! WoW!
Nikki says
I always get early girls from the MacLendon Hardware near my house, no matter what I or the weather does, they always produce.
I also always start 3-5 varieties from seed. This year I did two “cold weather” varieties, Stupice and Oregon Spring. The Stupice was recommended by Ciscoe Morris, and Oregon Spring was recommended by Territorial Seed company. Both are supposed to do well in the Pacific Northwest and are apparently OK to set out in april, so I did.
So far, the Oregon Springs are HUGE and sturdy. The Stupice are sickly and weak. Both got grow lights the first 8 weeks of life, then a really long hardening off time. I should send you some garden pics 🙂
Sapihia says
I started my heirloom seeds (both determinate and indeterminate) in my spare bedroom mid Feb. and under grow lights have grown them to around 12 inches above the current containers which is a gallon size, I have transplanted them 3 times, deeper into progressively bigger pots, along the way. I have over 250 which I have moved to my greenhouse now, and they are extremely healthy with very good roots. As I am going to be selling a lot of them at the local farmers market, I’m going to have to disagree as to buying the smaller plants. Just buy from a local market if you can and stay away from the big box stores. Us home growers take the time and give our plants so much love and attention. I love your site Marvis, but on this I disagree. 🙂
Karin Carson says
I learned this tip from our neighbour , he planted by the phase of the moon and had the best garden in the area hands down. When planting tomato he told me to dug a trench about 3/4 the length of the plant the lay the plant in and cover with soil leaving the last 1/4 or so on the top of the soil, you then have a huge root system and it supports the plant better, he also put pipes with a slated end into the soil beside the plant to water them, never have I seen such healthy abundant plats. He use well aged pig and chicken manure to fortify the soil. They fed there family of 6 with their garden year round and many others from their bounty.