Are you looking to cultivate the most delectable and sizable tomatoes while achieving a bountiful harvest? Consider incorporating these items into the planting hole prior to planting your tomato plant!
Put These 12 Surprising Things in Your TOMATO Planting Hole For The Best Tomatoes Ever
Homegrown tomatoes offer a delightful taste that surpasses any store-bought fruit. Their thick, juicy, and plump texture, combined with their sweet and slightly acidic flavor, makes them a highly satisfying fruit (or vegetable, depending on your perspective) to grow from the start of the gardening season.
Put These 12 Surprising Things in Your TOMATO Planting Hole For The Best Tomatoes Ever
1/Baking Soda
Put These 12 Surprising Things in Your TOMATO Planting Hole For The Best Tomatoes Ever
If you’re growing tomatoes in containers and desire sweeter-tasting fruit, here’s a helpful trick that truly works. Sprinkle a small quantity of baking soda around the base of your tomato plants. As the baking soda infiltrates the soil, it will reduce the acidity levels, resulting in tomatoes that are more sweet than tart. This technique is particularly effective and is definitely worth trying!
2/Fish heads
For a considerable length of time, fish heads have been utilized as a natural fertilizer in gardens. Their effectiveness in enhancing tomato growth is not a myth and has been verified. The process works because the decomposition of fish heads releases numerous essential nutrients, including nitrogen, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, and several trace elements. One potential issue with burying fish heads is that they may attract critters, which may dig them up. To prevent this, bury them deeply, at least a foot underground. Alternatively, you could drop the fish heads into the planting hole whole, or use ground fish scraps. For an even more potent solution, mix 2 cups of ground fish scraps with 1 cup each of water and milk.
3/Aspirin
To enhance plant immunity and prevent diseases such as blight, consider dropping 2-3 aspirin tablets into the planting hole, either whole or ground. The presence of salicylic acid in aspirin is the reason for its effectiveness in this regard. Using this technique can also increase the yield of your plants. Additionally, you can make a solution containing aspirin and spray it onto your plants for further protection.
4/Eggshells
Eggshells are a valuable source of calcium that can increase the calcium content in the soil, an essential nutrient that plants require for optimal growth. Additionally, the presence of calcium can help prevent blossom end rot. Whether you’re growing tomatoes in a garden bed or containers, consider placing eggshells in the soil before planting to provide your plants with this vital nutrient.
Read more details here: 15 Brilliant Uses For Eggshells In The Home & Garden
5.Epsom Salt
Tomatoes are prone to magnesium deficiency, making it beneficial to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt at the bottom of the planting hole when transplanting seedlings. This is true whether you’re planting in containers or a garden bed. It’s important to cover the Epsom salt with a thin layer of soil to ensure that the roots are not in direct contact with it.
6/Kelp Meal
Kelp meal is an excellent source of micro-nutrients and trace elements that provide complete nutrition for plants. Adding kelp to the soil can give tomato plants a turbo-boosted start, promoting healthy growth. Slow-release kelp fertilizer is particularly beneficial as it provides the plant with sufficient nutrients over time, preventing shock that may occur when using excess fertilizers. One cup of kelp meal is typically sufficient for each tomato plant at the time of planting.
7/Bone Meal
Like kelp meal, bone meal is an excellent addition to the tomato hole when planting. Adding a handful or cup full of bone meal can help promote blossoming and quality fruit production in tomato plants. This is because bone meal provides the much-needed phosphorus nutrient, which is crucial for healthy tomato growth.
8/Used coffee grounds
Put These 12 Surprising Things in Your TOMATO Planting Hole For The Best Tomatoes Ever
When transplanting tomato seedlings, consider adding well-composted coffee grounds to the planting hole to improve soil composition and provide a source of slow-release nutrients to your plants. Coffee grounds are an excellent source of fertilizer and can also be used as mulch.
9/Compost
Put These 12 Surprising Things in Your TOMATO Planting Hole For The Best Tomatoes Ever
Compost is an essential component that should not be overlooked in any garden. Compost is essentially organic matter that has been decomposed using various methods (check out my composting guide).
By incorporating compost into your garden, you are creating a rich humus that can benefit your tomato plants. Adding compost to the planting hole is one of the most effective ways to provide nutrients to your tomatoes and give them a natural growth boost.
In addition, compost can help the soil retain moisture, prevent soil compaction, and improve oxygenation at the root level. I always add a bit of compost to the planting hole of my tomato plants to help them thrive.
10. Banana Peels
Put These 12 Surprising Things in Your TOMATO Planting Hole For The Best Tomatoes Ever
I enjoy the taste of bananas, and they are always present in my fruit basket at home. As a result, I often have a surplus of banana peels that I would typically throw away.
However, why waste something that could be so valuable for my garden?
Similar to bone meal, banana peels are a good source of phosphorous, a nutrient that is essential for tomato plants.
If you don’t use banana peels in composting, you can still use them undecomposed in your garden.
Every time you eat a banana or use it in a recipe, save the peel and add it to a planting hole.
You can even freeze banana peels and store them in the refrigerator until you need them.
When I transplant my tomato seedlings into the garden, I usually add two banana peels per planting hole.
11. Organic tomato fertilizer
Because the soil in my garden lacks natural fertility, I always give my tomato seedlings a boost by adding some organic fertilizer to the planting hole. I prefer using Espoma’s Tomato-tone fertilizer, which I purchase from Amazon, and I have consistently achieved excellent tomato harvests since I started using it.
Tomato-tone is a complete plant food that contains 15 essential nutrients. However, be mindful not to leave the container around your pets since they find the smell attractive and may chew on the bag. While this fertilizer is organic and does not contain any harmful ingredients, it is still best to keep it away from your pets.
Other excellent brands of tomato fertilizer that I recommend are Jobe’s and Dr Earth. For an effective start, I usually add a handful of fertilizer to each planting hole. Once the tomatoes start bearing fruits, you can side dress with more fertilizer.
12. Earthworm castings
Another form of compost produced by earthworms is known as “earthworm castings”. This process is also called vermicomposting or vermiculture.
Earthworm castings are considered one of the most nutrient-rich natural fertilizers. This type of fertilizer is ideal for all types of plants, whether they are grown in hydroponics, raised beds, traditional gardens, or flower beds.
Despite being worm excrement, earthworm castings do not have a bad odor and are suitable for indoor plants.
The use of earthworm castings improves soil aeration and structure and does not harm plants due to an excess of nitrogen, even though it contains more nitrogen than regular garden soil.
While producing earthworm castings at home requires more attention than standard compost, they are readily available for purchase on Amazon (click here to see on Amazon).
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