Got the Tomatoes Transplanted Today

Today was the first day in a while that it didn't get hotter than 90 degrees.  For the next week it isn't going to hit 90.  Highs in the 80's - how nice.  It was exactly what I was waiting for - the perfect day to get the tomato seedlings transplanted into the garden.  I was worried about the high heat and dry conditions killing them.

The tomato seeds were planted on August 1st.  They have grown and grown and are very healthy.  It is past time that I get them in the ground.  Roots are coming out of the bottom of the little pots they are in and they are long and leggy, some two feet tall!

I am planting them in the very southernmost part of the garden.  This is the part of the garden that I experimented with hügelkultur.  I buried big logs deep in the ground and covered them up with soil.  It raised the area of the low-lying portion of the garden that would flood.  The buried wood acts as a sponge, holding water and releasing nutrients.

Since these plants are leggy, I'm planting them deep, covering the stem up to the bottom leaves.  The entire stem will grow roots.  I put some composted chicken litter in the hole along with composted wood chips and then watered them in good.

This is a horrible photo as the lighting is all wrong, but there are 19 tomato plants in the garden on three rows.  As they grow I'll trellis them using the "Florida Weave" method of staking since they are indeterminates.  There are 19 plants in all made up of the following varieties: Creole, Campari, Pink Brandywine, Roma, Black Vernissage, Black Krim, Big Rainbow, Mortgage Lifter, and Cherokee Purple.

I gave my son, Russ, some plants that he'll plant in his garden and the following six plants will go to my Mom and Dad for their fall garden.

Louisiana's tropical weather allows you to get a second crop of tomatoes in. Fall is a wonderful time to grow tomatoes.  The pest pressure is light.  The disease pressure is light.  The temperatures to work in the garden are nice.  However, it is tricky.  All it takes is an early frost, and all your work is for naught.  We'll see how it goes this year and report back our success (or failure).