You’re Killing Your Tomatoes if You Do This, 5 MISTAKES You Can’t Afford to Make Growing Tomatoes

what's going on Growers it's James Prigioni  coming to you live from Jersey you might   be killing your tomato plants today  me and tuck are going to share with   you five mistakes you can afford to  make when growing tomatoes let's go the first mistake is not pruning your tomato  plants look at this plant right here look how   the lower leaves are in contact with the soil that  is not what we want when that happens soil-borne   organisms can get into these leaves cause diseases  and that disease can then spread up the plant tuck   what are you doing buddy we got no snacks for you  here this guy loves beating the videos we'll get   to him in a minute but when you have leaves that  are touching the soil like that that is a really   bad thing and that could easily spread disease up  the plant so what we want to do is remove those   lower leaves check out how bushy this plant is  too look at all the tops and everything growing   we don't want that either because when a plant is  bushy like this it lacks airflow and we know that   air airflow and light are the enemies of disease  so let me bring you over to two tomatoes that   I've staked up and show you what I mean let's  take a look at these two tomato plants here is   one that I have pruned already look how there's  no leaves at the bottom here nothing in contact   with the soil a lot of air can move through here  so it's less likely to get any kinds of diseases   now let's move over to one that I haven't trimmed  yet look at the difference look how bushy it is   look how some of these leaves are in contact with  I mean it's mulch but it's basically still the   soil and look how the leaves already have a little  bit of issues if I leave those leaves that issue   could spread up the plant so we don't want that to  happen what we're going to do is prune this plant   because ideally we want this plant to grow up one  single stem right here you'll notice between the   sun leaf and the stem that right there is a sucker  if we allow that sucker to grow then that sucker   will essentially turn into a whole another tomato  plant it's almost like a tomato plant growing out   of another tomato plant that will cause the plant  to get really bushy and we don't want that we want   to grow up a single stem when you grow plants up a  single stem then what's going to happen is they're   going to get a lot of light and a lot of airflow  this is for indeterminate tomatoes because your   indeterminate tomatoes will produce up until  the frost so this thing's going to get really   tall and that's kind of what we want because then  there's going to be a lot of air and light that's   going to be able to access the plant so let  me show you what I do first thing I'll do here   I use these little Fiskars they work really nice  I'll put a link in the description if you want to   grab some so first thing I'll do is I'll pop  off these suckers so the suckers you ideally   want to get rid of them when they're small you can  just remove them with your finger just like that   another one down here I'll just pop it off just  like that some of these bigger Sun Leafs I'll   just cut off with a scissor with the scissors  just like this and then remove these lower ones   also remove this Leaf right here and then this  one on the back here because it's moving down and   touching the ground so we'll take that off then  I'll come in the inside remove these suckers too   and this one here and then this  one so when we're doing this   another bonus to printing your tomato in the style  is when you prune tomatoes and grow them up a   single stem like this your Tomatoes will actually  start producing up to two weeks earlier than if   you don't prune your Tomatoes let's go back over  to the trellis and check out the tomatoes that I   showed you earlier again look how bushy these  are so these three Tomatoes I didn't prune uh   there's just too many leaves and too many suckers  and stuff growing let's remove them real quick I   want to show you how quick and easy it is to do so  first I'm going to pop off all these suckers here   a lot of it you can just do with your hands cut  off these fan leaves also known as Sun leaves   move forward to this one tucks in here having  fun if you love seeing the little boss in the   videos make sure you spam some hardstyle love for  the little guy he's always out here working hard   so move these Sun leaves so these Sun leaves you need do need some of  them because they are going to suck up some   you know suck up the Sun and help the plant grow   but you don't need all of them  especially on the lower half so we're going to remove all these  suckers here growing in the crotches these leaves here and then now look at those three plants I could  even take I can even take this one off look how   much more space is under here how much more  air can get under here that's really what we   want as the plants continue to grow up a single  stem up this string right here what we'll do is   we'll continue to attach the plants with these  plastic clips this makes it so easy and so quick   to actually get it done I love these clips they  work really well another thing we want to think   about is when the plants start to get tall say up  here so what we want to do is if you live in an   area like the South or an area that gets really  hot and has a lot of sun you may want to leave a   few suckers at the middle of the plant the reason  for this is if the Sun is just constantly beating   down on some of those Tomatoes especially some of  your beef steaks then they can get sun scald this   is essentially just sunburned for tomatoes so  to prevent that if you leave a sucker or two in   the middle of the plant that will help grow some  extra leaves that will kind of shade out some of   that fruit so you don't really get the sun scald  when you grow tomatoes in this fashion when you're   growing vertically you will get earlier harvests  less disease issues and it will make harvesting   actually a lot easier because you'll be able to  see all the tomatoes it'll be more convenient   because it's about head height so there's so many  benefits to growing tomatoes vertically to pruning   your tomatoes and to just do this style because  it makes everything much better look at tuck   looking for a snack over here I think he wants  a snack come on boy let's get the classic one   he loves these things it's funny because on uh  the seed pack said that this was mizuna but it   doesn't look anything like mizuna so I'm not sure  if it actually is it might have been an error but   it says it's mizuna this guy absolutely loves  the flavor of them let me let me give him peace he tells me when he wants to be in the videos  when he wants to show up and get some stuff done   he's out here working he had a little drink  of water but he wants some Living Water right   from the stems of the plants like this we'll let  him snack on that if you love seeing tuck in the   videos hit the Subscribe button and if you're  getting some value out of this video share with   your friends also check out the merch down at  James prisoni.com it's a limited time thing we've   got the Guardians life shirt called The Flower of  Life on it we're real proud of it but we've got a   lot more stuff to get into so let's head back to  the mistakes that you can't be making or you could   possibly be killing your tomato plants for your  determinate varieties of tomato like the Jolene   right here you can stake them and prune off the  lower leaves this way they get some more air and   you avoid some disease issues but you don't want  to remove all the suckers because your determinate   Tomatoes they're only going to produce one round  of tomatoes then they're going to quit producing   as opposed to your indeterminates which will  continue to produce all season up until the   frost so when it comes to your determinates you're  going to prune those a little different you're not   going to want to do much pruning as opposed to  the indeterminates which I just showed you the   second mistake you can't afford to make when  growing tomato is improper watering so when   it comes to Growing your Tomatoes a lot of the  issues will stem from Bad watering practices   when Watering your Tomatoes you never want to get  the leaves wet because wet leaves are more subject   and prone to getting disease issues and fungal  infections can just breed like mad when you have   wet leaves instead what you want to do is to  take your hose with a light stream and water   the plants right at the base just like this you  want the plants to get a nice soaking so when it   comes to actually watering the tomatoes they don't  like to ha constantly be watered with like a light   surface watering instead they like a nice deep  soaking you do not want the soil to constantly   remain wet if the soil is constantly wet then  that's going to make your plants more prone to   getting root rot which isn't what we want on the  other hand if you let the soil get too dry then   that's going to make and grow weak plants that  are susceptible to all different kinds of disease   issues because they just get so dried out they  let the disease in easier we need healthy plants   so what you want to do is when the heat comes  you want to make sure you have a nice mulch down   because the mulch will help retain the moisture  and you also want a soil that drains well so the   combination of having a mulch down and soil that  drains well will help prevent a lot of the issues   this will also prevent uh Blossom and rot  you can see how the soil is draining nicely   because Blossom and rot even though it's  a Calcium deficiency it's often brought   on by uneven watering so when you could  have a mulch down that will help regulate   the moisture of the soil and you have soil  that drains relatively well that will really   help with your blossom end rot issues and you  could even sprinkle in some eggshells when you   first transplant out your tomatoes that will  help add some calcium to the soil as well a   question I often get is how often should  I water my tomato plants and my response   would be that really depends on a number of  factors it depends on how quickly your soil   drains about whether or not you have a mulch  down it also depends on what time of year it   is the size of the plant so for instance at this  time of year with a relatively young plant I'm   only going to water them every couple of days  I'm not going to be out here every single day   watering them because my soil is Sandy it drains  relatively well but it still does hold moisture   another thing is as the plant continues to grow  it's obviously going to need more water and as it   gets hotter it's going to need more water because  when this tomato plant gets really big and it's   really hot out then it needs to cool itself off  to cool itself off the tomatoes basically sweat   they transpire so they release that uh they like  cool themselves off by releasing the water through   their leaves so they're going to need more  water to replace that water that they're kind   of sweating out also when the plants have a lot of  fruit on them they're going to need a lot of water   to put into that fruit so a good thing to do a  good practice is to go out to your plants and just   check the top few inches of soil if the soil is  really dry then you'll probably need to water your   plants this again is where a mulch comes in handy  the third mistake you can't afford to make when   growing tomatoes is not managing pests and disease  the infamous tomato hornworm is one of the most   common pests when it comes to tomatoes they're big  they're nasty and they can do a lot of damage in   a short amount of time so what you want to do  is come out and regularly inspect your plants   growing them vertically will make it much easier  to see the whole plant and to see if the Tomato   hornworms are causing issues because the earlier  you find them the better but there's also another   trick so this right here is Dill this is a great  thing to have planted right next to your tomato   plants because the tomato hornworm will also go  after the dill plants and the hornworms are much   easier to see on a plant like this because they  just tend to blend in so well with the tomatoes so   they're really easy to see on the dill this way if  you see tomato hormones on the dill then you have   a good idea that they're probably on your Tomatoes  too if you do find them what you should do is go   out and just remove all the ones you could find  but there's probably ones you've missed as well   what I suggest doing is hitting your plants with  BT this stuff works fantastic for the hornworms   it's natural it just it's just made from soil  bacteria and it works really well this is the same   thing I use on my brassicas too for the cabbage  worms I love this stuff and I'll put a link down   in the description if you want to get some another  issue that you'll get when it comes to pests on   the tomato plants is aphids and spider mites  so even though they're not going to kill your   plants what they will do these small insects is  they will spread disease between the plants which   is something we're really trying to avoid so when  I see any issues like some holes in the bottom of   some of my leaves or some some yellow blotches on  the leaves which is often caused by spider mites   I'll hit the plants with neem oil this stuff  is fantastic it's natural as well and it does   more than just kill off insects you want to make  sure you get the one with the azadaracta in it   and this also helps with fungal issues too so it's  a great overall spray for your plants the thing is   it is an oil so you want to make sure that you're  only spraying it either in the early morning or at   the evening because uh you don't want the leaves  to actually burn and you want the oil to have time   to soak in to the leaves so what I do is I mix  this with just some common dish soap and spray it   on my plants I usually use it's suggested you can  use one and a half teaspoons per gallon I usually   only use about one teaspoon per gallon but one  spraying plants you always want to make sure that   you first spray one plant and then see how the  spray does and then give it 24 hours if the plant   looks okay then you can spray the whole garden  you don't want to just spray the whole garden   with your first mixture because it might not be  the right mixture and you don't want to damage   a lot of your plants when it comes to disease  be on the lookout for infected leaves and you   want to remove those infected leaves once you see  them and take them off the whole entire property   because we do not want this issue to spread so a  lot of time infections will stem from wet leaves   not enough airflow and not enough light so if you  you if you avoid the first couple mistakes that   I share with you then that will really help you  avoid some of the diseases in the first place but   if some of your diseases are from soil borne organ  isms that you can't avoid in the soil itself is   infected like fusarium Wilt or verticillium then  that's kind of hard to manage if it's taken hold   of the plant there's not much you can do besides  kind of just removing the plant and this way it   won't spread to your other plants what you should  do is put in your notes that you had that issue   and then the next year you should try to plant  varieties that are resistant to that issue for   instance you can try the super sweet 100. this is  one of my favorites it's resistant to fusarium and   verticillium so instead of trying to manage the  disease you could just avoid it and not have to   deal with it the fourth mistake you can't afford  to make with growing tomatoes is not supplying   them with adequate nutrition healthy plants will  be less susceptible to disease so we need to make   sure we're providing them the nutrition to be able  to thrive also we want to have a soil that has   good structure in order to have that we must add a  good amount of organic matter to our soil this way   it drains well and it can also hold moisture  relatively well another thing is you want to   add either compost or an all-purpose fertilizer  so what I like to do once transplanting out my   tomatoes is I'll add an all-purpose fertilizer at  the bottom mix that in a little bit I'll also add   some bone meal and even some eggshells if I think  they need some extra calcium then I'll plant my   tomato and on the top few inches I'll mix in a  little bit more fertilizer this way as I water   the plant the fertilizer goes down into the roots  that's how I like to do it then when the tomatoes   start to get taller much larger and they start to  flower in Fruit I'll go back around and I'll add   some more all-purpose fertilizer I'll either  just take some of the fertilizer sprinkle it   around the plants and mix it into the top few  inches of the soil or I'll take some of the   fertilizer mix it into some soil that I have and  put that around the base of the plants this way   every time we water we're also feeding the plants  what you don't want to do is you don't want to be   adding a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen when  the plants are flowering or fruiting because that   will kind of make the plants focus more on the  production of leaves once they get to the state of   production what we want to do is have them focus  on the fruit and on maintaining overall health   the fifth mistake you can't afford to make when  growing tomatoes is exercising bad transplanting   practices if you want healthy plants that produce  large yields you need to give them a good start   one of the most common mistakes when transplanting  out Tomatoes is not hardening off your plants you   can't just take your plants from any Greenhouse  or inside and then bring them out and directly   plant them in the ground or they can go into  extreme transplant shock and possibly even die   the conditions are just way way too different from  being inside to outside the humidity is higher   um the temperature is perfect there's not as  much wind then you bring them out it's just   such a big shock and such a big change so you  need to slowly acclimate your plants to being   outside what I suggest you do is bring your plants  outside in a shaded location for a short period   of time and then bring them back in as the days  progress continue to bring them outside for longer   periods of time and bring them out into the sun  after your plants can be outside for at least 24   hours they'll be acclimated they'll be hardened  off and you could actually transplant those into   the ground tomatoes are heat loving plants and  they love the Sun so you don't want to transplant   them out too early I say that it's always safer to  transplant them out a week or two late rather than   too early because if you transplant them out too  early and if Frost comes that could really kill   back all the work and all the time that you've  that you've spent growing that tomato up so if   you do transplant out early make sure that you  have a safeguard what I mean by that is you can   use something as simple as just a gallon jug and  put that over your young tomato plants if a frost   is coming that will really help protect them and  prevent the frost from dropping down on those   leaves also it's a good idea to always put in  your Journal exactly when you transplant out your   Tomatoes This Way in the future you can reference  when you transplant them out and in time be able   to put them into the ground at the perfect time  which is the most ideal for them to grow I have   never found that transplanting out earlier has led  to earlier harvests because the tomatoes kind of   just sit and wait until the weather gets nice you  can't force the Tomato to grow and you can't force   the nice weather to come so I found even plants I  put in the ground earlier the ones I put in later   end up just catching up and grow healthier  because they don't have the stress of trying   to deal with cool temperatures overall I'm just  growing so many tomatoes look at all of them here   this is going to be a section where it's  just going to basically be a wall of tomatoes   then there's more tomatoes in the back there  almost that whole bed is dedicated to tomatoes   come check it out real quick so so many tomatoes  here they're going to be growing up the strings   then in between that I have a lot of companions  for my tomatoes I've got carrots because we know   that carrots love tomatoes just like the book  the book carrots love tomatoes we've got some   borage here a great companion for tomatoes  we've also got some marigolds here and some   garlic so this whole bed is designed for tomatoes  I need to string up this side as well the palette   brings bed has been a fantastic spot for me to  grow tomatoes in the past so there's gonna be   more Tomatoes videos coming out because they're  one of my favorite crops to grow I love doing   it so much that's today's video Growers thanks  for watching hope you enjoyed it hope you got   something out of it modern talks gold for  this video was to make it so that you not   only never lose your tomato plants and they don't  die in you but that you also get healthy thriving   tomato plants that will produce for you up to  the last frost right here is our tomato trellos   I showed you in a previous video how when these  get super super tall we're gonna lower and lean   so if you want to learn a little more about that  check out the video about trellising tomatoes   that we just posted I think there's a lot of value  in it before I let you go I wanted to mention to   check out the merch done at jamespridgeoni.com  grab a guarding his life shirt with a flower   of life right on it Tuck's over there having fun  snacking on some stuff we also wanted to mention   a thank you to one of our new channel members  Pamela Callahan thanks for being a part of Team   grow thanks for having your hand in everything  we're doing out here and if you want to join the   team hit the join now button right at the bottom I  got to give this guy a snack he's just going nuts   he loves to snack on these things so much  me and Chuck hope you got a lot of value   out of the video and we hope you enjoyed it  and if you did share this with your friends   hit the Subscribe button and Tuck and James  will be back at you again real soon we out!

Channel: The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni

Views: 1,043,070

Keywords: tomatoes, tomato plants, how to grow tomatoes, tomato tips, growing tomates, garden, gardening, organic gardening, raised bed, raised bed gardening, James prigioni, self sufficient me, epic gardening, garden answer, mr beast

Id: XsYIYrrG668

Length: 19min 56sec (1196 seconds)

Published: Sat May 27 2023