Direct Sowing Tomatoes

December 14, 2008 Ben General

It’s too hot at my place to plant seeds in pots to grow into seedlings, they get very dry very quickly and never seem to make it. Any place with enough light for them gets up around 40 degrees C, and the potting mix dries out.

Time for some direct seeding!

In the veggie patch I’ve got a large shade cloth cover to stop the leaves on my plants burning, it also helps reduce the amount of water I need to use. I’ve dug over a tomato area, and have created little bowls in the soil to plant seeds in.

The bowls have two functions:

1. They direct the water I apply into the base where the plant is, thus keeping the soil moist (with the help of water crystals) during the plants development.

2. Tomatoes will shoot roots off any stem that is below the ground (more roots = healthier plant). By waiting till the plant grows above the top of the bowl I can backfill the bowl and allow the plant to grow more roots.

I also plan to put chopped up banana skins around the bowls prior to backfilling, banana’s are high in potassium which tomatoes love!