This is my takeaway from Craig Lehoullier's talk yesterday. If you ever have a chance to hear him do not miss it. He is a delightful speaker, very personable. Bear in mind this talk was geared toward growing in the southeast or a warm climate.
Craig LeHoullier's Hints - not in any particular order
• He likes Grow Bags from groworganics.com
• His soil mix for containers is a ratio of 3/1 Stay Green potting mix from Lowe's to compost or cow manure.
• Cherokee Purple does best in Western NC/TN
• Victory Seed has the greatest variety of Dwarf seeds
• Best Dwarfs for flavor in Southeast – Lillian's Yellow, Roselle Purple, Dwarf Beauty Berry (green), and Nepal and Cherokee Chocolate.
• He counts back 3 months from the last frost date for his area and plants seed, transplants the second month and plants out the third month.
• Tomato seeds stored in a cabinet in the house last 12- 15 years
• Tomato seeds stored in the refrigerator will last 25 – 30 years
• Tomato seeds stored in the freezer will last 30 – 50 years.
• Transplant seedlings into a dry seedling mix, this is softer and will not damage roots as much as a moist mix. Plant deep until only the cotyledons and first leaves are above the mix. Gently water after planting.
• Tomatoes need wet feet and dry foliage.
• Always mulch in ground tomatoes to prevent soil borne pathogens from splashing up onto the foliage.
• Blossom end rot is caused by stress to the plant which prevents it from taking up calcium. Stress is most often caused by inadequate or inconsistent watering.
