if your like me and love the tomato here is a sure fire way to get plenty for the season.
we have so many we give tons away to family and friends all season long.
if you like them try this method you will be sold on it.
also a tip,i use a good comercial grade weed block.
try it and post your results.
Mark
THE JAPANESE TOMATO RING
Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll need about 80 quarts of good topsoil. Mr. Rogers buys two bags of topsoil for each ring. If you have an excess of good garden soil, use that; it will take about two wheelbarrows full.
Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll also need two bags of mulch. Mr. Rogers uses cypress mulch, but you could use any other shredded bark mulch or good quality finished compost. The only other ingredient is a 10 pound bag of 10-10-10.
Take 15 feet of five foot high farm fence (or concrete construction) wire and roll it into a circle five feet in diameter, placing the cylinder in a sunny spot protected from the north and northwest winds if possible. Clear a seven-foot wide circle and break the topsoil a few inched deep. Place the wire ring in the circle, leaving a foot of cleared soil a foot outside the ring.
Place the mulch or compost six inches deep in the ring and top it with a layer of soil and half the fertilizer. Add another layer of mulch or compost, another layer of soil and 2/3 of the remaining fertilizer on top of that. Save the rest of the fertilizer to sprinkle around the plants.
Pat the topmost layer down in the middle to create a depression to hold water. Plant four, and only four tomatoes, spacing them evenly around the ring outside of the wire. They will look small, but in time they will grow roots under and up into the pile. Lightly fertilize the new plants. We mean lightly, because too much will wither them. If things start to look dry, water the plants outside the ring when they are small and inside the ring as they grow. Support the vines by tying them to the wire with soft cloth.
Once tomato production starts, top off the compost with another five pounds of fertilizer.
we have so many we give tons away to family and friends all season long.
if you like them try this method you will be sold on it.
also a tip,i use a good comercial grade weed block.
try it and post your results.
Mark
THE JAPANESE TOMATO RING
Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll need about 80 quarts of good topsoil. Mr. Rogers buys two bags of topsoil for each ring. If you have an excess of good garden soil, use that; it will take about two wheelbarrows full.
Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll also need two bags of mulch. Mr. Rogers uses cypress mulch, but you could use any other shredded bark mulch or good quality finished compost. The only other ingredient is a 10 pound bag of 10-10-10.
Take 15 feet of five foot high farm fence (or concrete construction) wire and roll it into a circle five feet in diameter, placing the cylinder in a sunny spot protected from the north and northwest winds if possible. Clear a seven-foot wide circle and break the topsoil a few inched deep. Place the wire ring in the circle, leaving a foot of cleared soil a foot outside the ring.
Place the mulch or compost six inches deep in the ring and top it with a layer of soil and half the fertilizer. Add another layer of mulch or compost, another layer of soil and 2/3 of the remaining fertilizer on top of that. Save the rest of the fertilizer to sprinkle around the plants.
Pat the topmost layer down in the middle to create a depression to hold water. Plant four, and only four tomatoes, spacing them evenly around the ring outside of the wire. They will look small, but in time they will grow roots under and up into the pile. Lightly fertilize the new plants. We mean lightly, because too much will wither them. If things start to look dry, water the plants outside the ring when they are small and inside the ring as they grow. Support the vines by tying them to the wire with soft cloth.
Once tomato production starts, top off the compost with another five pounds of fertilizer.