It's now past the average frost date in the Twin Cities and safe to plant your tomatoes. (SOME of us planted too early and now need to RE-plant tomatoes,) Non-the-less I wanted to share with you a great tip my sister gave me. Plant your tomatoes on their side.
There are several reasons why you want to do this.
1. Tomatoes like warm roots. They grow bigger and better if their roots are not plunged in cold soil. By tipping, you bring a main root structure close to the top surface therefore making that area warmer than planting straight down.
2. Tomatoes also grow roots from their main stem. So when you plant it sideways, the entire surface of the what used to be stem will later be filled with roots. 3.
A shorter tomato will start our stronger than a gangly or leggy tomato and thereby will be able to hold future leaves and fruit better.
So now you know the "why" what about the "how."
Trim all excess leaves off the tomato leaving about 5-6 (this really depends upon what you're starting with, so work with me on this, pretend you got to the plant sale on the last day and all that was left were 10" plants with a sprout on the top.)
