I love all the thought you have put into this. I find that gardening is so much more then just growing plants to eat. The planning is so much the fun.
OK, I will be honest here. In florida soils,. Call me lazy, but for a 150 SF area of yard, I just remove the sod or let it compost down by buring it under newspaper, etc. soilerize the soil in July and August, whatever, add about 1000 pounds of black Kow compost, 25% going by your math of spagnum peat moss, and adjust soil Ph if needed. And yes it will need it. Then i plop my plants in after about 6 weeks and I have great results. I never do anything else expect pay attention for pests and diseases. Perhaps my yields may get a bit larger if i did this or that, but you really do not need it.
Just my opinion of course but I would not cover the plants on windy days at all once they are established. The wind helps strenthen the root and stem systems on the plants a lot and if you cover too much while young and tender or even a little after the young and tender part, you are opening to a lot of damage possibiliteis if you are not home when the wind comes. I have never had a broken stem, etc due to wind, and my garden is directly exposed. just support them and they are good to go. Also, I do not do the hardening off thing for more then 1 day. My plants thank me when i make them adjust to wind on thier own.

As far as watering, if you have amended the soil properly, i just water for 45 minutes every 3 days and bump it to every 2 days once matured ( for tomatoes, they drink a lot), if you do that you will be fine. Of course I hill my beds so If i ever see any runoff or tanding soaking water in the valleys, I know to adjust.

I add slow release fertilizer under the plants when I plant them and that's it for me. I enjoy a full production with each plant and I never lose anything to pests or disese. Of course be prepared for powderey Mildew. But combat it early with Neem oil and scrapy weekly as a preventative and if you get it, it will be easier to control. I do not use, and for sure do no reconed using any spray pesticides, etc in your garden. Neem and perhaps 1 or 2 other safe organics is all you need. Keep your plants and soil heathly and you will eliminate most all potential problems in the garden. just check forbugs every couple days in the morning. Look on the underside of leaves. Use the county extension for good info.

Oh yeah, your garden will love and occasional seaweed bath. If you use fresh, wash it first as the salt is a no no.

By the way, you really do not need perlite. I know a lot of people swear by it, but it really is a unnessary spend unless you are using it in containers.

I have heard of the diaper thingm but again if the soil is amended proerly you will not have any probelms. I do not know for sure, but I would think the diaper would lead to over watering types of problems, which will lead to a serious pest disease problem. Again all just my opinion/thoughts.

you need to stake tomatoers big time. mine get well over 6 feet tall and I just used cheapie wood stakes with thin rope and that green velcro stuff. Rope is cheaper though.
that is a start. godd luck.

Almost forgot, please do not water the tops of the plants or the leaves. Do not use that drop thing that goes down the leaves. just water the soil, or use that pipe thing you have. Actaully best to just use a soaker hose and a cheapo timer on your bib and forget about it.
Wet leaves promote a lot of problems.

Ken, not sure you are living up to your handle: simplify!

Wow, you are really complicating it, will be interesting to see how you do :>)

bernie

Well, I'm doing the hard work NOW so that I don't have to worry much about my tomatoes LATER. (that's how I'm "simplify" :-)

The reason why I'm going through all of this stuff is that this is my SEVENTH year trying tomatoes. Every year I run into this problem or that. I've grown them in bags - which worked great 'til a cold snap hit. (I had planted them too late). I've tried them in the summer -- got aphid issues and died before I noticed... etc.

This year, I'm getting them in the ground about a month later than I wanted to --- most of them are still in small pots and staying small... but I'm trying to get that garden RIGHT so that it's easier next time around.

I'm going to pick up some Neem - I've never used it, but I'd like to try it.

The watering tube is interesting to me - but I've been also hitting the soil from the top because I don't fully believe that the water wicks UP - I suspect it probably will drain DOWN, away from the plant. But I'm willing to try it.

Overwatering is PROBABLY not going to be a problem because our soil drains SO QUICKLY, but I still am not 100% sure how to do it properly. They respond quickly when I water from above (directly to the soil - I don't get the leaves wet) but watering from below, I can't tell. (I'm truly hoping that it's encouraging a strong root system)

Preparing the holes takes the longest. I probably don't need the sterlite, but I just love how loose and light the soil feels when I use it.

The cages I ended up making are a little more narrow than I would have liked - they're about 18-20" around - but free is free (and I'm spending enough money on soil amendments as it is)

I may snake a soaker hose under the black plastic- or perhaps poke holes in the plastic around the tomato cages and create divits to allow water to pool and drip into the soil underneath them - sort of the "moat" idea that I used with good success a few years back.

I'm going to pick up some cheap fertilizer spikes as well, since I have a container tomato plant that is doing better than any of my other plants - and the only difference is that I put FOUR of those baby spikes in rather than one or two - and its growing and growing. I'm almost afraid to disturb it by planting it in the groud, its doing so well! (I'm leaving that tomato plant to be the last one I plant).

"I put FOUR of those baby spikes in rather than one or two - and its growing and growing"

Just remember, that when you see lots of growth, you're usually looking at leaves. Tomatoes, and the related eggplants and peppers as well as some root vegs will cheerfully make lots of leaves when well fertilized with nitrogen, but won't do much in the way of setting fruit. Watch the nitrogen on tomatoes!

Also, the "downer" the water drains, the more down and strong the roots get - less susceptible to the variable moisture levels close to the surface.

Plant your tomatoes in good soil, however you prepare it, and give consistent deep watering, at the roots - don't wet the foliage except for perhaps a weekly spray to discourage mites, mulch well, so the soil doesn't dry rapidly. Fertilize with "Tomato fertilizer" at planting (or a combination of organics that gives a low nitrogen relative to phosphorus and potassium) and side dress monthly if you have fast draining soil.

Choose nematode resistant plants, or mulch even more! or grow in raised beds with sterile soil.

Also, read, listen, try stuff, and have fun! I hope you get a wonderful harvest of fat juicy tomatoes!
Eileen

Hello again. sorry to hear about the years of no luck. I know it is a pain. please let me know what problems you have been having. I can help fix that for you. By the way, have you ever had your soil tested? do you know the Ph level? I believe soils in that area are way to high for tomatoes and if you are not adding any compost (which helps lower the Ph) then it may be as simple as that. Serioulsy, it may be that simple. I have seen a lot of failed attempts by people who did not know to check in our areas.

Do you have a lot of shells in your natural soil?

Simplify3,
I also had no luck for several years growing Tomato in South Florida. Finally figured out that you don't plant them here at the start of summer. Should have been reading Garden Web. My latest attempt is growing them in 5 gal plastic buckets with drain holes drilled in the bottom. Nothing fancy but the Celebrity Tomatoes are looking great so far.Apparently they have a lot of disease resistance bred into them to reduce the difficulty for a beginner. I staked them with 6 foot Bamboo stalks pushed into the bucket soil and tie the plant to it with sisal string. The 5 gal buckets are good because you can move the plants around in the bucket anywhere you like to get the most sun. I have been following the directions from the University of Florida Extention service and watering them with the liquid growing mix they suggested in their article under Container Culture. I put the link below. Hope it helps you. Good Luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatoes in the Florida Garden

Hi
have been growing them for many years mainly because I find they are so superior to ones you buy. Stll wonder how they produce one that is so beautiful to the eye but has the taste of styrofoam.??
I grow them only as a winter crop always in containers
every year a different mixture. Every year a different kind,every year different techniques. Every year say I will NOT grow them next year lol.
This year only one but upside down in a mixture of coir and fir bark. WAY to early for results but it did turn and grow upward and has set ten fruits the largest about tennis ball. I chose a heat tolerant red, cluster bush type. Has shown the usual problems including cutworm which this method is supposed to prevent. It does get lots of sun and air all over the plant as advertized lol
Still waiting for the first Mockingbird visit but generally they wait for color to appear. By far my worst plroblem
Curious as to what happen to the bush as the weight increases?? I can use cord as a counterbalance but hoping not necessary.
Might add that the wife bought this system. Sounds like a gimmick to me lol.
.Good luck with your project!! gary

Garyfla, mocking birds? Will they eat my tomatoes? Oh no! I have a hibiscus not to far from my veggie garden that has a mocking bird nest in it. I saw them build it...Should I get rid of the nest...there are so far no eggs in there.

sharbear
don't disturb your mockingbird nest, they are a protected species and the state bird.

just put some netting over your tomatoes when they are close to coloring and that will protect them. yes they will peck them, they know a good thing :-).

Denise

I posted about the mockingbird problem a couple years ago, and a fellow gardener with the same problem jokingly wrote back that he while researching solution he purchased "To Kill a Mockingbird", thinking it was a manual. LOL.

I think about that every time I see a perfectly red ripe tomato with mockingbird pecks in it. AARGH!!