How I Prepare the Soil (very pic heavy)

16 years ago

I was preparing some of my several tomato beds for the fall garden yesterday and thought I would go ahead and snap a few photos of the process to share with folks here. Please note, this is how I prepare my tomato beds for my soil conditions. The following method may or may not be suitable for your growing conditions. You need to have a soil analysis performed to determine exactly what you need to work with.

You might ask,"what are your soil conditions?". My soil, in it's natural state and at the back of my property, is extremely sandy to the extent that it is virtually void of any usable NPK or anything else for that matter. So I have had to start pretty much from ground zero (pun intended) as far as building soil goes. Someone once told me that "loam was not built in a day" and while I agree with that, I don't want to wait three to five years to achieve the soil conditions that I desire for growing tomatoes.

So after stumbling a bit for the first couple of seasons, I came upon the following method for preparing my garden soil. For those who know Earl and his (hole method) for planting tomatoes, my method is a modified version of his. The main difference is that my method does not have the hole digging part of the process.

Here goes.....

Below are the ingredients that I use. Nothing more and nothing less.

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Here is what a garden row looks like after a growing season. Note that the sandy soil virtually consumes any soil amendments applied early in the season. It looks as if nothing has ever been grown there.

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First I rake the soil to remove any debris such as leave, etc and to smooth out the soil a bit.

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Next, I take three bags of Black Kow composted cow manure and randomly distribute along the row.

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I then rake the cow manure such that is is more or less distributed all over the row.

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Next I apply bonemeal. Keeping in mind the number of plants I will place in the row, I take a closed-fist handful of bonemeal and distribute primarily where the plant will be planted but in all directions out from where the plant is placed. One closed-fist handful of bonemeal for each location with that row.

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A closeup of the distributed bonemeal.

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Then I apply the epsom salts. The epsom salts are applied in the same manner as the bonemeal.

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A closeup of the distributed epsom salts.

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Next, 2 pounds of TomatoTone is evenly distributed over the whole 3' wide x 20' long bed.

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A closeup of the distributed TomatoTone.

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The whole row is then raked with a 3 prong cultivator hoe. A great deal of pressue is applied to the cultivator hoe to really mix the soil amendments and to get them as deep in the soil as possible. Below is the row after being raked.

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A closeup of the raked soil amendments.

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And finally, here are two prepared rows with the tomatoes planted and soaker hose in place and ready for the mulch to be applied.

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And here is a photo of the growth results from tomatoes planted in a row prepared per the above method. Note that all of the photos above are from soil preparation I did yesterday and the photo below is of plants grown this past spring.

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Jay

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Comments (11)

windclimber
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jay:
When would your first harvest take place.
Have read of the exploits of the earl, and am wondering how the "infusion" would benefit our garden, if any.
suburbangreen
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jay,

Looks neat and simple. Hopefully I'll get it down to a science one day.
I couldn't use your exact methods because I have black clay. I do use the same ingredients though, except for the black kow and tomato tone. Instead I use homemade compost and store-bought cow manure sometimes. I haven't researched Tomato Tone yet.
I especially like how you use the two stakes at the ends of each row. They keep the soaker hoses in place and act as supports for the string that holds your plants up. How many of those rows did you plant this Fall anyway?
One last thing. You just put those tomatoes in the ground? Will they have enough time to develop and ripen fruit? How far away from DFW are you? I put similar size plants in the ground in mid July.

Pete
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gardenscout
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey, thanks for taking the time to take these pics and post them for us.

It's amazing how depleted your soil looks after your first growing season. If I had soil like that, I'd be dumping truckloads of manure, compost, et al, but it's good to know that the minimal ingredients you use are sufficient for tomatoes.

Thanks again for taking the time.
suze9
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jay, nice pictorial. I also have that extreme sand, and opted to do raised beds recently, even though it was a ton of work initially.

A couple of questions:

(1) How well / long did your plants hold up with all the rain we got this year? Most of mine made it though the entire summer, and I think the raised beds with the sand below probably helped in that regard.

(2) Are you just now getting around to planting your fall tomatoes? I planted in early Aug and the plants are doing fine, but probably could have gone a bit later, I suppose.
brazosvalleygardener
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey windclimber, the late season type varieties I will harvest in mid to late November. Earlier maturing varieties will be harvested earlier that same month.

Hello Pete, I have six rows in the fall garden this year. I really push the limits when it comes to early and late planting in regards to seasonal weather changes. But late planting for fall has always worked very well for me. I don't recall how many miles from DFW but it takes about three plus hours to drive there.

Thanks gardenscout. It has always amazed me too how my garden soil appears to consume all organic material that I add. Early on when I used to dig holes for each plant, I would often change the configuration of my garden and that was a major setback to building good soil structure. But for the past few years, I have stayed with my current garden layout which means adding material to the same rows each year and building them up. The soil is improving but it will take time.

Hi Suze, my plants did very good well into June, but started to go down hill fast in July with exception to about 7 plants. If I could have somehow known that we were going to have the mild July we did, I would have made a second planting during the early part of May. I left Sungold, Brandywine and a few others in the garden until a couple of weeks ago - the overall health of those were pretty good considering making through the summer and being in the garden for six months. I always schedule my fall planting about the first week of September. I have always had great results....hoophouses are on standby though and I'll have those up probably during late October. I've not done a very good job of documenting my fall garden results in the past and thats a top priority for me this fall.

Regards,
Jay
chalstonsc
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jay-

Straightforward approach and excellent presentation....thanks very much. I'm in the midst of my third meager attempt at a fall garden and have figured one approach for me next year is to put them in during the first week of September as you do...certainly seems to work for you...some questions if you don't mind:

What is your average first frost date and how often/when do the hoophouses go to work? What do they look like...how'd you get them?

I've had to plant mine in containers because of bacterial wilt in the ground that can't be cured. If I divide/use your amendments per row by the seven plants you show by row and make up the rest with my container mix(no fertilizer in the mix), do you think that would be similar? (I may even try putting a row in my garden next year, since the wilt only gets activated in the late June heat and humidity.)

Are the plants you show in the ground from seed or from cuttings? Raised indoors or outside?

What varieties do you use for early? others?

Would really enjoy seeing any pictures of results and along the way....thanks again!

Tom
brazosvalleygardener
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hello Tom,

The first average frost date for my area is November 30th. A big advantage for me is the climate in which I grow which yields a very mild winter season. It does freeze here but usually for a very brief period of time....anywhere from a single night to maybe a couple or so. It's an extremely rare occurance to get numerous nights or days in succession where the temps go below freezing.

The hoophouses I originally had were built quite well - more like a greenhouse but got ripped up by strong winds. Early this year, I had to construct some simple, basic hoophouses to get through a night or two of early spring freezes. Let me look through my photos and see if I have a decent photo of the original version. I built the ones earlier this year from scratch. Components would included: rebar, PVC plastic, PVC pipe and thats about it for the basic hoophouse. I generally keep an eye on the weather and when we begin to see consistent temperatures in the low sixties, I begin to set the hoophouses up.

That has to be hard growing in soil with Bacterial Wilt. How much room do you have to garden in? Would you be able to rotate where you grow your tomatoes each year? That would help with the BW. I think your idea on using the soil amendments could work as long as you knew how much NPK you already have in the natural soil. You may need to adjust accordingly.

I grow 98% of my plants from seed and I try to avoid using flourescent lights completely...only natural sunlight. I used to use flourescent lights on the seedlings but to me, it's an extra, unneccessary step - my climate allows me to do this though. If I lived further north, I would have to use flourescent lights to grow the seedlings to a proper stage of growth before planting outside.

Not many earlies this fall but some would include: Clear Early Pink, Extreme Bush, Bush Goliath and Bush Champion.

I'll post throughout the season of the progress and I'll also see what photos I have of the original hoophouse I had.

Regards,
Jay
chalstonsc
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jay-

My first frost date is November 20th, so we're on the same page, so to speak...

You said you set up the hoophouses when you begin to see the temperatures in the low sixties...low sixties at night or during the day?

The wilt is not a problem now...it only affects tomatoes, eggplant and peppers, so I grow everything else in the garden. The wilt was a pain the first year when I watched my plants load up with tomatoes and then when the heat and humidity hit early June, watched them all go one by one....and then the second year, when I was using containers, but didn't think to elevate the containers.
My garden is small and I rotated, but it is all over.

In my containers I've been using a mix of pine bark mulch, peat moss and lime pellets...basically another kind of "ground zero".

My wife would like me to avoid using flourescent lights... How do you keep your fall plants from seed from either getting fried in the sun, eaten by the insects, attacked by fungus or leggy in part shade?

Thanks again for the info...will look forward to the photos and updates....
Tom
brazosvalleygardener
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tom,

That would be low sixties in the day. When I start seed and the seedlings are not yet exhibiting a true set of leaves, I place them in front of a window - easy to do as they are till in a seed starting tray. Once the true leaves appear, I place them in full shade if the days are clear and we are getting full sun but if the days are overcast, then I place them in dappled shade. I'll do this a couple of days and then introduce them to full sun for a couple of hours and increase that time every couple of days. I have found that if the days are completely overcast for an extended period of time, I just place the seedlings right out in the open from day one and if the overcast conditions continue for five days, then I don't worry about full sun and just let them grow until they are large enough for planting or when I reach my planting date in the garden....whichever comes first.

I've not had a problem with insects or fungus. I keep the seedlings well up off of the ground and they have done well. I may have lost a branch or two due to the crows but other than that, I have been very fortunate in that regard.

Glad to hear you are able to work around the wilt.

Jay
gardenmommytx
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jay,

Can I ask what city you are in? I was assuming tx - houston area. But Houston has a lot more clay. Are you in SA? I am in my 2nd season in San Antonio. I started seed inside for the fall with some heirlooms from a GW gardener in florida, but most did not survive due to my low e windows ( they block uv, I think). Two did, and those are transitioning. I also planted two directly from seed and those are now thriving (didn't write down the variety, unfortunately...). I will definitely do more direct seeding in future falls. I always read not to, though. But with our mild weather... I also did about 4 sucker cuttings from my spring Better Boy's and most of those are doing well. The best one I didn't even pot. Put straight in the "new" garden and kept it really wet for a week, then let it be with normal watering. It is about 3 times the size of my bought seedlings from spring. do you start your seedlings the same way for the spring? lots of outside and dappled shade? or do you do more inside light? We do get some winter and frost, so I would think they wouldn't like that. I am already trying to plan for spring so I don't get behind again.

Also, I prepared my soil according to Howard Garrett's methods. What do you think of those? Have you ever tried it? Do you fertilize during the season or leave them be? Thanks. Sorry for all the questions. :)
brazosvalleygardener
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi,

No problem with the questions. I live near Caldwell - about 12 miles away and about 80+ miles northwest from Houston.....down the road from Texas A&M. I have no experiance with direct seeding (only tomatoes though not other crops) but have read numerous success stories from folks here.

I do grow my seedlings the same way in the spring but do have to watch the temperatures early on. I make the use of a hoophouse so it is a rare occasion that I would have to use the flourescent lights. There are two primary reasons I got away from using flourescent lights. First, it's just not possible to replicate sunlight with any type of artificial lighting in addition to maintaining the light quality that you do get from artificial lighting. Plus, I would rather have my plants growing in natural sunlight as early as possible...this virtually eliminates the hardening off period. And the other reason would be out of necessity. I grow way too many plants to be able to place them all under flourescent lighting but even if I could, I would not do so due to the first reason.

I'm not familiar with Howard Garrett's method. I'll have to check it out. I have fertilized during the season but sort of leave it up to how the plants are doing. If there overall health is very good, I don't bother with supplemental fertilizer during the season.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards,
Jay

How I Prepare the Soil (very pic heavy)

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How I Prepare the Soil (very pic heavy)

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