Congratulations on planting your tomato or marigold start at Ag-Fest. Whether you are six, or sixty, we hope this helps develop your interest in gardening and learning about agriculture, self-sufficiency and resilience.
We have accumulated some notes about caring for your start so you can help develop it into a healthy plant that will provide beauty and in the case of the tomato, food for you.
For optimal results, your start will need light, air, water, warmth, and frequent checking on the plant. You will need to be careful, as too much water, warmth and light can be as dangerous to a young start as too little. Your start will eventually also need food, but at the beginning, it has the nutrients it needs to develop.
Varietals
The marigold is an Ildongken and the tomato is a Rosita Brandywine.
Light
While your plant is indoors, it can be placed in front of a window, however, windows block some of the types of light plants require, and they will eventually become thin and spindly. If you have a plant light, you can augment the light given to the plant by using it in addition to window light.
Your start is tender, having begun its life under plant lights, in a warm room. You will need to acclimatize them to the outdoors gradually. You can bring your plant outside when the temperatures are 45 degrees or warmer.
Your plant will take carbon dioxide from the air, and return oxygen. As long as you don’t fully enclose your plant, this process will work as nature intended. You can use a small fan on a low setting to help strengthen your plant, much as the natural wind blows on plants. Again, with starts, be gentle.
Water
Your start was well watered when you transplanted it. Check the soil daily. When the top inch or so is dry, it is time to water again. Over-watering can lead to damping-off, a fungal disease that will cause the main stalk to rot and die. It can also cause mold, and attract fungal gnats. The leaves will begin to wilt and droop. And if unchecked it will turn dull and yellowish, and drop off. Plants benefit the most from watering first thing in the morning.
Warmth
Tomatoes are less cold tolerant than marigolds, but both plants should not be planted outdoors until all danger of frost has passed. In addition, tomatoes do best when night time temperatures remain above 50 degrees, which is usually mid-May.
Food
Plants require many different elements to grow, but most plant food is a mix of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. As with water, too much food can be as harmful as too little. You can begin applying plant food when your start has two sets of true leaves. For the first several weeks, it is a good idea to dilute the food to half strength if using a liquid fertilizer. Plants should be fed every week when in pots, when they are transplanted outside, and one final time after fruits are formed for the tomato and after the first set of flowers has bloomed for the marigold. If you wish to fertilize after that, use a bloom or fruiting fertilizer. A standard plant food is high in nitrogen, and will cause the plant to focus on leafy growth and not on setting fruit or flowers.
Transplanting or Up-potting
Depending on how long you have to wait to plant outdoors, you may need to re-pot your start in a larger container. As the roots grow, they will take more and more space in the pot, and if not addressed, will reach a stated called root-bound. If you are seeing roots come out the bottom of the pot, you may wish to move the start to a new pot. Fill a larger pot with soil, and leave space for the plant. Remove from the current pot and place in the new pot. If your plant has become spindly, it is okay to bury it a little deeper, but not beyond the leaves. To plant in the ground, dig a hole larger than the pot, and put some slow release fertilizer and crumbled soil in the bottom. This will provide food and give the roots some easy soil to get established in. Place the plant in the ground and fill the hole completely and tamp down lightly to remove any air pockets. Always water a plant after transplanting.