Eat Your Yard! Ep 7: Pruning & Planting Out Tomatoes

Whether or not you're using gopher cages like I am, the way I like to plant tomatoes is pretty much the same: as deep as I can get them to go without totally burying them alive!
This week, let's take a look at some tomato transplants I started WAAAAY too early back in January that have somehow survived despite the odds (including totally drying out no less than three times, falling off window shelves, getting potted up only to be potted down and then potted up again, and being abandoned in a car mid-move for half a week) and talk about what's in store for them next.

[@ingridexel5525]

Besides beeing so knowledgeable about gardening you are also very adorable. Thank you for sharing your experience. 💐

[@DENNISPS78]

Great video. I would also stress not planting out too early until the soil has warmed as my tomatoes just sulk if they are cold. Deep planting is great. I also try to transplant on a cloudy day especially if there will be cloudy weather for a few days after. It surely does help de stress the plants. I’ve heard it said the best day for transplanting is the worst day for the beach. I’m excitedly growing some tomatoes from a friend of mine which were brought form Italy 100 years ago. The seeds were over 4 years old but had great germination. Saving an old variety is exciting

[@mightymicroworlds4566]

Haha awesome! I apply a lot you teach from your greenhouse videos to my potted plants, and now useing nature soils more and seems to work.! Thanks!!

[@elfensteen5222]

I've got the feeling the plants like to hear you talking.., at least I do.. thanks for this nice video

[@peterbertanzetti2729]

Thanks so much for the great tomato tips. You're always so bright, enthusiastic and informative. I have no idea how you do this in one continuous, fluid film take.

[@wpsam52]

Hardware cloth generally has zinc dust on it. Best bet is to allow it to weather outside for a few weeks prior to using it or you can wash it thoroughly over a couple if days if in a hurry. It's a small amount but can be toxic to microorganisms and plants.

[@kpand7232]

Last year, i watered my tomatos only ones after planting. Not more. Worked perfectly.

[@kidphillyorg]

Thank you for this video. Growing a lot of tomatoes so this is helping me learn how to take care of them better. 👍🏾

[@richardlee3905]

Thanks!! Smart gardening tips!!

[@ScottBrooks415]

Thanks for the tips! I never knew about them being able to sprout roots anywhere up the stem. Pretty cool!

[@phillymaniac8575]

good info ty...i agree i always bury my transplants pretty deep...they dont like it at first but once they settle you wind up with nice mater trunks that are very sturdy and can withstand anything...then i give them one heavy dose of miraclegro about a week later to give them an overload of nutrients....followed by tomato-tone every 3 weeks...heavy watering once a week...boom large beefsteaks! 😀

[@funtime77777]

Going big this year. Even after planting, over ten years. I’m still learning. Love your vids. 😊 ty

[@gregthegardener]

really great tips 👍

[@TheWeirdWanderer]

Your videos are HIGHLY entertaining and informative. Thank you.

[@GaryTodd]

Thanks V. Excellent videos. My tomatoes are taking a long time to mature from seedlings so glad to see you had the same challenge early on.

[@dennisneuhaus2607]

Thank you for all of the added info in the description area. I already have my garden in, wish the weather would stabilize, so next year I will have a new plan thanks to you. Happy Gardening!

[@harryjamessmithmusic7762]

Beautiful episode, Veronica!!! I love it. Thanks for sharing!!

[@eolsen33]

Awesome video Veronica! Keep up the great content :)

[@18Bees]

I took dirt out of my worm bin and potted it. Two weeks later I had tomato and squash starts ❤️

[@rosslocincam9916]

Soil makes all the difference

[@davidchew3654]

Always love to listen to the knowledge and enthusiasm! You're a women after my own heart, maybe we could compare garden's!

[@venniev2302]

thank u for the video ,,, ummmm can u elaborate on root cages ! in some episode ,, i have never seen those :P and i have done my fair share of gardening so what am i missing ? it would be nice to learn something new

[@soyleal6493]

Great job Vero 💚Thanks for the info.

[@knunyabeasewhacks8744]

Oofda... Your videos great, and your personality is even better!

[@not1fromyourworld]

Good morning Mrs Flores , I have beautiful vibrate green stalks and in between the green ones I'll have a brown dried up limb ,on my tomato plants , I have been just breaking the brown ones off and I was wondering what causes this and will it effect the plants with me just breaking off the bad parts , I use neem oil once a week and miracle grow organic only at the base of the stalk right at the ground ,I'd appreciate your help when you get a chance to reply , thank you and have a great day

[@jamessheets7267]

Do the gophers go specifically for tomatoes? That is some really healthy looking sandy soil! May I ask that at the end of the growing season to pull that tomato plant up and show us what the roots of the plant looked like?

[@AB-gg1lp]

This video is day late for me! Just planted half my tomato plants yesterday, wish I would have employed these tips.

[@jeronimomod156]

Hey V... I recently subscribed to your channel love the videos 🥰... Last year I overwintered my best tomato plant as a clone. One quarter of this year's tomatoes in my garden are from that clone. I also saved tomato seeds from LOL Burger King... And 1/4 of my garden is Burger King tomatoes 🤷.. next year I'm using Culver's. 🤔 No clue if they're the same tomato LOL. I'm definitely going to try your tomato seed fermenting and saving techniques. Thank you very much keep making awesome videos 🥳✌️🥳

[@VeronicaFlores]

Omg that's the first I've heard of fast food seed saving! Now I might need to try 😂❤️

[@TheOutdoorKitchen]

I've been wondering why my tomatoes always die off. I think I need to bury the stems further into the ground, as you suggested. Thanks for providing this tip!

[@pedrocarrasco7990]

If I were you I wouldn’t use a metal mesh in the soil, probably better to use coconut net to build the cage. Less maintenance work afterwards. Thank you for all your videos. Very educational 😃

[@Coolclimatetropicalfruits]

Love your vids 👍🏻

[@growmiegreenthumb8025]

You are amazing!

[@charleyfolkes]

Your videos are very good and packed with information ! Nice job ! When you say ‘mulch’, is that just a top dressing ? Not a compost ? I’ve had trouble with shredded bark not allowing germination so I’m curious what you mean by that. It seems you must have it there but what would I buy at the store for that ?

[@moonasha]

for new growers, i would highly recommend to NOT prune. It's just another thing you can mess up on your first grow. But once you get more experience there's a lot you can do to tomatoes while they're growing to encourage fruit

[@BurkenProductions]

Just stick the small cut offs in soil as well.. they would probably grow roots

[@Schaub3]

Ok that’s pretty cool and again I learned something new

[@plateau2002]

ok I'm excited now.

[@RolandDerUnverbesserliche]

Most of my Peppers from last year survived. But it was tricky now, because the leaf lice were eating them alive, and I had to take them inside some nights, even in May (because of deep night frosts). Now they are outside, and the transition is not easy, they are now producing leaves that work outside, and the old ones have been destroyed by the leaf lice anyways. I have had countless ladybugs and larvae all the time, but it seems they are not doing a good job to keep the lice down. Maybe they are smart, and don't want to spoil their tasty food source? ;o) But I had so many plants (even though it's just a flat, no garden, no balcony...), that I had enough Habaneros etc in any week of the year. I gave many Habaneros etc away. I use my Chilis and Habaneros fresh. I don't let them dry, just post-ripen them optimally and then cut them small and put them into my Pepper sauces. Some of the Habaneros can reach a few million Scoville, so not much of them is needed, to get a good Pepper Sauce good at the upper edge hot.... I use Sriracha sauce as sweetener and as preservative as part of much, much, much hotter sauces.... Many Greeting, keep up the good work.. =o)

[@BlogTVisraelTracert]

Adventitious roots are the best!

[@defaultuser1447]

Makes them easy clone too. Just let a sucker develop until 4-5 inches, cut i toff, and stick it in a pot nice and deep. The first day or so it might look dead, completely flopped over, but keep watering and it'll usually put out roots and grow.

[@timsheteron7903]

Maybe you can tell me why my tomato plants have turned a nice shade of purple along the main stem? Is it really from the soil being to cold. I even have them in a make shift green house so I guess I am a little confused why they would be purple. Thank you!!

[@hallpaintandbody7717]

I must say, the top soil in my yard is much better than the field. Squash are blooming, a lot easier to water. Nothing like dragging a 200 ft water hose around in the field, 😉. lol

[@johnnunes7979]

Do you reuse your gopher cages? Or is it too time consuming to clean the old plants out of them?

[@VeronicaFlores]

Definitely reuse them "until the wheels fall off"

[@tactrix1h]

Do you throw any biochar in the soil as you amend it? I hear really good things about it when it comes to amended soil.

[@scottscott7434]

Low key superstar oh I just found this tomato in Italy!! With corresponding pictures.. yes I wish I could say that .

[@ABonRMS]

When you prune your vegetables any chance you could clone the cuttings?

[@johnliberty3647]

I have done that but it takes time to get a plant ready to prune, then the cutting takes time to root, then it takes time to get settled in a garden and start growing... and by the time they start to produce the growing season ends. Its still fun to do and for some peoples garden it may be worth the effort... indoor gardens longer growing seasons etc

[@nightcrawlerinmotion2046]

Do you start your tomato from seed or do you buy the tomatoes already prestarted. I thought I was growing a tomato, turns out it was a weed. 🤦‍♂️

[@VeronicaFlores]

From seed mostly! But only because there are varieties I prefer to grow (that I've saved over the years) that aren't available in catalogs afaik

[@nightcrawlerinmotion2046]

@@VeronicaFlores Thanks! I never knew your channel existed until yesterday. Great information, I'll catch up with your other garden vids. Have a great day and stay safe from Miami, Fl.

[@benjiG19]

What is that you’ve got planted all around the tomatoes?

[@robertcrompton4823]

My potAtoes r 3 foot high I put a hessian type wind break round em the second earlies nearly flowering

[@seldomseensmith4684]

Thanks for the this video! Didn't know that tomatoes grew roots on the stems, unfortunately already put them in the ground a couple of weeks ago.:( But they're doing really well so no worries, but next season will definitely put them deeper. Are you going to trellis them as we get deeper into the season?

[@MrMikeProductionz]

I would really appreciate some help on this. I have some tomato plants growing in containers, and I have no idea if they're determinate or indeterminate. They have been planted in soil for only about a month now, so it's kind of hard to tell since they're still young. they have been growing quite rapidly but are currently not more than 2 feet tall. Is there a way to find out if they're determinate or indeterminate from the appearance alone? If this helps, I know that the varieties I have are "Sweet cherry million" and I think I also have Heirloom, as I can tell from the unique shape of this tomato in the beginning of the fruiting stage. Also, I planted some hot house tomato seeds I bought from the store, so how do I know if those are determinate or indeterminate too? Please let me know your thoughts!

[@VeronicaFlores]

I'm honestly not sure how to tell the difference other than by looking them up. Sorry I'm not more helpful in this space!

[@johndabate644]

Does it matter if you lay out your rows north south or east west?

[@defaultuser1447]

I run mine E-W so they don't shade each other from the southern sun.

[@saturnthecat1322]

Ha, I was finally getting around to watching your Biosphere 2 video when you posted this. I'm growing tomatoes for the first time at my community plot in Austin, and I have one plant with a bunch of tomatoes on it that are still green and they look really good. No signs of blossom end rot or cat-face. However, most of the leaves are dying on this plant (about 80-90%) and I had to take a lot off today. This all happened pretty quickly. I suspect the plant is dehydrated because of the amount of tomatoes it has, but come harvest time, is this plant basically a goner? Once it's produced a good yield, is it unlikely to grow more leaves again if it's been stressed out so much?

[@shawnlewis389]

You are incredibly smart and so naturally beautiful. Your videos are very helpful and refreshing. Thanks for your contribution to the gardening community.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

I wasn't clicking the bell along with subscribe because it seemed youtube would notify me, right away, when channels I regularly watch put up a new video. Apparently not. So I just clicked the bell. WRT slugs, IMO, mulch makes no difference to slug pressure.

[@mightymicroworlds4566]

Also do you have any tips on potted all season tomato’s? I have early girls

[@VeronicaFlores]

I don't! Other than keep an eye on watering and make sure you feed every few weeks since their roots can't go so far looking for more nutrients in surrounding soil.

[@mightymicroworlds4566]

Veronica Flores thanks!!!

[@oddopops1327]

😊

[@marcorafael312]

Cool vid. Total out of topic question, are you Portuguese? Because we do plant a lot of tomatoes lol

[@VeronicaFlores]

Nope! Just Mexican and a big mix of other European cultures. :)

[@catofthecastle1681]

If you mentioned not to prune determinant tomatoes i missed it. Only prune nondeterminant varieties!

[@defaultuser1447]

When you see the "wanna be friends" comments, just report them as spam. The more reports, the faster they get shut down.

[@katseyeview9354]

little bumps are root stress. they WANT to be deeper!

[@terancebailey4175]

tomato rules

[@tomasschn9858]

Is it beneficial to add chitin to the soil ???

[@Agr414]

It is beneficial and it helps build the immune system of the plant. I think there is plenty of naturally occurring chitin outdoors, especially if you mulch with woodchips as that attracts a lot of beneficial insects (isopods, millipedes).

[@stephanieyautzy7900]

What do u use for mulch?

[@VeronicaFlores]

Pretty much whatever organic matter i can get my hands on

[@Ob1311-x8b]

👍

[@eldritch6871]

If I started my tomato seeds just a couple weeks ago, is it too late?

[@defaultuser1447]

A lot will depend on where you are, as climates differ. Also the type of tomato. The plants or seeds will have time to maturity of like 70 days or whatever. So once you get the plants big enough to transplant, that's about what you're looking at.

[@emmanuelbetancourt5267]

The goat!

[@Tantrum777]

Hell yes! Perfect for making pizza! You can harvest a ton of them and can them and make pizza all year! You wanna talk about home made pizza? This is as real as it gets! BTW Veronica you are vibrant and beautiful. Have a great one, Cheers!

[@krisphillips5894]

I've been watching you all day. I'm confused are in Bugsur or texas?

[@scottscott7434]

That's not big sur

[@Rukshan918]

TFS! & you always late.

[@chinatownboy7482]

Aunty, you have a lot of sour cream containers.

[@LauraRomero-tl7fy]

Hola, que lindo,,,pueden traducir al español,,,,gracias

[@err_kk]

I suddenly care about gardening for some reason.

[@klaplante540]

I am still in love with you.

[@guntcheck]

You are breathtakingly stunning. You're always the prettiest flower in your garden

[@davebuchanan9761]

Do you have a brother named darien?

[@BlogTVisraelTracert]

Tomato pasta

[@weedhopp]

Please help me plant my garden

[@noahnipperus7320]

10:25

[@OldGuy70s]

Still looking Gorgous...!

[@C...G...]

:-)

[@MonkeyBuRps]

Was it hard finding a shirt that matches your eyes BoOts? :O)

[@weedhopp]

Help me plant my garden

[@defaultuser1447]

View all her videos.

[@valterzc8187]

I am sorry, but your tomatoes look a bit weak and ill🙊

[@VeronicaFlores]

You're not wrong - they were in containers for WAY too long. Moving with plants is hard.

[@valterzc8187]

@@VeronicaFlores maybe, I hope they will develop well after you transplant them, I said it looked I'll cause it looked like the ones infected with viruses, I hope I was wrong.

[@nonenone6425]

To cute.....

[@sooooooooDark]

u look really unique (in a good way)🧐

[@irenan6585]

All is so very nice and useful, but 17 minutes?Oh, a bit 2 long. Thank you anyway!

[@squiduardsquarepants568]

u happy gardener u.

[@kellyh6656]

The day we are all waiting for...naked gardening? Don't hate me, I'm just saying what everyone else is too afraid to say. LOL! Love your channel

[@orionlottering7349]

I am so glad you dont do gardening with a top down to your navel and planting potatoes eeeerxtra deep. They r so irritating. The heading mostly should be : guess my bust???

[@joeyoliver579]

She is super hot, and knowledgeable, but its hard to listen to the Millennial lingo

[@dannydyer3135]

You seem like the type of person to have a Yelp! account.

[@dennislujan5129]

You give too much info

[@100MrAlexX4707]

so excited about my tomatos this year already around two feet tall