Thank you for purchasing your March Farm Jet Star Tomato Plant Set(s). Caring for your new tomato plants is very easy, and requires only minutes a day to produce your very own tomatoes that (weather permitting) should be ready to begin harvesting between Mid July & August. In this section we will cover placement/planting, watering, stringing & suckering.
Cool Weather Alert:
Jet Star tomato plants should be covered
if night time temperatures fall below 45 F!
Placement & Planting
First, it is important not to remove the tomato plants from the bag they were purchased in. Your plants have been alive and growing for at least 2 months prior to your purchase, and have developed a strong root system that runs along the sides of the bag. If plants are removed, the root system will be damaged, causing the plants to suffer and possibly perish. Not to worry – the 5-gallon ‘grow bags’ your plants are currently growing in offer more than enough room for a healthy root system to grow and thrive over the course of an entire season. The soil within the bags also contains a number of aeration ingredients that allow water & fertilizers to seep through the entire bag without over saturating one particular area. That being said, bags can stand alone, be placed in a larger pot, or planted in the ground (the entire bag), in a hole that allows the top of the bag o be level with the ground. Bags should be placed / planted in an area that receives an abundance of sunlight to promote maximum growth. Plants left in an area that becomes partially shaded during certain parts of the day will not be negatively affected, but may grow at a slower pace.
Watering
Jet Star Tomato plants require regular watering, usually on a daily basis. Plants should initially be watered until liquid begins to seep out the holes on the sides of the grow bag (usually about 1 gallon of water). To determine if the plants need more water, stick your finger into the soil about 2 to 3 inches to check for moisture. If it’s wet, the plants will not need water. If dry, or the bag feels light when lifted, the plants should be watered again. To ensure maximum tomato size is met, we recommend using “Miracle–Gro Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food” which is specially formulated for abundant tomatoes and other vegetables.
Stringing
As you can see, your Jet Star tomato plants have been clipped to bamboo stakes as they have grown. Eventually, your plants will outgrow these stakes and must be clipped or tied to something taller in a similar fashion. Two easy ways of doing this is either tying a thick piece of string to something suspended over the tomato plant (hook from the ceiling, trestle over patio, etc.) or by staking a larger stake (at least 5 feet in length) next to the plant. Using either method, plants should be clipped or tied every six inches; directly underneath branches to ensure the plant won’t slip down the string/stake.
Suckering
The word ‘Suckering’ stands for the process of removing excess growth from tomato plants. ‘Suckers’ grow between the main shoot of the plant (what the initial clips you bought the plant with were wrapped around) and its branches. If let grow suckers eventually resemble a smaller version of your plant, absorbing nutrients each time the plant is watered. Tomato production decreases, and plants won’t grow as quickly. You’ll find two examples of sucker growth below -
To remove suckers, simply pluck them off with your fingertips as close to the plant & branch as possible. If suckers are only partially removed, they will continue to grow.
Thanks again for purchasing your
March Farm Jet Star Tomato Plants!
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