The Best Soil for a Great Tomato Plant

As we approach spring, start thinking about your home garden, where the most popular garden vegetable is the tomato. It’s rather easy to grow tomatoes and harvest nicer tomatoes than those available at your local grocer. For best results, there are techniques that will assure the rewards of your gardening.

Our main concern is having the best soil for growing beautiful, tasty tomatoes, but "when to plant' and "where to plant" must first be decided. Plant tomatoes after the last freeze, but if you have plants in the garden and receive a frost warning, cover them overnight. Remove the protection early the following morning. The location of your garden is also important. Tomatoes require six to eight hours of sun per day, but will gladly accept a full day of sun, if provided.

Locate your garden in a well-drained area, not a soggy-soil spot. Whatever soil conditions you have, a little work with that soil will make it prime garden space. Your soil may be sandy or it could be heavy clay soil which does not drain well. Both types will respond to certain steps for improvement. Begin by working in 2-3 inches of compost, peat moss, or other organic matter in the top six to nine inches of existing earth. If you do a pH test, then alter the soil according to test results, using either sulfur or lime. Also, since tomatoes are indulgent feeders, avoid composts that are immature and rob the soil of nitrogen.

It is vital that the current soil and the soil additives be well blended using either a tiller or a garden fork. Remember, you do not want your soil so sandy that water drains too fast or so heavy it takes forever to lose that excess water.