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When tomato plants are still young, and soon after repotting into larger pots for the
grow room, I water occassionally along the stem to help
promote rooting from the stem. Except when watering in this way, I keep the surface covered with mulch to prevent
fungus gnats - very common in areas containing organic matter
such as the organic compost these plants are planted in. Fungus gnats don't do any harm in the adult stage but they
lay their eggs in organic soil and the larvae will feast on the roots, killing the plants. Once there is an infestation,
it can be very difficult to rid the soil of them. The mulch is pulled back only temporarily for watering and other
times is kept dry. Besides when watering along the stem in this way, most of the watering is done only within the
saucer below that it sits in.
Tomato plants are very picky about their watering. Too much, or inconsistent watering, and they will appear to be
doing just fine until they finaly begin to get ripe tomatoes which will then likely show a big rotten spot near the
bottom known as "blossom end rot."
Tomato plants are subject to various types of blight, and that blight will even find it's way into my grow room. To
ward off blight and other infections in an arganic way, I use a bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747 (shown sold
as Garden Sentinel
in picture below) that colonizes the plant and protects it from such diseases.
The cart in my grow room contains four varieties of tomato plants and are just beginning to get blossoms. The 4' T5
fluorescent lights above them contain a mix of 6500k and 3000k bulbs to promote both greenery and flowering.
promoting stem rooting
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fungus guard
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four types of tomato plants
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sturdy young plants
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first blossoms
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