i really want to grow some tomatoes as well as some lavender plants. what kind of conditions and care do both of these need to turn out well and survive? whats the most chemical-free or organic way of keeping heaps of nasty little bugs out of the tomatoes? cool...thats all, thanks.
Tomatoes want full sun and plenty of water. Frost (getting below freezing at night) will hurt tomato plants badly, so you want to plant them just after the last danger of frost in your area. in NJ, that's May 15. Contact a local agricultural extension to find out when the last danger of frost is for you. When watering tomatoes, try not to get much water on their leaves. This will open the pores and get the leaves scortched, and they will wilt. Plants are not designed to take water and sunshine at the same time. Try watering in the evening if it's convenient. It's better if you start them off indoors, and then move them outside after the last danger of frost. I suggest buying seedlings from a nursery, and perhaps trying to grow your own seedlings once you have a little more experience. Tomatoes are an interesting plant in that the stem has little hairs on it that can attach to the ground and act as roots. So to give your plants a head start, dig a nice, deap hole and bury a big chunk of the stem, pulling off the lowest pair of leaves to do this. You want to pour water in the hole as you're transplanting in order to help the plants get over what's called transplant shock. Left to their own devices, tomato vines will grow along the ground. For best results, the plants need a little suport. You can buy tomato cages at a garden suply store. These are wire cylinders or cones that you put around the plant. Then help the plant climb up it as it grows. I have been experimenting with a cheaper method. I pound a fence post in on either end of each row. Then I run two ropes, one high and one medium. As the plants grow, I tie them to the ropes with twine. You should start getting tomatoes in mid to late summer. Let them ripen on the vine for best taste. If any fall off, you can either let them continue to ripen or cook them. To ripen off the vine, it is best to keep them next to a ripe tomato or some other fruit. I have never had much trouble with pests on tomato plants. If any of the fruit does rot on the vine, be sure to get it away from the plants quickly, or else the rotting stuff will spread. In the fall, you want to get all of the tomatoes off the vine before the first frost. One frost will make the tomatoes mushy and yucky. Take all of the green ones, and either cook them or ripen them indoors.
Lavender is much easier than tomatoes. It is easy to grow. It is what's called perenial in NJ. That is, it does not die over the winter, but stays alive year after year. Perenials usually start off slow, and just get better and better with time. It likes full sun, but can handle a bit of shade. It's good to mulch it heavily, to help it survive the winter. Mulch is a layer of just about anything organic put on top of the soil. Over time, it rots and becomes part of the soil. It has all sorts of possitive effects, and one of these is that it keeps things warm in the winter. You can use leaves, grass clippings, wood chips, straw, or anything else for mulch.
Trial and error, I see you live in Australia. I have no idea what that climate is like. Find local gardeners and ask what works for them. Tomatoes when they are in full fruit require lots of moisture. As mentioned above "Mulch" to help retain moisture in the ground. Good Luck, Let us know how it goes.
David's right on for the tomatos. We never buy those metal cages, we just use some wood stakes, maybe 5 feet high, and tie them to that. I agree about vine ripening them; there's nothing like sun warmed tomatos straight off the vine. Mmmm... I should go see if any of mine are ripe, haha. Anyways, do you have a compost pile? We do, and we get maybe 2 yards of compost a year out of it. This is a great way to get organic "fertilizer", and it's pretty easy; but also, our city has a public compost pile from the street cleaners, from the leaves in the fall. We used to get truck loads of that, problem is you have to do all the work, and you'll need a pickup truck. But yeah, my soil is very clay-like but my gardens (mostly flowers/perennials, but we started a veggie garden this year again) all grow very happily. Of course, my dad fertilizes with synthetics, but not in my veggies!
I think tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow,you'll do fine. First,pick out the type of tomato you want...there are all different varieties. All different tastes and uses..some tomatoes are great for canning or making juice,for example. Once you have your plants,either from raising seed yourself or from a nursery...just plant them into the ground and water them. Look at your climate to determine when to water. If it gets cool at night,don't water in the evening because it can bring on moldy stuff(so I read,anyways,and it makes sense). If you need to,water during the day,in the morning before it gets super hot would be best. I water at the roots,but if I want to give them an extra dose of food,I spray that onto the undersides of their leaves. When they get taller,tie them to a stake,so that they don't fall over and break. Like TrippinBTM,I also use wooden stakes..and I usually use old cut up panty hose for ties..they're nice and stretchy. I don't have trouble with bugs,unless a fruit rots or breaks open on the vine. I'm not sure about bugs in Oz though. Then let them ripen...or you can eat the green ones if you want to or if they fall off the vines...they're nice fried. Hope that helps you some...good luck Oh,the lavender..it's easy,too. With any herb I raise,I just plant it and then water it occassionally...and they seem to do fine for me.
