Transplanting the Solanacea

 When we finally get a string of decent weather and enough ground prepped to feel as though we are getting ahead it is time to transplant our solanacea; the tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.

 The first thing we do is mark beds and fertilize using one of our old Farmalls. Above you can see our beds marked with a band of fertilizer in the center of each one. We start the tomatoes and other solanacea in the greenhouse in February. They are grown first in an open flat, then transplanted up to a 128, then transplanted again into a four inch pot. That allows us a good head start trying to get these heat loving plants to produce in our cool maritime climate.

 Over the years we have developed a strategy that seems to produce a decent yield in all but the worst seasons. Above you can see the jungle of tomato transplants ready to go out. We grow a large transplant then strip all but the top leaves before we transplant them into the field.

The plants are stripped and ready to go out. We use a very old style single row planter that allows the people planting to place the plants gently by hand. They lay the plants on their sides and let go just as the discs of the planter are ready to cover the tops of the plants.

Jesus and Gilberto untangle and place the plants in the row.

 

 And here is a lucky camera shot showing how at the end of each plant set, the tops are left exposed and the entire length of the stem is buried.

This method buries the stem which is almost 2 feet long in some cases. The stem will grow roots at each intersection where the leaves have been stripped and create a very stout plant with a large shallow root system with ready access to fertilizer. The end result is shown above. After a few weeks we will come back in, trellis the tomatoes, and hope for some long hot summer days.