Common Mistakes
Choosing the wrong variety
Choosing an inferior vegetable variety is like running a horse race with an old mule. Genetics matter, and no amount of care can compensate for genetic limitations. Just like a tomato that is genetically programmed to be yellow will not produce red tomatoes, a plant that is not genetically equipped to fend off diseases or produce more tomatoes cannot do either.
It is not true that a modern hybrid has to taste worse or be less nutritious. By introducing new blood lines into modern breeding programs, breeders are now producing even more nutritious tomatoes than ever, including higher levels of the important antioxidants lycopene and anthocyanins, which help protect against human cell damage -- including virus protection.
Planting too early
Probably the most common mistake the average gardener makes is rushing to plant warm season crops. Plants have been evolving for 400 million years, programmed to do things on a certain timetable. They depend on environmental signals like soil temperature, age, and even the angle of the sun in the sky. Planting too early usually causes root damage and gets plants off to a slow start.
A friend of mine, who has been in the greenhouse business his whole life, had a customer bring up his 12" tall tomato plants in late May and asked what was the best way to plant them. He replied "six feet under". It is hard to convince somebody to destroy a plant they grew from seed -- but it is far better than wasting the whole Summer on a plant that is distressed at planting time. Every year, we dispose of plants that have passed their window to plant rather than plant stressed plants. Consider it a lesson learned and move on -- buy a healthy plant.
We plant peas and spinach as early as late Feb. -- when it is the best time to plant these crops. Our tomatoes mostly go in the first 2 weeks of June -- the best time for heat loving crops. There will undoubtedly be warm, and even hot days before then, but you don't base planting dates of heat loving crops on air temperature alone.
Planting a plant that is stressed by being root bound
This is another very common mistake, often made by people who start their own seeds. If you have a root bound plant, it will start to bloom too early and never recover from a bad start. The plant in the video above was not planted earlier, it was planted the second week of June and was a relatively small plant. If you start our own seeds and they get stretched and rootbound, I always suggest throwing them away and buying health plants. Don't waste the summer trying to fix a mistake that can't be fixed.
Not preparing the soil first
The biggest factor in getting a tomato off to a fast start is preparing your soil well. That means physical preparation
and
making sure the biological helpers are up to the task of supporting your plant.
Not feeding it enough
A plant can't reach it's potential when it doesn't have the nutrients it needs to grow. Limiting nutrients not only means smaller and less productive plants, but weaker plants and less nutritious food.
Feeding with an unbalanced, incomplete fertilizer that limits plant growth
Using an unbalanced fertilizer is like trying to build a building without all of the materials. You can stack bricks to build a wall, but without enough mortar the wall will eventually come tumbling down.
Not giving it a plant support system that allows it to reach its potential
It took me decades of growing tomatoes to understand how important a proper support system is. Improper support means more insect and disease problems -- and a plant never realizing its potential. These are factors that limit plant growth because the plant wastes resources fending of pest infestations.
Lack of proper maintenance -- like pruning, weeding and watering
Improper or poor maintenance causes the same problems as an inadequate support system. More insect and disease problems and slower growth.
Not harvesting in a proper fashion
Not harvesting in a timely fashion can cause premature aging and the plant to stop setting more fruit. Like with humans, premature aging means more disease problems and lack of productivity.
