We’re thrilled to invite our partner Texas Gardener Magazine editor Jay White to the blog today. This month, our monthly perk for members is a tomato plant - and Jay is here with tips for planting tomatoes in Texas! In Texas, tomatoes are best planted in late March. Take it away, Jay.

If you want learn how to grow tomatoes, talk to someone whose livelihood depends on it. Nathan Hanath runs a lovely, successful, organic “truck farm” operation called Magnolia Hills Farms in Brenham, Texas. Each year Nathan’s grows around 300 tomato plants that produce almost two tons of tomatoes for his loyal customers. He is able to provide sweet, juicy, flavorful tomatoes from June through December because of a strict management routine that focuses on soil health and organic principles. He is my go-to guy for all of my tomato questions. Below are some of the things he has shared with me through the years.

Grow in Good Soil – Nathan has a 20,000 sq-ft bed that has been producing vegetables 12 months a year for the past 32 years. That is incredible. He has been able to keep his bed healthy by constantly replenishing it with compost. According to Nathan, constantly adding compost to your soil is the single most important thing you can do to foster plant health. Plants grown in compost receive a steady, controlled diet of the macro, micro and trace nutrients they need to thrive. In addition, soil that is full of organic material experiences fewer problems with soil borne disease.

Grow Big, Healthy Transplants – Nathan grows over 300 tomato plants each year. He grows between 10 and 12 nematode-resistant determinate or semi-determinate varieties. He starts his seeds in a commercial mix in January and then again in June. He starts his seeds in little foam cups and then bumps them up to bigger containers after about 21 days. He keeps his starts in shallow trays and waters them from the bottom with a solution of “Fish and Poop”. Some of his favorite varieties include Amelia, BHN1021, Celebrity, Celebration, Carnival, Santa Belle, Top Gun, Phoenix, Tasty Lee and Tycoon. While these are his favorites, he encourages you to try his methods on whatever varieties you can find.

Plant Late – Resist the urge to plant early. Tomatoes grow best in warm soils. Grow big healthy transplants and do not put them in the ground until the third or fourth week of March. Try to time it so your transplants have flowers when you put them out. Plant them deep to encourage a large root ball

Fertilize – Almost all Texas gardens are nitrogen deficient. Growing plants use lots of nitrogen and rain, heat and tilling let it leach from the soil. In order to provide his plants the nitrogen they need to thrive Nathan works “Sweet Green” into his tomato beds before planting. Sweet Green (11-0-4) is an organic fertilizer that contains dried cane molasses and beet molasses. Because of its high nitrogen content Sweet Green is marketed as a lawn fertilizer. However, the high nitrogen levels of the fertilizer make it an excellent supplement for the organic vegetable garden.

Mulch – Keep your beds as weed free as possible. Weeds rob your plants of nutrients, and they attract pests. Nathan uses landscape fabric to suppress weeds. While the fabric is great to help warm the soil in March and early April, you will need to cover it with a thick layer of mulch once the temperatures start to climb.

Calcium – Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. Prevent it by spraying your tomato plants weekly with Nutri-Cal. Nutri-Cal is a calcium supplement that contains nitrogen. The supplemental calcium will prevent blossom end rot, and the nitrogen will give your plants a little boost to keep them healthy and productive up until July.

If you are going to be passing through Brenham on 290, stop in at Magnolia Hill Farm. Nathan loves visitors, and he has outstanding produce available every month of the year. He also stocks a huge selection of his mother’s famous preserves and pickles. (You have to buy the sauerkraut)! In addition to produce, Nathan collects and breeds day lilies. He has over 900 varieties for sale from March through June. The farm is truly a sight around Mother’s Day when all of those day lilies are in bloom!

Thanks so much, Jay!