Blog

You Can Do This!  Growing Tomatoes For Newbies.

You don’t need to be a farmer or have a large garden to grow fresh, juicy tomatoes at home.  With a little instruction and the right environment, you can grow your own and enjoy tasty tomatoes as a reward for your efforts.  Ask anyone with experience, store bought tomatoes simply can’t compare to the flavor of a homegrown tomato!

Start with a planting location.  Most tomatoes grow best in a sunny location (4 hours or more of direct sunlight) and rich, moist but well-drained soil.  Tomatoes also prefer slightly acidic to neutral soil.  Select tomatoes will grow in a container that allows for plenty of root space.  Look for tomatoes that grow to a fixed size or labeled as determinant.

We recommend fertilizing with Espoma Tomato-tone, an organic plant food formulated specifically for growing plump and juicy tomatoes. Tomato-tone is all natural and contains Bio-tone®, a special blend of beneficial microbes.

Choosing The Right Plant For You

Almost everyone likes tomatoes in one form or another.  Some enjoy their natural form while other prefer tomatoes as a sauce or as a condiment.

The Health Benefits

»  Rich in Lycopene – A vital anti-oxidant that helps fight certain types of cancer and other health issues.
»  Rich in Vitamin K – Regulates blood clotting, protects bones from osteoporosis and helps reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis.
»  Rich in Vitamin C – helps lower the risk of cancer and aids in the absorption of iron.

The Benefits of Growing Your Own

»  Immediate Gratification – Having vegetables handy means you are more likely to go out of your way to use them.
»  Healthier – If grown organically, or chemical free, you’ll get a higher concentration of vitamins and lycopene.
»  Tastier – Studies show organically grown vegetables have more flavor than store bought fruit.
»  You Know What You Eat – You have more control of the types of pesticides and chemicals being used on them.
»  Great For Children – Kids are more likely to eat food grown in their own garden versus store bought.

Terms To Help You Get Started

DETERMINANT – Plants will only grow to a fixed size (tall/wide).  These are sometimes called “bush” tomatoes.  Most grow to a compact 4-5’ tall and you receive most of your tomatoes at once, which is useful when making sauces. These are good plants to use when growing your plant in a container.

»  Patio – A dwarf variety with cue ball sized fruit.  One of the most popular varieties for growing in containers on decks, patios or wherever space is limited.  Produces a small but flavorful bright red tomato.
»  Roma – One of the most popular varieties for paste, sauces and canning. Bright red, pear-shaped fruit with a meaty texture and few seeds.
»  Celebrity – A great well-rounded plant.  Baseball sized fruit, very flavorful and disease resistant.  Great for containers or small spaces.

INDETERMINANT – May require staking as they keep growing and producing fruit until frost.

»  Sweet 100 – A sweet round cherry tomato, about 1″ in size.  Grow in clusters.
»  Red Grape – A small and sweet, grape shaped tomato. Delicious in salads!
»  Big Boy & Better Boy – Very popular and easy to grow hybrid tomato. Softball-sized, great for slicing, disease resistant and flavorful.
»  Early Girl – As the name suggests, the first slicing tomato to produce fruit and a customer favorite. Great flavor and disease resistant.
»  Big Beef & Beefmaster – Delicious meaty tomatoes, baseball-sized and perfect for sandwich slices

HEIRLOOM/INDETERMINANT – Non-hybridized, very flavorful tomatoes. There are many varieties, but to be certified heirloom the tomato must be grown from a seed of the same variety for at least 50 years and deemed organic. Some won’t produce the abundance of fruit that hybridized varieties do, but they make up for this in flavor.  These are just a few popular varieties:

»  Cherokee Purple – Large, meaty tomato with purple flesh.
»  Brandywine – Large fruit with a classic tomato flavor.
»  Golden Jubilee – A yellow medium size fruit.
»  Marglobe – A determinant heirloom with large, globe shaped fruit.  Disease resistant.
»  Mortgage Lifter – A pink medium to large beefsteak tomato.
»  Mr. Stripey – A red and yellow medium to large beefsteak tomato.
»  Rutgers – An old favorite with medium sized, round fruit.
»  Yellow Pear – A small yellow pear shaped fruit.

Save

Save

Some plants are content to remain in the same pot for several years. Other plants require repotting on a yearly basis. The best time for repotting is in late winter/early spring so actively growing roots will have enough time to grow into the new potting mix.

Things to consider when determining if your plant needs repotting.
•  Are roots growing through the drainage holes of the container?
•  Has foliage or stems either stopped growing or growth has slowed even in the spring and summer months?
•  Does the potting mix dry out quicker than usual, even during cooler months?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions you will want to examine the plants roots. Since the ball and roots will remove more easily from the container when they are moist, it is recommended to water the plant 24 hours before removing it.

Choose a potting mix that is made for potted plants. We recommend Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix, an excellent all-purpose performer. Using garden soil with potted plants could lead to disease or pest problems.

To remove the plant from the pot, lay the plant on its side and gently tap the pot. Rotate the pot and repeat until you can easily slip the root ball out. If the roots are circling around the root ball, or are so dense it is difficult to see the potting mix in the bottom 1/3 of the root ball, you should repot your plant. If you find the roots still have space, and are happy with the size of your plant, the plant can remain in its current pot. You will want to remove some outer sections of plant roots, and any roots that are circling the root ball. Return the root ball to the container at the same depth it had been at and add fresh potting mix. You can then cut back some of the plants top growth. Re potting will aid in increasing plant growth.

When choosing a new pot, you’ll want to only increase the size of pot by one size. The top diameter should measure 1 to 2 inches larger than the old pot. Make sure there are drainage holes. Place a few clean pieces of clay chips over the hole. This allows excess water to drain out the hole, but prevents potting mix from doing so. If you choose to display your plant in a container with no drainage holes (sometimes called a cachepot), pot the plant in a container with drainage holes and set that container inside the decorative planter. If this method is not desirable, you can add a few inches of rock, or pieces of clean clay chips to the bottom of a container to assist drainage.

The root ball should be set in the new pot at the same depth it had been growing in the old pot. Keep this in mind as you fill your new container with potting mix and gently tamp down. Set the plant in the pot. Adjust the mix as necessary to keep the correct depth. Fill mix in around the sides of the root ball, firming as you go. Leave an inch of space between the top of the container and the top of potting mix to allow for watering.

You’re busy, always on the go. Your home centers you. Memories are made in and around it. The decisions you make to enhance your living space are important, but they don’t have to be difficult.

Let us make life a little easier.

We’re excited to announce our partnership with Bower & Branch, Trees for Life. We have a shared passion for trees and together we’ll help you find the right tree to improve your living space.

SHOP TREES ONLINE

Bower & Branch trees are grown in the healthiest possible environment on a 175-acre farm. They’re cared for by a team of experienced and dedicated growers. In addition to quality product, Bower & Branch offers a unique online shopping experience which is supported by the Delhi Flower & Garden Center in-store personal touch. Come in and shop directly from the in-store kiosk. We’ll happily walk you through the process and set up delivery and planting services as needed.

We’ll continue to offer a variety of trees in-store, but through this partnership there’s no question you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for. Trees are delivered to Delhi Flower & Garden Center and treated with the exceptional care you’d expect until they arrive at their new home.

Finding the right match is easier than you think, and an investment you’ll appreciate for many years. On the Bower & Branch website you can browse from featured trees to trees the fit your particular lifestyle or unique landscape. They’re so confident in their product they offer a generous 3-year guarantee when you take just a few steps to register your tree online.

 

Save

Save

Magnificent blooming, tough – no fuss, sun-loving Panicle Hydrangeas are simply breathtaking in the landscape.

It’s not often you’ll find a flowering shrub that can stand on its own.  Blooming Panicle Hydrangeas demand attention with their large, cone shaped blooms swaying gracefully in the landscape middle to late summer.

Feel free to stop in, give us a call at (513) 759-4700, or email us at info@delhifgc.com for availability.

Click here for Proven Winners Hydrangea Glossary of terms and descriptions.

---

‘LIMELIGHT’ PANICLE HYDRANGEA

FULL/PART SUN

HEIGHT

72″ – 92″

DESCRIPTION

 

---

‘BOMBSHELL’ PANICLE HYDRANGEA

FULL/PART SUN

HEIGHT

2 1/2′ – 3′

DESCRIPTION

Dwarf in size, blooms galore!  Perfect for containers, mass plantings and small borders.

 

---

Invite lovely butterflies to your yard, and entice them to stay a while.  Nectar plants provide the energy they need to continue on their journey while host plants provide a place to lay eggs and feed emerging caterpillars.

In the middle of a summer’s day, butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, is easy to find — just follow the butterflies.

True to its name, butterfly weed, also known as butterfly milkweed, is a butterfly magnet. Countless species, as well as ruby-throated hummingbirds and clearwing moths, pay regular visits to this plant. Hikers may see butterflies dancing in a cluster in the distance before discovering that the brilliant, almost fluorescent orange flowers of butterfly weed are the source of all the excitement. The upright flower clusters (called umbels — think “umbrella”) offer an irresistible delight to butterflies, which sometimes allow people to sneak within inches as they gorge on nectar.

While butterfly weed nectar feeds the adults of many butterfly species, including hairstreaks, the plant has a special relationship with the monarch butterfly. Adult monarchs will lay their eggs only on the leaves of milkweeds, which include butterfly weed and as many as 16 other milkweed species. As the young larvae emerge from the eggs, they immediately begin to feed. By eating milkweed leaves, the caterpillars ingest a chemical toxin known as cardenolide, a substance distasteful and potentially harmful to birds and other predators. This “deadly diet” provides an effective defense with apparently no negative effect on the caterpillars.

Butterfly weed likes to be “high and dry,” growing in elevated prairies, slopes, and uplands. It can settle onto bluffs, embankments, disturbed roadsides, and abandoned sandy fields. But it really proliferates in open, sunny prairies and oak savannas.  Out on the prairies, butterfly weed hits its prime in July and into August, alongside grasses such as sideoats grama, little bluestem, and big bluestem (before that grass has overtowered Asclepias’ modest two or three feet). Butterfly weed flowers disappear by mid-August, replaced by distinctive, slender seedpods. Though the butterflies have mostly gone away, one might consider these pods “child magnets,” since children can’t resist teasing out the silky seeds and sending them floating on the wind.

Unlike all other species of milkweed, which release a milky latex sap that has earned them their collective common name, a clear, watery liquid circulates through the leaves of butterfly weed. The prominent, no-nonsense orange blooms stand out from the subtler shades of other milkweeds. This makes Asclepias tuberosa a popular plant for native gardeners, especially those who want butterfly visitors.

On your summer walks, look out over the tops of the grasses. Perhaps you will catch the sight of butterflies dancing.