Tomatoes
- Transplant in the garden when the danger of frost is past, and the soil is warm. Set the plants at least 24" apart and protect them if there are late frosts predicted
- After planting, apply a mulch to preserve moisture and prevent weeds. Cage or stake to prevent soil contact with fruit.
- Water in the plants after planting, but do not water late in the day to prevent blights and other foliar diseases.
- Non-grafted plants can have the stem buried deeply (remove the lower leaves). For grafted plants, do not cover the graft union when planting.
Peppers
- Transplant into the garden when danger of frost is past and the soil is warm. Always water the plants after planting.
- Set the plants at least 18" apart and protect them if there are late frosts predicted.
- Soil fertility should be normal. Apply a mulch to preserve moisture and prevent weeds.
Eggplant
- Space plants 18 to 20 inches apart, with each row 30 to 36 inches apart.
- Heat-loving plants perform best when planted out 1-2 weeks after tomato plants.
- Planting them into black plastic or landscape fabric can help provide the heat they appreciate, but add appropriate 2-4-2 fertilizer and organic matter prior to fabric installation.
- Apply mulch and keep plants consistently watered at ground level.
- Four to six plants per garden are typically enough for a family of four.
Onions
- Soil with high organic content, especially decomposed stable manure, produces the largest onion bulbs.
- Raised beds at least four inches high and 20 inches wide are excellent for onions. They prefer a pH level between 6 and 7.
- Incorporate a good fertilizer rich in Phosphorus (15-30-15) before planting and mix it into the soil.
- If you like green onions, place the plants 3" apart & pull every other one for green onions, leaving the other 5-6" apart to grow into whole large onions.
- Double or split onions are undesirable. This is influenced by variety and environment.
- The Sweet Spanish variety will produce a higher percentage of splits and doubles if grown at wider spacing or in thin stands. Also, when plants are grown in uniform stands, fertilizing at a rate that produces large yields will result in more doubles than a lower rate.
- Larger onion sets will also result in more doubles than smaller sets. Also, sets planted 3" deep versus 1.5" deep will produce more doubles and splits.
- Onions are a biennial. If exposed to temperatures of 40°F or lower for long periods when the plants are pencil-sized in diameter, the plants act as if it's the second year and set seed. Cool temperatures and day length initiate flower stalk development.
