RickHarrison.com presents...
A Guide to Growing Tomatoes in Florida

when to plant

Growing tomatoes in Florida is easiest during the Spring, after the danger of frost has passed and before the Summer's rains, heat and humidity create optimum conditions for the bacterial and fungal diseases. If you want to grow during the Spring, plant your seeds in mid-January.

The second easiest season is Autumn. You can also grow tomatoes during the Winter if you are willing to cover them when frost threatens and uncover them after the coast is clear. Growing tomatoes in Summer is a challenge for experienced tomatophiles.

taking care of seedlings

You'll need to keep your seedlings someplace where you will see them twice a day, preferably in full sun. Let them get fairly dry, almost or just barely to the point of wilting, and then water thoroughly. Twice a week I give the seedlings a very dilute solution of fish emulsion and/or Miracle Gro for Tomatoes. When I say "very dilute" I mean just a small pinch of fertilizer per gallon of water -- considerably less intense but more frequent than the directions on the package suggest. Water gently with a watering can; do not splash soil onto the leaves, and keep wetting of the leaves to a minimum.

Since you'll be inspecting your seedlings twice a day, you'll see any insect problems developing before they become critical. Apart from an occasional aphid or leaf-miner, I seldom have any pest troubles at this stage.

dealing with adolescent plants

When the seedlings are 3 to 4 inches tall and have 2 or 3 sets of true leaves, it's time to transplant them into larger pots. Most people put plants in the ground at this stage, but it is wiser to keep the plant in a small pot for a few weeks before setting it out. Another gardener's web page about this technique says "the bigger and healthier the tomato plant at transplant time, the better it did in the long run."

I transplant the seedlings into square 3.5" by 3.5" plastic pots that I've saved from previous purchases of annuals and other nursery plants. You can use slightly bigger pots if you have some. Don't hold the seedlings by the stems; any bruising of the stem tissue will slow down the plant's growth. Hold the seedling by its leaves or, better yet, handle the soilclump / rootball. Plant the seedlings about 1 inch deeper than they were before; the buried stem will develop roots and strengthen the plant. At this stage I use the same 50/50 mix of potting soil and garden sand, but I don't sterilize it. I do add to the mix whatever nutritional supplements are handy at the time: perhaps just a pinch of powdered phosphate rock, bone meal, and/or Osmocote.

Continue inspecting the plants twice a day and watering as before. If you are "in tune" with the tomato plants, you will sometimes be able to tell when they get hungry or thirsty even before you see them -- as if you can feel them crying out to you telepathically. When the plants are about 7 inches tall, they will tell you that they are ready to be transplanted into the ground.