Mother’s Day: When to Plant Tomatoes (and get Mom flowers, too!)

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Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and you know what that means: time to plant your warm-weather garden vegetables. That’s right! Mother’s Day is not just the time we get to thank our wonderful mothers (and our beloved grandmothers and maternal figures, too) in our lives, but also the unofficial start to planting season.

My husband’s entire family is from the southwest part of Virginia where agriculture is among the more prominent economic activities. Not only do many families make a living from farming, but everyone has a garden…and tips on how to make your garden the best of the neighborhood.

A big garden means more food and, of course, more ingredients to make delicious family recipes (and produce to share with neighbors, too!). No gardener embodied these principles in his family more than his grandmother, Juanita. Born and raised on a farm in the mountains, she could make the most beautiful produce grow from a rock (figuratively, of course, but the soil in those mountains does contain lot of rocks!). While we all miss her deeply after saying our final goodbyes in November, her tips and tricks for growing produce will live on forever. Perhaps no rule was more important to her than not planting tomatoes before Mother’s Day.

Growing up in the Carolinas, I always watched tomatoes go into the ground in April. It’s just what we did. But this year, we are all smiling as we think of Juanita’s golden rule and simultaneously watching the record-low temperatures forecast for Mother’s Day weekend 2020. So, if you jumped on some beautiful tomato plants at your favorite hardware store a few weeks ago, here’s a collection of tips to keep those plants alive and thriving when this Mother’s Day cold snap leaves us.

Feed Your Tomatoes

Tomatoes – like us – need food. Sticking them into a pot of soil may grow tomatoes, but you need to keep them fed to produce lots of fruit.

If you haven’t planted tomatoes yet – congratulations! You followed Juanita’s rule and haven’t planted before Mother’s Day. If you have planted, no worries. The same applies to you when it comes to fertilizing your tomatoes.

There are many options.

One option is to use an organic compost to mix into your soil. This could be something you’ve created on your own over the winter, or it could be something you’ve picked up from your neighborhood garden center.

You can also mix used coffee grounds into your soil. Coffee is high in nitrogen and tomato plants (and pepper plants, too) love nitrogen. Coffee grounds won’t fix your soil overnight, but it is a slow releasing nitrogen additive and a little bit of coffee grounds into your soil mixture will help with drainage and also provide nitrogen.

As for us, we LOVE using Vigoro tomato feed which you can find in multiple stores, including online. It has a high nitrogen content to beat away tomato blight and has other nutrients to support lots of tomatoes. You can also use an all-purpose plant food mixture such as Miracle-Gro. None of this will help the plant beat back cold weather, but you need a solid foundation to grow your plants regardless of the weather!

Mulch, Mulch, and Mulch

Tomato plants like warmth and moisture. One of the easiest ways to help tomato plants stay warm and hydrated is to apply mulch around the base of the tomato plant. If your tomato plants are in pots on your deck or patio, this is especially important since the potted plants can become dehydrated quickly. A great, affordable option is a bag of mulch. Just pick one up (following all the store rules in this time of social distancing) and spread mulch around your tomato plants.

Keep It Watered Well…Especially Before a Cold Night

It sounds counterintuitive, but watering your tomato plants well before a cold snap is an important step in preserving the tomato plant. Water is an insulator, and it will help protect the tomato plant (ever so slightly) during a cold snap. Coupling a layer of mulch and a good watering to your tomato plants will position those summer loving plants to make it through the night. It’s important to NOT water the leaves of the tomato plant – focus your watering at the base of the plant. A long-nosed watering can will help you reach under your plant to focus on the base, or if you have access to a garden hose, a long-reach attachment with a soft shower setting can get your plants the moisture they need!

Cover (or Bring Inside) to Let It Survive!

This (weekend’s) cold weather requires all eager tomato and pepper gardeners to apply the above steps plus one more – cover up your plants.

Some garden vegetables like beets, onions, woody herbs (rosemary, mint), or kale will be fine in the cold weather. But those warm weather vegetables, like tomatoes and peppers, need a warm blanket to get through the low 30s.

If your plants are really small and in pots, just place them in your garage, mud room, or even under your deck. For those who can’t move their potted plants because they’re too heavy but not super mature, simply use an empty, plastic gallon jug or large plastic bottle. Cut the bottom off the jug and place it over the tomato plant, pushing into the soil an inch or two to keep the wind from taking it away. If the plant is too heavy and mature, get those plants well-watered, fertilized and mulched.

Then, find the oldest, thinnest blanket or bed sheet and promote it to garden use. You can also use a plastic tarp if you have one. Just be sure to keep it tied down to the tomato cages or weighted down (without damaging your plants, of course), or you might have a missing sheet when you wake up. Let’s just say we’re missing a fitted sheet after a gusty night one time!! And, be sure to get those plants uncovered the next morning so they can enjoy the spring sun they (and we) need to survive!

When All Else Fails, Get Up Early and Water!

Sometimes, the weather just gets the best of us…but Juanita had a trick up her sleeve just in case. If you’re an early riser AND expecting your area to be exceptionally cold and frosty, do all of the above steps for your tomato plants. Then, get up before the sun rises and check your tomato plants. If they are not displaying signs of frost, congratulations! You saved your tomato plants and they should be OK; however, if you get up and find that your tomato plants are frosted, it’s time to break out that watering can again. Watering all of your frosted tomato plants (including the leaves) before the sun rises gives you a chance to thaw the plants before the frost expands and damages them. The sun hitting the frost will thaw it, too – but it will also cause the plant to expand and thus increase the chance for damage. We have not had to do this before, but since Juanita said it, we’re confident it will work if forced to use it.

Gardening is a great activity to enjoy during this unusual time. You can do it with your loved ones and small ones, and it’s so rewarding to enjoy the fruits of your labor in the summer and early fall. It’s also a great time to remember all of those recipes using garden-fresh fruits and vegetables that your loved ones have passed down for generations. So, for all those Moms out there, happy Mother’s Day! And for the rest of us, let us never forget to take time to remember (and be thankful for) all of that our mothers and grandmothers – like Juanita – have done for us, including that subtle reminder to never plant tomatoes before her special day.