SEATTLE — Seattle gardening expert Ciscoe Morris says right after Mother's Day is the traditional time to plant tomatoes, and if you don't have a garden, you can plant them in a pot. He found a type that promises an early harvest, and he's got a few tricks to make ensure you're munching tomatoes by July.
"I wanna show you a great tomato, this little guy is called Glacier, it was discovered in Sweden so it's really cold hardy. But this is the best thing about this tomato, it produces way earlier than other tomatoes do, quite often you get 'em two weeks before July 4th," Ciscoe said.
Glacier may be an especially useful tomato to plant this year, given the chilly spring we're having.
"Okay now, there's a little trick I always do when I plant a tomato in spring. So I'm gonna cut off these lower leaves, sorry little guy," Ciscoe said as he snipped the lower leaves off the plant. When he puts the plant in soil, those former leaf nodes will become roots. "This whole stem is gonna root like mad and this tomato will take off like a little rocket!"
After putting your tomato in a pot, add stakes.
"The nice thing about Glacier is it only gets 36 inches tall, so you don't need big long stakes, just little ones should do fine," Ciscoe said.
After planting, it's important to fertilize, or the tomato won't thrive — they're heavy feeders.
"They're making this great organic fertilizer in liquid form! You gotta shake the living tweedle out of it, and I know I need an ounce per gallon," he said as he measured out some Drammatic Organic Liquid Fertilizer, added it to a watering can, and sprinkled it on his newly potted tomato.
"So this little tomato is feasting on this fertilizer, but I'm going to be feasting on yummy tomatoes before July 4th!"
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