How do your tomatoes grow?

By Joan, The Cherry Tomato Lady

Welcome to the Cherry Tomato Lady's blog! I'm not sure what you are expecting in a blog written by a woman who calls herself "The Cherry Tomato Lady," but I can promise you the content won't be strictly about tomatoes.  However, much of it will be about food and cooking. And some days it will be about someone I've met or something I've learned from friends or read in the news or heard in the beauty shop....

That thought brings me to planting tomatoes. My hair stylist (Jeff at Strandz -- don't you love the name of that salon?) swears by using Epsom Salt as a fertilizer for tomatoes. My mother always kept Epsom Salt in the bathroom closet for long soaks in the tub, but I'd never heard of feeding it to tomatoes.

So the old reporter in me turned to an Epsom Salt website where, sure enough, the Epsom Salt Council cites the product's gardening benefits. According to the council, salt may help seeds germinate and make plants grow bushier and produce more flowers.

For tomatoes, it suggests applying one tablespoon per foot of plant height per plant every two weeks. For roses, the same application is recommended. Just sprinkle the salt at the bottom of the plant and water it thoroughly.

I am not actually endorsing this process because if you read commentary on the Internet, you'll see some controversy about it; but I am experimenting on a plant or two. I'm sticking with tried-and-true Miracle-Gro for the rest of them. That's what my grandmother, the original "Cherry Tomato Lady," used for years.

Incidentally, the scientific name for Epsom Salt is magnesium sulfate; magnesium sulfate was discovered in Shakespeare's day in Epsom, England.

I bought a big bag of it so I have plenty left for soaking. If you try it, you need two cups for a standard-sized tub, but four cups for an oversized garden tub.

I'll let you know how my tomatoes grow. In the meantime, if you have any sure-fire tips for growing tomatoes, send them my way.

You can respond on this blog site, or, if you prefer a little more privacy, send me a note by e-mail. My address is cherrytomatolady@plantationcable.net.