tomato beds?

[gardentg44]

Last years tomatoes were crap,
i put it down to housing the chickens in the greenhouse over winter
as i reconstructed their shed.
already dug out 1ft of soil,
could anyone give me the best way to prepear them
for spring? ??? ???

[gardentg44]

[saddad]

If anything the chickens should have been a bonus tg44... how were they poor?
:-\

[davyw1]

Tomatoes prefer well-drained, highly organic soil as well as a soil PH between 6 and 7. To establish a well-drained tomato garden, plant the fruit in a raised bed around 6 inches high.

[gardentg44]

Saddad.
Been told the reason they did not do well was
too much ammonia in the soil which burnt the roots.?

[pigeonseed]

it was a rubbish year anyway, wasn't it? early on was hot and sunny, but then a long long spell of grey skies and lots of rain, just when toms should have been ripening.

so maybe don't be so hard on them chickens!  :)

[RobinOfTheHood]

Being so close, I'm probably on the same soil as you. Last year was crap, probably as pigeonseed said due to the weather.

Anyhow, lots of manure and good weather should do the trick!  ;)

[kt.]

What about giving this year a miss for planting directly in the ground and just put your tomato plants in growbags instead?

[Tee Gee]

too much ammonia in the soil which burnt the roots.

This was possibly caused by chicken droppings that generally have a high 'lime' content reacting with the fertiliser.

Extract from my website;

Lime should not be applied at the same time as organic matter or fertilisers, it may cause the release of ammonia, which wastes nitrogen and may damage tender growth.