Getting Ready to Move my Tomato Plants Outside

Question

Planted Beefsteak tomato seeds into seed starting trays on May 8th.

They've since been growing well under grow lights indoors and have been transplanted to larger containers.

I think it's almost time to transplant them to my raised bed outdoors. I plan on hardening them off for 10 days before doing so.

I'm purchasing 15 32'' galvanized metal tomato cages from someone and plan on using 12 and having 3 extras just in case. Are these large enough?

Is there anything else I need to do/ consider when planting them outside? Should I purchase some sort of fertilizer? (I purchased new triple mix soil for my new beds this year)

Answer 1

First thing is to examine your seed packet or other info to find out if your tomato variety is determinate or indeterminate. The first type will remain short and tend to be bushy and will be perhaps suited to your cages. If the second then it will grow to a tall vine in which case it will quickly outgrow the cages and would be better supported by a tall stake and regularly tied in; an alternate would be to keep pinching out the growth to keep it confined to the cage but this goes counter to its natural habit.

Since your soil is fresh it will likely not present fertilizer issues immediately and you can leave that issue aside unless you start to see signs of distress from your plants.