Transplanting tomatoes is always stressful for delicate seedlings that are accustomed to home “greenhouse” conditions. But if you properly help the bushes at the start, they will quickly come to their senses and reward you with a magnificent harvest.
Why pour anything into the hole at all?
When you move a plant into open ground, its roots are injured and its immunity decreases. At this moment, the tomato needs support. The right additives to the planting hole perform three tasks:
- soften adaptation;
- feed the culture during the first weeks;
- protect against blossom end rot.
Eggshells as a source of calcium
Agronomist Ksenia Davydova recommends adding eggshells to the hole. This affordable product contains calcium in an easily accessible form.
This element strengthens the cell walls of plants and is an effective prevention of blossom end rot, a common problem in which the tops of tomatoes darken and rot even at the ripening stage.
How to fill a planting hole
First, the shells should be thoroughly dried, then they should be ground to flour using a coffee grinder or mortar.
2 teaspoons of this powder are enough for one well. You should not exceed the dosage, since excess calcium interferes with the absorption of other elements, in particular potassium.
For better contact with the roots, mix the powder with a small amount of damp soil and only then plant the seedlings in the hole.
