Tomatoes like to stretch out their roots in the airy, loose coconut fiber substrate. Seedlings and adult tomato plants benefit equally from the manifold advantages. This guide provides practical tips & tricks for the skillful use of coconut soil for tomatoes.
Young tomato plants benefit the most from coconut soil
Sow tomato seeds in coconut swelling tablets
Premium quality coconut soil contains no nutrients. For this reason, the purely natural substrate is ideal for sowing seeds. Poor soil motivates tomato seedlings to grow stronger roots than when there is a richly covered nutrient buffet right in front of the root tips. Perfect for sowing tomato seeds are special coconut swelling tablets that make strenuous pricking unnecessary. That is how it goes:
- Place coconut source tablets next to each other in a waterproof bowl or seed tray
- Pour lukewarm, soft water over it, e.g. B. three quarters of a liter for 10 tablets
- Leave to soak for 5 minutes
- Pour off excess water
Each coconut source tablet is equipped with a fine mesh that stabilizes the shape of the small pot. Open the top of the net a little to make a small indentation with the pricking stick. Sow one or two tomato seeds in this hollow. As a light germ, the covering substrate layer may be a maximum of 0.5 centimeters high.
In a warm, bright window seat, keep each mini spring pot continuously slightly moist. When the first tender roots grow through the net, plant your little ones in a large pot with tomato soil or directly outdoors from mid/late May.
Optimize garden soil with coconut soil
Clever tomato gardeners appreciate the benefits of coconut soil in the bed. Coconut fibers improve the soil structure, improve air supply and permeability to protect against waterlogging. If you mix garden soil and coconut soil in a ratio of 1:1, this foresight will be rewarded with healthy, vital tomato plants.
Balcony gardeners cultivate tomatoes in a mix of organic tomato soil and coconut soil. To ensure that the heavy feeders do not suffer from a lack of nutrients, each humus brick is fertilized with liquid vegetable fertilizer as part of the swelling process.
tips
Not only tomatoes benefit from coconut soil. Numerous popular vegetables and herbs thrive in coconut fiber substrate. Primarily varieties with a soft spot for a slightly acidic pH value between 5.5 and 6.5, such as chili, courgettes, peppers, beans, basil or parsley, show their best side in natural substrate.