ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604090032
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL WILLS Knight-Ridder Newspapers
For many who home-grow their vegetables, the centerpiece of a new spring garden will be the Japanese Tomato Ring.
The ring works by providing perfect growing conditions for tomatoes, parceling out nutrients and moisture steadily, and the plants are never stunted or stressed.
Since growing your own vegetables is not an exact science, gardeners may wish to adapt the construction plan for their particular experience and locality.
However, the ring should be at least 5 feet in diameter, and the mulch layers should total at least a foot in thickness, plus a top layer as a cap, to provide moisture for a week without supplementary watering.
Only four tomato plants should be grown around a 5-foot diameter ring. They should be the vining, or indeterminate, type that keeps growing and producing until hot weather arrives. Any garden supply store should have several varieties of this kind.
However, avoid determinate or patio types of plants, which make one crop and quit, for they can't make full use of the ring's abilities.
In hot weather, slicing sized tomatoes can't set fruit because the heat kills the pollen.
But the little cherry tomatoes usually can continue setting a fair amount of fruit in the summer and even more in the fall. One plant of this type among the four around the ring often provides fresh tomatoes until stopped by the autumn cold.
In the South, a gardener may expect the Japanese Tomato Ring to produce 100 pounds or more of fruit, sometimes much more.
Incidentally, the ring has nothing to do with Japan; it was invented by a Columbia, S.C., postmaster after World War II. Its name came about inadvertently in 1961 when the late Eddie Jones, a Miami newspaperman, misunderstood his postmaster friend as he told war stories while showing off his garden, and thought it originated in Japan.
The reporter later built the ring himself to show retirees how they might stretch a limited income by growing some of their own food.
After the ring is built and the plants are in place, about the only remaining work is staking the vines or training them on the ring's fence, and guarding against the fruit worm and other insects. And, of course, picking the ripe tomatoes.
Spraying with Bacillus thuringiensis (BT), sold under such trade names as Dipel and Thuricide, kills all types of caterpillars - most effectively if they're still small - without harming humans, birds, fish or any other animals.
Here's a tip: Dump one pound of 10-10-10 in five gallons of water, wait 24 hours, then pour one cup of the water around each of the tomato plants after the soil has been settled with the first watering. The phosphate in the starter water stimulates root growth and they get under the ring faster. One cupful helps other transplants, too.
X X X
(Paul Wills is a master gardener with an interest in backyard gardening. If you have a question for him, write Paul Wills, Georgia Living, the Macon Telegr X X X
(c) 1996, Knight-Ridder Newspapers. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
aph, P.O. Box 4167, Macon, Ga. 31213.)
SUPPLIES NEEDED|
Sufficient mulch (peat, rotted sawdust, hay, wheat straw, decomposing leaves, compost or similar material, in any combination) to cover a 5-foot circle 1 foot deep.
Sturdy fence wire 4 feet high and at least 16 feet long. If the coarse mesh allows the mulch to fall out, low chicken wire may be placed inside to hold it.
Three sturdy stakes or fence posts 6 feet long.
Ten pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer with micronutrients.
Two wheelbarrow loads of good soil.
Four vining tomato plants of a type recommended for your area.
INSTRUCTIONS
Clear an 8-foot circle in full sun, protected from wind if possible, and till or dig soil at least 6 inches deep.
Form wire in a circle with a 5-foot diameter and attach to posts or stakes for support.
Spread a layer of mulch at least 6 inches deep (more is better) inside the wire; then scatter five pounds of fertilizer and one wheelbarrowful of soil on top of the mulch.
Repeat the layers in the same order; mulch, fertilizer and soil.
Top with another layer of mulch, dished on top to funnel rain.
Set four tomato plants in the soil outside the circle and some 6 inches from the wire, watering them in well. Fertilize and mulch lightly; water as necessary for growth. Roots will soon grow under the mulch to reach moisture and nutrients.
Check moisture during droughts and water ring as necessary.
When tomatoes begin forming, scatter another five pounds of fertilizer and water it in.
LENGTH: Long : 111 linesby CNB