Xylem & Phloem

4. Sooth your aching feet AND grow big ole tomatoes with Epsom salts! A cheap home remedy for growing great tomatoes is applying Epsom salts, or magnesium sulfate. According to Charlie Nardozzi, magnesium is critical for seed germination and the production of chlorophyll, fruit, and nuts. It also helps to strengthen cell walls and improve a plant's uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Sulfur, a key element in plant growth, is critical to production of vitamins, amino acids (therefore protein), and enzymes. Treat your tomatoes to a soothing Epsom salts experience by working 1 cup into the soil at planting, or spraying on a foliar feed - 1 tbs Epsom salts disolved in one gallon of water - at bloom time and again 10 days later.

5. Give leggy seedlings a chance. If the seedlings you raised indoors or purchased from a nursery look "leggy" (long spaces between branches), don't toss them aside. Tomato plants root readily all along their stems. This lets you plant them like you were burying someone in the sand at the beach, all the way up to the plant's first leaves.

Looking for more tomato growing tips? Check out these resources:

http://www.tomatogardeningtips.com/

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/package/0,20869,1057660,00.html

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2005-04-01/Grow-Great-tasting-Tomatoes.aspx