DIY Network

Planting Pointers Planting Pointers From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-212

Now that the trellises are built, it's time for Joe to begin planting the Malabar spinach (figure A) and tomatillos (figure B). He plants a red and a white variety of Malabar spinach in separate halves of a bed so he can see whether they grow at the same speed or not. Next, he prepares another bed with soil amendments and fertilizer so it's ready for the different variety of tomatillo seedlings that he's going to plant. He adds some stakes to the garden to help support the young seedlings, and then he fertilizes and adds mulch to both the Malabar spinach and the tomatillo plants.

Figure A

Figure B

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Malabar Spinach

	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F

Malabar spinach goes by several names, such as vine spinach and Ceylon spinach, but whatever you call it, it grows extremely fast. A few of these plants can keep a family supplied all summer long. If you have a large space, you can plant the red variety (basella rubra) in half of the bed and the white variety (basella alba) in the other half. It will be interesting to see whether they grow at the same speed.

Malabar spinach is not very picky about the fertility and nutrient levels of the soil it grows in, but like all vegetables, it does better in loose, rich soil (figure C). Once the fertilizer is mixed in, plant a few seeds in front of each trellis side (you can always thin them later).

Within a few weeks the trellis will be covered with spinach vines, but until the plants get going, you should take extra care of them. Even though it's probably not needed with this vegetable, it's a good habit to start all new seedlings with a half-strength mixture of liquid fertilizer. The reason is that plant roots absorb nutrients through small -- almost microscopic -- tendrils called root hairs. A lot of times if you transplant seedlings, these get knocked off or broken. Liquid fertilizer can be absorbed through the leaves to nourish the plant while the root hairs regrow.

Pour fertilizer over the seedlings, making sure to wet all of the leaves (figure D). You can do this every two weeks, with regular watering daily between doses. It's better to do this in the morning: leaves that are wet overnight are more likely to get diseased. If the ground in the bed is still dry after you apply the fertilizer, water the surrounding dirt -- just don't wash the fertilizer off of the leaves or it won't work as well.

To finish off the bed, add a thin layer of wheat-straw mulch (figure E) to hold in the moisture and to help prevent weeds (figure F). When you add mulch to the bed, make sure it's moist, otherwise it could wick all the water away from your new seedlings, making them dry out and stress very quickly.

Tomatillos

Tomatillos, or husk tomatoes, are well-known in the southwestern U. S., but many of us haven't tried growing them in our home gardens. A member of the tomato family, it grows under the same conditions: lots of sun, plenty of nutrients and a little support. Tomatillos grow as annuals anywhere you can grow tomatoes (zones 4-7); they are year-round growers in tropical climates (zones 8-12).

Figure G

Since tomatillos, like tomatoes, need a lot of food and loose soil, add several bags of composted manure to your planting bed (figure G). If you're on a crop-rotation plan, don't plant tomatillos where you've grown tomatoes: they get the same pests, and moving plants around makes it harder for those pests to find your crop.

There are several varieties of tomatillo that you may want to consider for your garden:

Figure H

• Toma Verde (figure H) is the traditional variety used for salsas and Southwestern cooking. The fruit is interesting because it can have a savory flavor when combined with salty food or a sweet flavor when mixed with sugar for pies or jellies. These plants take about a hundred days to mature, but that time should be a little shorter if you plant seedlings.

Figure I

• Another variety, Mexican strain (figure I), has larger fruit and a more savory flavor than the other tomatillos. As its name suggests, it is used in true Mexican foods and with chili verde, a green chile sauce. This tomatillo grows quickly and should be ready to harvest in about two months. When it's ripe, the fruit will fall to the ground. You'll know that harvest time is close when the husks start to split.

Figure J

• A purple variety is also available (figure J). This plant will produce deep-purple tomatillos with tannish-purple husks. It has a tangy flavor and makes an unusual purple salsa. This variety goes from seed to harvest in about 70 days. One thing to remember about growing times is that they're based on averages, so the plant could take more or less time to grow in your garden.

Figure K

• Pineapple tomatillo (figure K) is unusual because of its sweet flavor and bright-yellow color. It takes about the same amount of time -- 75 days -- as the others to mature. It makes a sweeter, fruitier salsa than the other varieties and can be used in marmalades and jams. This plant doesn't get as large as the others, but it produces abundantly.

Like tomatoes, these plants need some support to be at their best (figure L). You could let them trail over the ground, but you'd run a greater risk of diseases' hurting your plants. Besides, staked and trellised plants are usually more productive.

When you support smaller plants, you can use a single stake next to the stem with a stocking or garden tape holding the stem to the stake. For larger plants, use two or three stakes around the outside of the plant (figure M), connected with string to form a cage (figure N). You also want to keep the main stem supported: if it bends or breaks, it will cut off the flow of nutrients from the roots out to the leaves and tomatillos.

Figure L

Figure M

Figure N

Tomatillos need a lot of water if they're going to be very productive. Dusk is a good time to water with a soaker hose, because it waters the plants all night and allows them to perk up before a long day in the sun. Just don't get the leaves wet at night: that leads to fungus problems. Even more than the Malabar spinach, tomatillos benefit from liquid fertilizer; that's why Joe gives it to them at this stage. In a few weeks he should see the first fruit.

To protect the plants from diseases in the soil, cover the tomatillo beds with a layer of mulch, adding more when the plants get larger. You could use pine straw or hardwood mulch for these plants, whatever you have on hand.