Misty Gardens

05/03/2026

04/24/2026

Look what's coming....

04/22/2026

Who else is loving all this sunshine?

04/18/2026

Opening day is just 2 weeks away!

03/24/2026

Coming in May - Misty Gardens will have a cure for you! Planting season is right around the corner.

03/20/2026

Gardening season is right around the corner. Yeah!

03/18/2026

Hot peppers at Misty Gardens for the spicy folks!

03/17/2026

We will have sweet pepper again this season. Opening May 2nd.

03/14/2026

Bury two-thirds of your tomato seedling underground. Every inch of buried stem becomes roots.

Most gardeners plant tomatoes at the same depth they came in the pot. That leaves the root system shallow, drought-vulnerable, and dependent on surface watering that splashes the foliage and invites fungal problems.

A tomato planted deep — with only the top set of leaves above ground — develops adventitious roots along the entire buried stem. More roots means better water access, stronger anchoring, and earlier fruit. The plant you thought was leggy becomes the strongest one in the bed.

Pair that with a wicking tube and you skip surface watering entirely.

🌱 The deep planting method:

- Dig a hole one to two feet deep — far deeper than a standard planting hole
- Mix compost into the bottom so nutrients sit right where roots will reach
- Add crushed eggshells at the bottom of the hole for calcium — calcium deficiency at the root zone is the main driver of blossom end rot
- Strip the lower leaves from the seedling. Lower the plant into the hole and bury two-thirds of the stem. Only the top cluster of leaves stays above ground
- Backfill with a soil and compost mix

🌱 The wicking tube:

- Place a two-liter bottle or short PVC pipe with small holes drilled in the sides upright next to the plant before backfilling. The top of the tube sits at or just above soil level
- All future watering goes down the tube directly into the root zone — bypasses surface evaporation entirely
- Foliage stays dry because water never touches the leaves. Dry leaves mean far fewer fungal problems through the season
- One tube per plant. Fill it slowly and let it seep

🌱 After planting:

- Cover surrounding soil with two to three inches of straw mulch — holds moisture, suppresses weeds, keeps soil temperature stable
- Water thoroughly through the tube on day one
- Within the first two weeks the buried stem develops roots along its entire length. By week three to four, above-ground growth accelerates noticeably as the expanded root system kicks in
- These plants are measurably more drought-resistant than surface-planted tomatoes — the deep roots access moisture that shallow roots can't reach

Deeper roots. Drier leaves. Earlier fruit. Same plant, different hole 🍅

03/14/2026

Misty Gardens will have tomato plants available again this year.