These coir mats (a bi-product of coconut), have a handy slit on one side to make placement around the plants stress free, along with a hole in the middle with wee "star" cuts to allow room for perfect positioning. These mats are perfect for mass plantings, the area will be weed free while the plants establish themselves and grow. Not only are they perfect for saving time on weeding maintenance, but also great for the control of disease and mildew which can be caused by foliage sitting in the damp soil. Particularly so with tomato plants, because of their shallow roots they are often susceptible to disease if their roots are damaged while digging around and weeding and we feel that these 50x50cm mats are a perfect size for spacing and overall protection of tomatoes. We are looking forward to trying these out this season.
Hopefully there could be a side issue of preventing the cats from digging around in your freshly planted garden - fingers crossed!
Place mat smooth side down.
Use the seeds the professionals use