Tips for terrific tomatoes

Home > Learning Center > Tips for terrific tomatoes

Tips for terrific tomatoes

Tomatoes are grown by more gardeners than any other plant. Anyone who has compared the flavor of a good home-grown tomato to most store-bought ones knows why.
Growing tomatoes is not difficult, but they are vulnerable to several diseases — and cool, moist summers west of the Cascades and in coastal northern California can pose special challenges. Yet, savvy growers in Seattle get ripe tomatoes even in the coolest, wettest summers! Here are some tricks to growing healthy, tasty tomatoes wherever you garden.

Grow appropriate varieties. Gardeners in areas with cool or short summers are most likely to succeed growing extra-early varieties, like those recommended on page 3. If you know that the diseases verticillium or fusarium are a problem in your garden, look for varieties with the letter "V" or "F" after the name—they are bred to resist the. If you're not sure, ask experienced growers or a local nursery for advice.

Don't plant tomatoes in the same place they grew last year—or the year before. Some garden lore says tomatoes like to grow in the same place year after year. But to prevent diseases, tomatoes and other members of the Solanum family (potatoes, peppers, eggplants) should not be planted in the same place more often than once every 4 years.

Keep ‘em covered. Tomatoes will not set fruit until temperatures stay above 55F at night. Cool (under 70F), moist conditions also encourage late blight, which can quickly wipe out a crop. Tomatoes should be grown indoors, in a greenhouse or under a row tunnel until conditions are right. West of the Cascades it is wise to keep row covers in place all summer so plants can be covered if cool, wet weather returns.

Hold the nitrogen. Too much nitrogen produces lots of foliage but little fruit. For abundant fruit, fertilize at planting time with a phosphorous rich, moderate nitrogen fertilizer like Whitney Farms Flower and Fruit Booster. If the soil was enriched with a lot of compost, use Whitney Farms Bone Meal.

Easy on the water, too. Too much water discourages fruiting and makes tomatoes taste watery. For flavorful fruit, let fruiting plants dry out as much as possible without stressing them to the point of wilting and dying. Cut off water completely near the end of the growing season—green fruit already on the plant will ripen.

Tomatoes are best watered with drip irrigation or soaker hoses. Wet foliage creates ideal conditions for Late Blight. For a simple drip system, next to each plant bury a 1-gallon plastic milk jug or coffee can with the tops cut off and a few nail holes poked around the base. Fill the jug or can with water for a deep watering once a week or two.
Mulch with mesh weed barrier or black plastic to keep the soil warm and prevent soil-born diseases from splashing onto leaves.

Got Milk? Tomatoes need lots of calcium. In areas with acidic soil, tomatoes are a good crop to lime. Magnesium is also important for healthy tomatoes, so Whitney Farms Dolomitic Lime is a good choice. In areas with alkaline soil, Whitney Farms Gypsum can be used to add calcium without raising the pH, and Whitney Farms Epsom Salts can be used to supply magnesium if needed.

Grow up! Training tomatoes onto stakes, trellises, or "cages" exposes leaves to air and light which help prevent diseases and ripen the fruit. In warm, dry climates tomatoes can be trained onto cages made with rings of 2-3' wide reinforcing mesh or heavy hardware cloth. (A 10' length makes a 3' circle). The wire tomato cages sold in stores are too small for the job.

In cool summer areas, train a few vines from each young plant onto stakes or trellises made with bamboo poles, concrete reinforcing mesh, wood, or strings hanging from a crosspiece. Tie vines loosely to supports using cloth strips. Prune out all other branches, and on indeterminate varieties pinch out new vines that sprout in the crotches of leaves. Supports should be 3' tall for determinate varieties, and 5-6' tall for indeterminate types. Build trellises before planting to avoid damaging plants.

http://www.whitneyfarms.com/guide/articles/article_veg.shtml#tomatoes

Gifts

Tools

Tips

Home

Organic

Supplies

Accessories

Indoor

Japanese

Gloves

Where to buy

Contact Us

Links & Resources

Site Map

Gardening supplies | Gardening tools | Learning Center | Site Map | Links | Contact | Home

Copyright © 2008

Tomatoes are grown by more gardeners than any other plant. Anyone who has compared the flavor of a good home-grown tomato to most store-bought ones knows why.
Growing tomatoes is not difficult, but they are vulnerable to several diseases — and cool, moist summers west of the Cascades and in coastal northern California can pose special challenges. Yet, savvy growers in Seattle get ripe tomatoes even in the coolest, wettest summers! Here are some tricks to growing healthy, tasty tomatoes wherever you garden.

Grow appropriate varieties. Gardeners in areas with cool or short summers are most likely to succeed growing extra-early varieties, like those recommended on page 3. If you know that the diseases verticillium or fusarium are a problem in your garden, look for varieties with the letter "V" or "F" after the name—they are bred to resist the. If you're not sure, ask experienced growers or a local nursery for advice.

Don't plant tomatoes in the same place they grew last year—or the year before. Some garden lore says tomatoes like to grow in the same place year after year. But to prevent diseases, tomatoes and other members of the Solanum family (potatoes, peppers, eggplants) should not be planted in the same place more often than once every 4 years.

Keep ‘em covered. Tomatoes will not set fruit until temperatures stay above 55F at night. Cool (under 70F), moist conditions also encourage late blight, which can quickly wipe out a crop. Tomatoes should be grown indoors, in a greenhouse or under a row tunnel until conditions are right. West of the Cascades it is wise to keep row covers in place all summer so plants can be covered if cool, wet weather returns.

Hold the nitrogen. Too much nitrogen produces lots of foliage but little fruit. For abundant fruit, fertilize at planting time with a phosphorous rich, moderate nitrogen fertilizer like Whitney Farms Flower and Fruit Booster. If the soil was enriched with a lot of compost, use Whitney Farms Bone Meal.

Easy on the water, too. Too much water discourages fruiting and makes tomatoes taste watery. For flavorful fruit, let fruiting plants dry out as much as possible without stressing them to the point of wilting and dying. Cut off water completely near the end of the growing season—green fruit already on the plant will ripen.

Tomatoes are best watered with drip irrigation or soaker hoses. Wet foliage creates ideal conditions for Late Blight. For a simple drip system, next to each plant bury a 1-gallon plastic milk jug or coffee can with the tops cut off and a few nail holes poked around the base. Fill the jug or can with water for a deep watering once a week or two.
Mulch with mesh weed barrier or black plastic to keep the soil warm and prevent soil-born diseases from splashing onto leaves.

Got Milk? Tomatoes need lots of calcium. In areas with acidic soil, tomatoes are a good crop to lime. Magnesium is also important for healthy tomatoes, so Whitney Farms Dolomitic Lime is a good choice. In areas with alkaline soil, Whitney Farms Gypsum can be used to add calcium without raising the pH, and Whitney Farms Epsom Salts can be used to supply magnesium if needed.

Grow up! Training tomatoes onto stakes, trellises, or "cages" exposes leaves to air and light which help prevent diseases and ripen the fruit. In warm, dry climates tomatoes can be trained onto cages made with rings of 2-3' wide reinforcing mesh or heavy hardware cloth. (A 10' length makes a 3' circle). The wire tomato cages sold in stores are too small for the job.

In cool summer areas, train a few vines from each young plant onto stakes or trellises made with bamboo poles, concrete reinforcing mesh, wood, or strings hanging from a crosspiece. Tie vines loosely to supports using cloth strips. Prune out all other branches, and on indeterminate varieties pinch out new vines that sprout in the crotches of leaves. Supports should be 3' tall for determinate varieties, and 5-6' tall for indeterminate types. Build trellises before planting to avoid damaging plants.

http://www.whitneyfarms.com/guide/articles/article_veg.shtml#tomatoes

Links & Resources

Site Map