Tomatoes are a seasonal culinary delight I dream about, like peaches, fresh corn, and just picked asparagus or a freshly dug potato. These tips will help you grow the best tomatoes on the block.
Start with dark green, stout transplants equally high and wide, preferably about 4 inches in each direction.
Plan to grow a mix of heirlooms and hybrids for a little insurance: Heirlooms are beautiful, delicious and a critical part of our genetic heritage, but sometimes they lack the disease-resistance (often labeled VFN) of hybrids. Remember that even with hybrids rated as having VFN resistance, “resistance” is the operative word. It means less-susceptible, not immune. There is no substitute for good cultural practices.
While your transplants shape up, prepare the soil: Start with a soil test, or at least a simple pH test. Tomatoes like a pH of about 6.5 (6.0-6.5 or so is fine). A high-quality finished compost is the best amendment you can add to support great tomatoes. Work in a 2-to-3-inch layer each year. An all-natural organic fertilizer that’s balanced or has a slightly higher middle number (not one high in Nitrogen) can also be incorporated.
Keep plants off the ground for best health. Staked plants will ripen faster crops of generally larger fruit. Staked plants require a commitment to ongoing pruning, keeping the plant to one or two main stems of vine-like, not bush, habit. All small suckers that develop in the crotches between the leaves and the main stem must be removed.
Caged plants are easier to care for, and may produce heavier yields (because they have more branches and stems). Another advantage: You can use them as mini-greenhouses should late or early frosts come, with clamps and reusable pieces of clear, heavy plastic cut to wrap each cage. Some expert growers always put the plastic on in the first weeks to reduce negative effects of wind on young plants.
Plant deep, at least to the level of the original seed leaves, or even to the topmost couple of pairs of leaves. Space plants at least 2 feet apart in each direction, as air circulation is another disease-preventive tactic. Caged plants need wider spacing than staked, A layer of clean straw or some other organic mulch will reduce splashing of spores and other woes from the soil onto the plants. Snip off any flower buds that set until the plant is growing strong, after it reaches a foot.
Tomatoes rely on you to team up with the heavens and provide consistent moisture. Ideal is the equivalent of an inch of water throughout the entire growing area; half again as much in the heat of summer. Remember: an inch of rain (which is what you are simulating) is a lot of rain, and takes a long time to apply. Use soaker hoses or a drip system, not the end of a hose. If you must use a sprinkler, use it in the morning, so foliage can dry by day. Don’t work in the garden while foliage is damp.
Douse each plant’s root zone with a liquid feed twice in the growing season. Some growers swear by doing this at transplant time and again when the first flowers appear; others say transplant and first fruit. Just remember to do it while they are in their run-up to adulthood and you will be fine. Powdered seaweed fertilizer or fish emulsion diluted in water according to label directions are two non-chemical possibilities.
Peg Castorani owns and operates Gateway Garden Center on Rt. 41 with her husband Steve and their fabulous staff.
