Terriffic Tomatoes

Terrific Tomatoes

If you’re the competitive tomato gardening type, it’s never too early to be thinking about growing the earliest and sweetest tomatoes on your block. Unfortunately, growing great tomatoes doesn’t just happen on it’s own. Those science experiments they offer us in the grocery stores over the winter months are proof positive of that! Starting early with some time-tested tomato growing tips will ensure you the bragging rights you deserve.

Don’t overcrowd – If you are starting from seed, be sure to give your seedlings plenty of room to branch out. Grow them too close together and you’ll get puny plants. Transplant them as soon as they get their first true leaves and then move them into 4” pots in about two weeks.

Throw some light on the subject – Your seedlings will need either direct sunlight or 14 to 18 hours under grow lights. Place the young plants only a couple of inches from your grow lights. Plant your tomatoes outside in the sunniest part of your vegetable garden.

Fan the flames – Tomato plants need to move and sway in the breeze in order to develop good, strong stems. Turn a fan on them for 5 to 10 minutes a day to provide them with a breeze.

Preheat your soil – Tomatoes LOVE heat! Cover your planting area with garden plastic a couple of weeks before you intend to plant. This week, you could likely get away with a few days since it’s going to be gloriously warm! That extra heat will translate into earlier tomatoes.

REALLY plant them – Bury your tomatoes deeper than they than they were in the pot, clear up to several of the top leaves. Tomato plants have the amazing ability to develop roots all along their stems, making for a strong root system. Dig your holes deeper.

Plant today, mulch later – Lay out your mulch after the ground has had a chance to warm up. Mulching conserves water and prevents the soil and soil borne diseases from splashing up on the plants, but if you lay it on too early it will also shade and cool the soil. Try using plastic mulch for heat lovers like tomatoes and peppers.

Remove the leaves – Once your plants are around 3’ tall, remove the leaves from the bottom foot of the stem. This is the area that will first develop fungus issues. That area of the plant gets the least amount of sun and pathogens from the soil can be splashed onto them. Spraying once a week with compost tea or a mixture of 2 tablespoons of baking soda, a tablespoon of Ivory soap and a gallon of water seem to be effective at warding off fungus diseases.

Pinch and prune – Pinch off the suckers that develop in the crotch of two branches as they won’t bear fruit and sap vital energy away from the rest of the plant. Take care with pruning the rest of the plant. Thin out the leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but not too much. Those leaves are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that will be flavoring your tomatoes.

Water – Water regularly and deeply while the plants are developing. Irregular watering leads to blossom end rot and cracked fruits. Once your tomatoes start to ripen, watering a little less will encourage the plant into concentrating it’s sugars in the fruits. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt or get stressed, or you could lose your blossoms and possibly fruit.

Setting fruit – Determinate type tomatoes set and ripen fruit all at once, making large quantities available when you’re ready to stew, make sauce or put up salsa. Those are also the ones that will send your neighbors running when they see you coming with your shopping bag of tomatoes due to the fact that you’ve planted too many plants and are overrun. Indeterminate types, which are nice to have, can be forced into setting fruit earlier by pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer.

In Your Garden This Week…
1. Provide support for flowers that need it before they start to fall over. Pea stakes are good for sweet peas and ramblers. Use grow-thru rings for bushier plants like peonies and balloon flowers.

2. Spread a little lime or wood ashes around your delphiniums and peonies.

3. Trim your climbing roses and attach securely to fences or trellises.

4. Scatter crushed eggshells thickly around roses to deter slugs.

5. Sow annual poppies and baby’s breath in your borders for midsummer bloom by scattering them between the other plants, covering with fine soil and tamping down gently.

6. Prune suckers from fruit trees NOW before they become established.