Tips for Tomato Growers
By Art Henzgen, Master Gardener
The tomato may be among the most
universally planted of all vegetables. It is a
subtropical plant, therefore should not be planted outside until a danger of
frost has passed.
Plants should be hardened off (allowed to adapt to garden temperatures and
sunlight while still in containers) over a few days to avoid shock before
planting in the ground. Leaves near the base of the
plant should be removed, and the plant placed deeply in soil so that only three
or four inches remain above the soil. This gives the
plants a much stronger rooting system. If plants are
very tall and leggy, they can be placed horizontally in a long trough with only
the top showing above ground.
To many people's surprise, the tomato is a drought tolerant plant. Many gardeners tend to over-water it. Except
for initia, thorough watering when placing the plant
in the ground, the tomato plant will do better with minimum watering. Of course, if the plant starts to wilt, it obviously needs
watering.
Plants should produce fruit in 60 to 100 days from planting outdoors. Add another six to eight weeks when starting from seed. Size and variety of plant, location in the garden, and hot
and cold weather will effect the amount of time to harvest. When
fertilizing, use tomato or all-purpose fertilizer.
Because soil tends to retain tomato diseases such as verticillium,
fusarium wilt, and tobacco mosaic, it is most
advisable to put tomato plants in a new location or in new potting soil each
year.
Plants around
Plants will ideally be dark green as they mature. After
plants are established, if they are light green, they may be getting too much
water.
Tomato plants may be grown in the ground or in containers of five gallons or
larger. A smaller container may be used for patio
tomatoes.
If the weather gets too hot in the summer, consider shading your tomato plants.