Growing Tomatoes

No homegrown vegetable tastes more delicious or is grown by more gardeners in the US than the tomato. Although technically a fruit, Lycopersicon spp, is an essential part of the summer vegetable garden.

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed (65° F or 18° C to germinate). But most nurseries provide a wonderful variety in early spring. Unless you want to grow a rare heirloom variety, nursery grown plants are your best bet if you want to spare yourself time and trouble.

A few weeks before you are set to plant (check the last frost date for your area at U.S. Climate Normals) cover the planting area with plastic. Tomatoes love heat and the warmer soil will mean earlier tomatoes. Plant tomatoes approximately 2 to 3 feet apart from each other and bury the tomato plants deeper than they come in the pot, all the way up to a few top leaves. Tomatoes are able to develop roots all along their stems and planting them deeper means they will develop a strong and vigorous root system.

Mulch your plants after the ground has had a chance to warm up. Mulching does conserve water and prevents the soil and soil born diseases from splashing up on the plants, but if you put it down too early it will also shade and therefore cool the soil.

Once tomatoes are in the ground, uniform watering is the key to nice fruit. A good rule of thumb is about ½ inch per week during the dry season. Even watering can prevent leaf-end roll, blossom end-rot and “cat-facing”, those misshapen crags and cracks on the stem end of the fruit. Once the fruit begins to ripen, lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars.

Staking keeps the plant and the fruit off the ground and ensures the plant receives better air circulation around their leaves and fruits, which generally lessens disease. Place the stake 3 to 4 inches from the base of the plant on the side away from the first bloom cluster to prevent trapping the fruit between the plant and the stake. Tie the stem to the stake every 12 to 18 inches over the summer as the plant grows.

Pinch and remove side shoots or “suckers” that develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. Another favorite tip of tomatoes growing veterans is to remove the stems below the first flower cluster. This helps prevent fungal disease, one of the biggest threats to healthy tomatoes. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it’s the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes.

Tomatoes should be harvested when they are fully ripened and just starting to soften. Once picked, store tomatoes in dark, warm conditions. DO NOT EVER REFRIGERATE TOMATOES!

Try growing tomatoes this year and you’ll never go back to their store bought counterparts again during the summer season!

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