If summer had a taste, if you could hold summer in your hand and bite into it, it would have to taste like a sun-ripened tomato. Nothing says summer like a tomato sandwich. Among my favorite summer treats is a sun-warm tomato sliced with salt and garlic powder or chopped and mixed with Italian dressing.
Tomatoes are one of the favorite vegetables grown in gardens across America. Unfortunately, they are not the easiest. This is not to say that a beginner can't have great success growing tomatoes. You might get lucky and things go great, but for those of us who are not among the lucky few, here are a few tips for a bountiful crop.
First, you need to know what kind of tomatoes you want — and there is a bevy to choose from. But in particular, you should pay attention to whether the tomato is determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes will produce a large amount of plants in a short period of time, which is ideal if you plan to can. If you would prefer that your tomatoes produce over a longer period of time, then indeterminate is right for you.
When planting tomatoes, pinch off all but the top three or four stems and bury the plant sideways, so that most of it is covered with soil. Be sure to mix in some slow release fertilizer before covering the roots. All along the buried root, the tomato will develop roots, which will help to create a vigorous, sturdy plant.
After planting, feed with some nitrogen fertilizer (34-0-0). This will give the plant a beautiful green color and stimulate growth. Do not feed with nitrogen again after the initial feeding, as it will take away from the fruit by further stimulating green growth.
If the plant has any blooms on it when planting, be sure to pinch these off. You want your new plant to focus on its roots and greenery so that it can later give you an abundant crop. While it is tempting to let those flowers go for some early tomatoes, it would be a disservice to your plant. You will be rewarded in the future with healthier plants. Blooms should be pinched for the first two weeks or so after planting.
It is also a good idea to mulch your tomato plants to keep moisture in and weeds down. Clemson University studies have shown that red plastic mulch will not only keep down weeds, but the red color will stimulate the plants to produce more tomatoes. Crazy, I know, but they say it works. If you choose to use an organic mulch, I would recommend using a pre-emergent herbicide such as Preen first. This will save you hours of weeding later in the summer.
There are a number of pests and diseases to deal with when it comes to tomatoes. Most pests can be dealt with by a regular treatment of Sevin dust. One of the most devastating diseases, and unfortunately common, is blossom end rot. This is caused by a lack of calcium in the soil. Once your tomatoes get this, it is difficult to treat, so prevention is definitely preferable. Simply mixing gypsum into the soil will help to boost the calcium level in your garden. But if we have heavy rains, this will wash the calcium from the soil. If plants do develop this disease, they can be treated with blossom end rot spray.
You will of course need to provide some support for your tomatoes, and there are a variety of options available. There are various types of cages or tomatoes can be staked individually. Another option is to place a stake at each end of the row and run several pieces of string or rope across at various levels.
If you would like to produce larger tomatoes, you will need to pinch suckers on a regular basis. Suckers are the shoots that pop out between the stem and a main branch.
Laura Stokes is a Master Gardener and author of "The Southern Wildlife Garden." She can be reached at Laura firstname.lastname@example.org.
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