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No tomatoes taste better than the ones you grow and harvest yourself!
Tomatoes
are usually the plant in the vegetable garden that many gardeners take
the most pride in growing. Since I was young, I can remember
people bragging about who got the first tomato, or how many tomatoes
were produced from one plant, or who grew the biggest tomato.
Often, the largest classes in the vegetable, fruit, and crops section
of the county fair are tomatoes. In the Extension office we
receive more questions concerning growing tomatoes than any other
vegetable plant.
The
first step in growing tomatoes successfully is the selection of
varieties. Certainly, you should select varieties for your
taste. But consider varieties that are resistant to verticillium
and fusarium wilt. Also select tomatoes for the size of the area
in which they will be planted. If you grow tomatoes in containers,
choose midget, patio, or dwarf varieties that have compact vines. Many
of these are cherry tomato varieties. If you want tomatoes early
and want to harvest them in a short time period, especially if you plan
to can or make juice from your tomatoes, select a determinate variety
which sets fruit and then declines. Indeterminate tomato plants
continue to grow until frost or disease kills them. These are the
standard all-summer tomatoes that most people grow. They require stakes
or cages for best results.
Site
selection is very important in growing tomatoes
successfully. Tomatoes should be planted where they will receive a
minimum of eight hours of sunlight. The soil should be
well-drained. Plants should be fertilized at planting and then
fertilized again only after they have begun to set fruit. Many
gardeners, trying to obtain the largest or earliest tomato,
over-fertilize and this causes lush plant growth in lieu of fruit
productions and makes the plant susceptible to fungal diseases.
Never
spray insecticides when the tomatoes are in bloom. You have
probably heard about the shortage of honeybees, so please don’t add to
the problem by spraying insecticides while any plant is
blooming. You will certainly kill these pollinators. If you
notice a shortage of bees or other pollinators, you can use a cotton
swab and insert it into each bloom and carry pollen to another bloom as
the bees normally would. This is the only way pollination is
accomplished in greenhouse tomatoes.
A
good watering schedule is extremely important in growing quality
tomatoes. Tomato plants should be kept moist, but not
waterlogged. Water your plants two or three times each week if it
does not rain. The plants should receive the equivalent of one
inch of water per week on a regular watering schedule. This
improves fruit set and helps to prevent blossom end rot which is where
the flower end of the tomato turns black and slowly enlarges, ruining
the tomato. This is not a disease, but a calcium deficiency
related to uneven availability of water. Prevent this by watering
at regular intervals so the plants can take up the calcium in the soil.
If
you have questions about growing tomatoes or other horticulture topics,
contact the Loudoun County Master Gardener Volunteers at 703-771-5150
or ex107mg@vt.edu, or stop by and visit them in their Help Desk Office
operated from 9 am to noon, weekdays in the Extension Office, 30-B
Catoctin Circle SE (Wachovia Bank Building), Leesburg.
Debbie D. Dillion
Urban Horticulturist
Loudoun Cooperative Extension |
