Tomatoes

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Spring is finally here. The first plants I plant immediately after frost risk are the lovely tomatoes! Nothing beats a home-grown tomato! The sooner we plant the tomato plants, the sooner we can enjoy the delicious red fruits of our labor. 

A few things to note about tomatoes:

There are many types of tomatoes including the huge beefsteak type slicers, smaller salad type slicers, grape, and cherry tomatoes. There are also varieties that are best for cooking/processing into pastes and sauces. There are also different colors like yellow, orange, purple, pink and green. Choose the variety to match how you want to enjoy your tomatoes. I personally like to grow a mix. Some for slicing onto salads and sandwiches, some for cooking into delicious tomato soup and marinara sauce. I also always grow at least one cherry tomato so I can eat them by the handful when I am out doing garden chores. 

A big thing to pay attention to on the tag when you purchase your tomatoes is whether it is determinate or indeterminate. Determinate means that the plant will grow to a certain size, then stop. It will usually flower and fruit all at once. So you get a large crop of tomatoes then it’s done. Indeterminate plants are larger vines that keep growing, flowering, and fruiting the whole season. These will give you a continuous supply of fewer tomatoes. While they will continue to set fruit, it does slow down a little bit after the initial fruit set. Determinate varieties are better for small space and container gardens. Indeterminate varieties can get very large. There are also a few varieties of semi-determinate tomatoes. These grow like indeterminates, but stay small, usually 3-4 feet. They can be great candidates for small space and container gardens. Again, think about how you want to use your tomatoes. If you want to make big batches of sauce and soup, determinants will help make sure you have enough tomatoes all at once. If you want to add fresh sliced tomatoes to your summer salads all season long, indeterminates are the way to go. 

The other thing to look for on the tags when choosing a variety is the days to maturity. This will let you know how many days (on average) it will take this variety to flower, fruit, and for that fruit to ripen. Early varieties are usually around 65 days, while later varieties can get up into the 80- and 90-day range. This is important for a few reasons. If you have a short growing season, you will want to stick to earlier varieties and not risk your plants freezing to death while they still have green fruit. If you have a long growing season, you can pick out a variety of early and late season plants to have a continuous supply of tomatoes all season.

Now on to growing instructions:

Climate
Tomatoes are annuals, so no need to worry about your harsh winters for this plant. They will be dead after the first frost. You may still want to pick out a variety that suits your local climates. There are so many varieties of tomatoes, and many of them have been bred for certain environmental conditions. If you live in a cool, cloudy environment on the coast in the Pacific Northwest, check out the varieties that tout good performance in cooler weather and fog. Russian breeding is often good for colder climates. On the other end, if you live in a hot and humid area, varieties bred for the American South will do better for you. 

Sun
Full sun. Full stop. Tomatoes love sun. Give them as much as you can. 

Soil
Tomatoes are fast growers and produce a lot of fruit, they therefore need a good amount of nutrients. They prefer rich soil that drains well. I like to prepare my tomato beds by mixing in a nice compost prior to planting. 

Fertilizer
It’s not a bad idea to work a good slow release veggie fertilizer into your soil when doing a tomato planting. I also like to make sure there is enough calcium and magnesium in the soil. There are mixes with both of these minerals in them. You can also use Epsom salts and gypsum. As mentioned above, tomatoes are heavy feeders. These minerals are important for fruit quality in your tomatoes. Be careful if your tomatoes are planted in pots, you don’t want too much fertilizer. Follow the instructions carefully for your container size. I also like to apply some foliar feed as soon as I start to see flowers. I prefer a good seaweed/fish emulsion mix, but the smell of these can be terrible. Any gentle foliar feed will help give that nitrogen boost prior to fruit set. 

Water
Tomatoes prefer a deep drying down followed by a good saturation. Water slowly so as not to flood the top layer. It’s best to give the water time to soak in. Then don’t water again until the top few inches of soil is really dry. The tricky part about watering tomatoes is that the plants themselves will happily soak up all the water you give them. But if you’re not careful you will start to see problems with the fruit. Both too much and too little water can lead to dreaded blossom end rot -- a deep brown and leather blemish on the bottom end of your fruit. It is a calcium deficiency, and while it is caused by lack of the mineral in the soil, it can also be caused by both too little and too much water despite adequate amounts in the ground.

Pests & Diseases
Tomatoes can get a lot of insect pests. 

Tomato Horn Worms cause defoliation of your plant. They are enormous green caterpillars and are usually out at night. You can go out with a flashlight and simply pick them off. Or you can use a BT based pesticide. As always, read instructions on any pesticide carefully.

Whitefly are tiny white flies that are particularly attracted to tomatoes and can be taken care of with a simple insecticidal soap. The insecticidal soap will also help with any aphids, which can also be common.

Thrips are another problem. They are itty bitty, you almost can’t see them with the naked eye. These hang out inside the flowers. They can cause foliage problems, unsightly blotches on your fruits, and worst of all spread viral disease. Use an insecticidal soap for these terrible little critters as well.

There are also plenty of tomato diseases to watch out for including things like Tobacco Mosaic Virus, late blight, bacterial spots, and tomato spotted wilt virus. All these things are difficult (or impossible) to treat if they get a foothold, so your best bet is prevention. Try not to get leaves wet when irrigating, keep weeds away from plants, and keep pests under control.

Maintenance
If you are growing indeterminate tomatoes, I highly recommend a tomato cage. Some plants can get 8 to 10 feet tall, with most being about 6 feet. Tomato vines need support and a sturdy tomato cage will be your best friend. While the plants are young, check them once or twice a week and tuck the growing vines back into the tomato cage. The vines can be a little brittle, so once they start to get out of control you won’t be able to wrestle them back into place. 

I know it’s hard to wait for 65+ days to enjoy the fruits of your gardening efforts atop salads and sandwiches. The flavor just can’t be replicated from a store-bought tomato. The reward of a well grown tomato is totally worth the effort.