Tomatoes

Tomatoes are members of the nightshade plant family (also: Tobacco, Belladonna, Eggplant, and Potatoes) and are native to the Americas. They’re a vine plant that, with proper support and pruning, can grow into a tall bush. Tomatoes have a strong place on the American table and are prominent in most people’s diets in various forms.

I’m growing three varieties of hybrid tomato in 2009. Last year I also grew the Roma variety, but didn’t have good experiences with them (in part due to my own mistakes in bed preparation and planting time.

Varieties I’ve Grown

  • Roma – The standard in paste tomatoes. I use them on salads too because I like their more solid and meaty build.
  • Hybrid: Big Momma – Larger version of the Roma, for sauces and pastes.
  • Hybrid: Big Boy – Beefsteak variety, for sandwiches/salad/burgers/etc.
  • Sweet 100’s – Cherry tomatoes with an exceptionally sweet taste. Perfect right off the vine. (Resistant to Verticillium wilt and Nematodes). Very hardy, self-seeding volunteers likely.
  • Black Krim – My first true “heirloom” variety!

Care and Chores

The varieties I’m growing this year have a very long growing season (80 days). That means I need to get them started and in the ground as soon as possible. I planted all three varieties on 23Jan09, and had sprouts a week later.

Overwatering is bad for tomatoes. Like any fruiting plant, they’re prone to blossom-end rot (which has a variety of causes, among which include poor drainage and mineral deficiencies). Our clay soil has a deficiency in minerals, particularly calcium — I’ve rectified this in the past with lime and gypsum, which helped correct the blossom end rot.

Tomatoes need support or the vines will grow along the ground, overgrowing other plants and potentially exposing the plant to diseases and insects that modern cultivars are poorly equipped to handle. This can be provided by a cage or by tying the branches to a trellis. I’ll be using the chicken wire of my garden enclosure and some caging to support them.

For maximum size fruit production, pruning is suggested. A tomato plant is basically a sugar factory. It uses energy from the sun and soil to grow, and anything extra left over gets put into fruit. If you allow the plant to grow in every which way, it’s wasting energy and materials that could go into the fruit. For that reason, keeping a tight handle on the plant’s development is a good idea. This means a single stem (with most varieties), discouraging/removing excess growth at the top, and then cropping all of the “branches” below the first flowers.

There’s a few pruning strategies that can be used, but my favorite is the “Missouri” pruning; remove the last 4 leaves on each branch and prune suckers unless the branch is showing signs of disease; in which case you should prune the main branch and allow the sucker to grow out so that the plant receives the full benefit of the branch. I try and prune as little as possible while still keeping the plant in the shape and size I want it.

Pruning resources:

Diseases and parasites are a big problem, and hybrids are designed to be resistant to most of them. Check information about the variety you’re growing to see what you have to look out for. The good news is that there are good organic alternatives for most varieties to control diseases and pests.

Other Links / Web Resources

Books