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Guide to Growing Tomatoes in Your Home Garden |
The average grocery store variety (which has likely been picked green and ripened away from the vine) poses no competition to the taste, texture and aroma of a vine-ripened tomato. Tomatoes are at their most succulent during June and through September.
- Seasons of growth: Tomatoes are warm season plants which require very warm temperatures in order to produce and ripen fruit.
- Frost tolerance: This plant requires warm air and soil temperatures, and should be planted after all danger of frost has passed. Tomatoes have no tolerance for frost.
- Plant Height: 1-10 feet tall
- Plant Width: 1-4 feet wide
Planting Tomatoes
- Plant Spacing: Place seeds 18 inches apart and transplants 2 feet apart in the row. Rows should be 2-3 feet from one another.
- Germination Requirements: Ideal temperatures for germination are 70-80°F; seeds generally germinate in 5-10 days.
- Best establishment method: Tomato plants can be established using either seed or transplant. Direct seeding in the garden should only be used in areas with extremely long growing seasons similar to those regions that are in USDA Hardiness Zone 9 or higher. However, the warmest segments of the season may reduce fruit set.
- The best method is to use 4-8 week old transplants that you have grown yourself or purchased from a reliable garden center.
- Move tomato transplants outdoors when they have 5-7 leaves, are between 6-10 inches tall, and are both stocky and dark green.
- If transplants are already flowering or producing fruit, they may be slow to establish or yield poorly.
- Any flowers or small fruit should be pinched off and discarded prior to planting.
- All transplants should be planted deep (up to the first true leaves) using the shallow trench method outlined here:
- To implement this method, dig a shallow trench 6-8 inches long.
- The trench should slope from the surface at one end down to 4-6 inches at the other end.
- Lay the root mass in the deep end, cover the roots with soil, and gently cover the stem until the entire trench is filled in.
- Remember to remove the lower set of leaves that would otherwise be covered by soil in the trench.
Days to Harvest: From flowering, tomatoes will reach full maturity in about 45-75 days depending on the variety. For optimum flavor and quality, remove tomatoes after they have reached full color but remain firm. Remove tomatoes as they ripen and harvest even the immature fruits (those that are green or only slightly colored) at the end of the season before a forcasted frost event occurs. Most of these will continue to ripen when stored in a dark, cool area such as a basement.
Cultivation and Harvest
Water Requirements: Tomatoes require deep, infrequent watering of about 1 inch weekly and increasing to 2-4 inches per week later in the season. Irrigate so that water sinks deep into the soil, but be careful not to overwater. Blossom-end rot, which causes a dark, leathery spot on the fruit, can be caused by both over or under-watering. In addition, overwatering when fruit are ripening will lead to cracked, or split, tomatoes.
Fertilization Requirements and Recommendations: Heavy fertilizing may cause delayed flowering and should be avoided. An initial 6 inches of compost worked into the soil prior to planting will suffice for the first 6 weeks of growth. At 6 and 8 weeks after transplanting, side-dress each plant with ½ tablespoon of nitrogen-based fertilizer, such as ammonium sulfate (21-0-0).
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Tomatoes Plant |
Troubleshooting
Diseases and control: Tomatoes may suffer from leaf blights or spots, various wilt diseases, viruses and fruit disorders such as blossom-end rot, cat-facing or sunscald. Dark spots on the stems, leaves or fruit may indicate leaf blights, a disease which can cause excessive damage to foliage, overexposing fruits to the sun.
Insects and control: Aphids, flea beetles, hornworms, whiteflies, spider mites, and fruit worms are the common enemies of the tomato plant and its fruit. Dislodge aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites with a strong stream of water and treat with insecticidal soaps or properly labeled insecticides. Control flea beetles with organic or chemical insecticides. Worms should be removed by hand and further treated with the appropriate insecticides like Sevin or biological measures.
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