A guide for growing tomatoes.
Determinate vs Indeterminate: Determinate tomatoes grow to a specific size, then sets all its fruit, which all matures at the same time. Theses are typically Roma tomatoes, and commercial varieties like Celebrity. Most of the popular tomatoes for home gardeners are indeterminate, which means that they grow and continue to set fruit as long as they live.
The best producers are indeterminates. Cherry tomatoes will grow 10 ft tall. Giant Beefsteaks will be shorter.
Staking: Tomatoes are trained to a single vine that is staked on a long pole. The pole traditionally is an 8 ft furring strip (1x2). This is driven a foot into a ground. More recently, I've been using 1/2" electrical conduit, which is solid, easy to handle and drive, reusable. I've cut it into 5 foot lengths for the base an an additional 2.5 foot length for the top, joined by a simple coupler.
This means that the plants are not bushy but you can plant several of them closely together.
Fertilizer: Use a garden fertilizer that gives phosphorous and potassium, rather than a lot of nitrogen. A typical vegetable fertilizer is 10-13-11, or 4-5-5
- Begin by incorporating an organic fertilizer such as alfalfa into the garden bed in late fall when you are putting the beds away for the winter. Fertilize again in May when they are just starting the transplants.
- After you begin to see flower and fruit production, top dress with additional fertilizer to keep them producing.
- I found that adding a weekly liquid soluble fertilizer in a weekly drench was very effective. I used a kelp/fish emulsion fertilizer mixed with water, and gave each plant 16 oz. Miracle Gro also has a LiquaFeed Tomato-Fruit-Vegetable (9-4-9) plant food that I mix with kelp micronutrients.
Pruning: The lower leaves must not touch the ground. Leaves close to the ground
can transport disease up to the lower parts of the plant, and from there
upward. Removing lower leaves can promote air circulation among the
plants, reducing the moisture that facilitates disease growth. The commercial recommendation is to remove all lower leaves up to the first fruit set. Alternatively, prune leaves from the lower 8-10" of the vine.
Single stem pruning will increase airflow, reduce diseases. It will tell the plant to focus energy upwards rather than laterally, decreasing the shading of internal leaves.
Remove all suckers growing out of lateral leaf nodes. Remove leaves growing in deep shade, that might be growing into the interior of the bed or shaded by nearby plants. These shaded leaves are susceptible to blight, aren't contributing much energy to the plant, and are restricting air flow.
Harvest: Harvest early and harvest often. Don't leave fully ripe tomatoes on the vine. Pick the fruits when there are still orange areas on a red tomato. Allowing the tomatoes to go to complete ripeness signals the plant the fruit production was successful and it will slow down flowering.
Blight: All tomatoes are prone to disease. A typical tomato planted in April/May will usually develop a debilitating case of "blight" by August and may die if the infestation is too bad. Properly handled, that same tomato can continue in production through October.
Blight is a fungus. Those mold spores need moisture to proliferate. The key is keeping the leaves dry. This is accomplished in three ways:
- Water the root zone only, and do not water the leaves.
- Remove the leaves from the lower 8" to 10" of the mature vine, so that mold spores in the soil do not have easy access to the leaves.
- Maintain air circulation throughout the plant. Prune back suckers that inhibit air flow, and train the plant to a single leader that is extended up a pole. Prune leaves that are growing in shade, interior leaves, leaves crossed by other leaves.
In addition to the planting structure:
Spray regularly with a baking soda solution. In 1 Gal water, add 2 Tbsp baking soda, 3 Tbsp vegetable oil, 3 drops of dish soap to emulsify. Shake well. Apply with a spray bottle. Once every two weeks.
Planting Calendar
Tomatoes are planted into the garden in May, on or before Memorial Day weekend. Having said that, it can be useful to stagger your planting so that not all of your plants are at exactly the same stage. Later transplants are certainly viable, but run into hot temperatures in July and become senescent just about the time they reach full production.
So if May is the pivotal month, our timeline extends in both directions from there. Tomatoes in my propagator sprout in 10 to 14 days. They can grow for 2-3 weeks until they are ready to be potted. They grow out in pots for 1 week and harden off for 1 week with some flexibility built in here. That gives 6-8 weeks from first seeding to transplant into the garden.
March 15, seed in the propagator
March 28- 30th: sprouts and seedlings will emerge.
April 1st to 20th: Grow in propagator.
April 21st to 28th: Transplant into pots under lights, indoors.
April 28- May 6th: Begin hardening off process, setting outside for increasing daylight hours
May 7 -14th: Transplant into the garden.
May 15 - 21st: Grow in garden to overcome transplant shock and get established.
May 28 - June 1st: Stakes established. Single leader chosen. Organic fertilizer as a side dressing. Add compost to hill the main stem.
June 7th: Spray with baking soda. Prune suckers from indeterminates. Tie up leader. These last two, you will do every week.
June 14th: Liquid fertilizer in the root zones. Prune and Tie. Begin harvest.
June 21st: Prune suckers from indeterminates. Spray with baking soda. Prune, Tie, Harvest.
June 28th: Organic fertilizer as a side dressing. Prune, Tie, Harvest.
July 1st: Spray with baking soda. Prune, Tie, Harvest
