Let's Talk Tomatoes
Let’s Talk Tomatoes
A Tomato Growing Guide by Grace and Gratitude
The tomato, everybody’s favorite backyard vegetable! We all get impatient in spring, eager to settle our tomatoes into their summer homes. We watch all season as our plants swell with whimsical foliage that sways in the wind and bumblebees travel between their delicate yellow flowers that hold the promise of fruits to come. We wait while those flowers give way to stubbornly green tomatoes that get plumper each day. And finally, with bated breath, we cut into that first ripe tomato of the season and hope for the best. With so much riding on one little plant, tips and tricks are surely welcome.
Finding the Perfect Spot: Tomatoes need to be planted in a sunny spot with good drainage. Plants should get eight or more hours of sun a day. If possible, rotate crops so that tomatoes are not grown in a given spot more than once every three or four years. This prevents diseases from spreading and keeps the soil from being drained of nutrients. Growing tomatoes in containers is an option, but be sure to use a very large container. Tomatoes prefer deep root systems, and may not thrive in cramped conditions. Shoot for a bushel basket sized container if possible.
Good Soil for a Good Start: Tomatoes prefer slightly acidic soil, with a pH between 6 and 7. Add compost or fertilizer to your soil before planting tomatoes, or add a small amount of fertilizer at the base of each plant when starting. Too much initial fertilizer can shock plants, so be careful. Tomatoes like a fertilizer with an N-P-K ratio close to 1-1-1. Avoid a high first number, as too much nitrogen will cause plants to produce lots of healthy foliage but set very little fruit. A higher middle number can be beneficial – phosphorus encourages flowering, and the flowers become the fruit. It should also provide Calcium; a lack of calcium leads to blossom end rot (Organic fertilizers tend to already have enough, but synthetic fertilizers rarely do – add bonemeal or crushed eggshells when planting for extra calcium). Do not over-fertilize tomatoes! It is generally a good idea to fertilize when first planting, and then just two or three times through the season only if needed. We like Tomato Maker and Espoma, both of which are organic.
Tricks to Planting Tomatoes: It is important to let the ground warm before planting tomatoes, which is about mid April in our area. Planting tomatoes too early can cause a whole host of problems that can be avoided with just a little patience. Also remember to stake your plants early. If using cages, use the largest, sturdiest cages you can find.
Tomato plants will grow roots from their stem, so they should be planted with all but the upper cluster of leaves below the ground to promote a strong root structure. Pinch off lower leaves.
The Trench Method - Instead of digging a deep hole for your plants, you can plant them in a trench! Dig a trench a several inches deep and lay your plants down in the trench, tilting on a diagonal. Cover all but the upper portion of the tomato plant with soil - the top of the plant left above ground
will straighten up in a few days. It may sound surprising, but
it is a tried and true method.
Watering Tomatoes: Tomatoes need to be evenly watered, and prefer a regular watering schedule. Many tomato problems start with a watering problem. Don’t water too often, as soggy soil can discourage proper root growth. We suggest giving plants one good watering every day until they get established, then you may find you can cut back. Some minor wilting during a hot day is normal for tomato plants.
Understanding the Difference between “Determinant” and “Indeterminate” Types
Determinate tomatoes are often called “bush” tomatoes because they grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short period, usually just a couple of weeks. Once this first fruit has ripened, the plant will set little to no new fruit. They are generally smaller than indeterminate tomatoes, with most growing to a compact 4-5 feet. Determinate plants will ripen all their fruit at a determined time.
Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called "vine" or “staking” tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost and can reach heights of between 6 and 12 feet. They will ripen fruit all season and set new fruit in all but the hottest part of summer. They require substantial caging and/or staking for support and some people find it best to prune sprawling tomatoes.
Suggested Organic Products for Pests and Problems:
Liquid Copper Fungicide – Helps prevent and, to some degree, treat various fungal diseases
Neem Oil – Treats infestations from aphids, thrips, whitefly, and may prevent some fungal diseases
Spinosad – Replaces Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) to treat infestations from armyworms, hornworms, pinworms, and thrips
A tip for harvesting: While there is an allure to letting a tomato reach peak ripeness on the vine before picking, it isn’t necessary for the best taste. In fact, many heirlooms have a better texture when you pick them about half way through ripening and allow them to finish ripening indoors. This keeps them from ripening too quickly and becoming mushy in our summer heat. It also protects fruit from birds and pests, and prevents cracking caused by our frequent summer rains. Ripening is a hormonal cascade triggered by the release of ethylene gas; once started on the vine, it will continue whether the fruit is still attached to the plant or safely laying on your counter!
Get to know our tomato varieties: Each of my tomato plants is special to me, from seeding them with a trusty pair of tweezers and a lot of patience, to helping you pick out the best. I’ve grown scores of varieties, and we’ve narrowed it down to the best plants that are also suited to our area.
SMALLER TOMATOES
BLACK CHERRY: This is our most popular small tomato. The dark red to purple hued fruit are a bit larger than most cherry tomatoes, and have all the meaty flavor of a full sized heirloom. These vigorous vines will have you snacking all season!
JULIET: A bit larger than the average grape tomato but small compared to a roma, Juliet is a saladette tomato. The sweet and prolific fruit are indeed perfect for salads, and snacking! Best of all, they hold a consistent size all season and produce well under stress.
YELLOW MINI – Super sweet just like the popular Sungold, but with improved crack-resistance. Enjoy the superior sweetness of a yellow cherry tomato without having to worry about picking them every time a summer shower looms. Easy to grow plants produce early and continue until frost.
PEACH TOMATO: This is a true conversation piece for the garden and the dinner plate. These sweet and meaty small yellow tomatoes have a slightly fuzzy skin, more akin to an apricot than a peach, really. Best for fresh eating and wonderful for summer salads.
RED HYBRIDS – Easy to grow with a good sweet and tangy mix of flavor.
BIG BEEF: This hybrid red variety is one of the most popular grown in America. It is similar to Better Boy, but produces tastier fruit for us and far more uniformly. Its high yield of large, tasty fruit and natural disease resistance make it a solid choice as a low maintenance hybrid.
PARK’S WHOPPER: This amazingly disease resistant red variety is one of the main red tomatoes we grow in our own field. This tomato really has it all: it’s early, it’s productive, it’s juicy and flavorful, and the fruit are uniformly gorgeous. It’s a sturdy top pick, hands down.
AMELIA: One of the most disease resistant red hybrids available, Amelia produces a good set of tasty medium-large fruit on a more compact vine. Great if you’ve had trouble growing tomatoes - if one plant will survive the season, this is it! Can be grown in a container.
PURPLE HEIRLOOMS – Purples are prized for having the most robust flavor of any tomatoes.
CHEROKEE PURPLE: A top-pick tomato for flavor! This heirloom boasts maroon fruit with hues of purple and red. Unique not only in color, but also in taste, this rich and robust tomato it is a constant winner at tomato tastings. It also grows great in our area, with high yields of large fruit.
CARBON: This has quickly become a rival for all-time favorite flavor with Cherokee Purple. This heirloom boasts even deeper maroon fruit with that superb rich and robust flavor you can expect from a dark tomato. This is a constant winner of tomato tasting awards!
BERKLEY’S TIE DYE - If you want the beauty and taste of an heirloom, but need the ease and predictability of a hybrid, this is the tomato for you. The large, meaty fruit are actually bi-color, boasting deep maroon streaked with sage green. Vines are large, but not massive, and are prolific and reliable.
PINK HEIRLOOMS – Sweeter than purples but tangier than yellows, with more flavor than reds.
PRUDEN’S PURPLE - This tasty pink (I know…) is our top Brandywine replacement. The vines are far less disease prone and not as sprawling as many heirlooms, yet boast a massive set of crack-resistant fruit with the famously rich and sweet Brandywine flavor everyone loves.
GERMAN JOHNSON - This incredibly popular large-fruited pink heirloom has some of the sweetest fruit you’ll find. It is quite prolific, and vines keep producing late into the season. It’s resistant to cracking even in rainy seasons, which makes it a top pick for our summer storm prone area.
MORTGAGE LIFTER - Every tomato has a story to tell. Radiator Charlie stabilized this variety during the Depression. At $1 apiece, he sold enough seedlings to pay his mortgage and save his farm! These extra large pink beefsteaks are extra sweet. They are flattened with deep lobes, making them a beautiful slicer.
YELLOW/ORANGE HEIRLOOMS – These are lower in acid, making them super sweet.
KELLOGG’S BREAKFAST - This potato-leaf strand was first found by Va. Beach local Martha Hufford. Potato-leaf types do well in our area’s heat and humidity. The sweet golden heirlooms are large and flavorful, with a creamsicle-like taste and less acid, making them easier on the stomach.
PERSIMMON - First introduced here by Thomas Jefferson, this French heirloom boasts beautiful deep yellow/orange fruit that can be over a pound each. It’s super sweet and naturally low in acidity, so it is a great choice if you love tomatoes but your stomach does not.
AMANA ORANGE - We first grew this bright orange tomato to see what all the fuss was about, and now we know! These large tomatoes have a fruity sweetness with lower acidity. Plants produce tons of tomatoes that are flattened and fluted, or lobed, making for beautiful slicers.
BI-COLOR HEIRLOOMS: Bi-colors have a sweet, fruity taste and beautiful striped mix of colors.
HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE - It earned its name not only for its red and yellow streaks, but also for its fruity flavor. It delivers a robust blend of sweet and tangy in truly giant fruit that are always meaty, never mealy. It’s one of our most popular, and for good reason!
STRIPED GERMAN - This large red and yellow bi-color offers amazingly sweet and fruity tomatoes that will leave you asking for more. And it always offers more; we cherish this cultivar for its heat tolerance, crack resistance, and ability to produce huge meaty fruit even under summer stress.
VIRGINIA SWEETS - This beautiful red/yellow bi-color is great if you prefer more medium sized fruit rather than the fewer huge fruits on our other bi-color varieties . True to their name, they grow well in our area and are very sweet and full of
· Tomatoes I couldn’t live without: Cherokee Purple, German Johnson, Hawaiian Pineapple, Park’s Whopper
· If you have problems growing tomatoes I recommend: Amelia, German Johnson, Juliet
· If you want a standard hybrid beefsteak– large and red with a mild flavor, go for: Big Beef or Amelia
· If you want to eat something right off the vine in the garden or on salads, you’ll like: Juliette, Peach, Black Cherry
· If you have problems digesting tomatoes, try: Persimmon, Kellogg’s Breakfast
· If you want something unique, plant: Peach, Tie Dye, Green Zebra
· If you want giant fruit, the biggest are: Mortgage Lifter, Hawaiian Pineapple, Stripped German, and Persimmon