Help your tomatoes grow well this year

Everyone, it seems, wants to grow tomatoes if nothing else. Here are a few tips that will help ensure you get the most out of your plants.

One of the most important things tomatoes, and most other vegetables need is full sun. That is sun from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The more sun the better the tomato taste.

If you plant in a container, it should be at least 18 to 14 inches deep and 15 to 20 inches wide per plant. If you insist on planting upside down tomatoes, stick to the cherry types. They are less apt to break off in the wind as the weight of the fruit is less.

Check your soil if planting in a garden. It should drain well but hold moisture.

Mulching will help retain what moisture it gets. Tomatoes love organic matter. Five (5) pounds per planting hole is about right. That is a bag about the size of 5 pounds of sugar. Most nurseries carry composted manure. If planting in a pot, use soiless potting mix and fertilize with one-fourth fertilizer once a week.

Now for water. Each plant should have about two gallons a week but not all in one dose. One inch of rain a week is an equivalent.

If the weather is hot, they may need more. If you have heavy clay soil, be careful that you don’t drown the plant. Even watering will prevent cracking, cat facing and the dreaded blossom end rot.

A liter pop bottle with the top cut off and holes punched in the bottom dug in next to the tomato will ensure the water gets down to the root.

Try not to water from above as this can lead to diseases. Never let any plant go to sleep wet. Wet leaves encourage mildew and mold.

Don’t plant tomatoes until daytime temps are consistently 70. They will just pout. Plant three feet apart for good air circulation and either lay them on their side or dig a deep hole and bury them so only a few top rows of leaves show. The stems will develop roots. The more roots the more fruit.

There are two types of tomatoes — determinate and indeterminate. The first ripen early with smaller fruit. They grow to a determined size, produce their crop, usually over a month then quit for the season. Indeterminate have larger fruit and keep growing until frost producing fruit the whole time. They are usually later to ripen. Almost all heirloom tomatoes are this type.

Early season tomatoes ripen in 65 days or less from the time you plant them. Late season varieties take 80 days or more. However — if day time temps are over 95 and night time temps are still over 75 for several days, the tomatoes go into a snit, pollen is killed, the flowers won’t set fruit and will fall off.

Grow the Best Tomatoes: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-189 ...

This product works as advertised, my tomatoes are doing very well. However, it is VERY heavy when filled with dirt and watered. You need a sturdy hook and place to hang it. I was having problems with it drying out quickly (granted, I live in New Mexico, where it is quite dry) even though I had added water absorbing crystals to the soil. I ended up removing the top 6 inches of soil and placing a plastic milk jug in the top. I punched some holes in the bottom of the jug and I fill this with water nearly every day. The water then slowly seeps in to the soil instead of running out the bottom, dripping is reduced and the plant gets the water it needs. I would give it five stars if some system were in place to keep it from dripping so I could use it indoors and if it were a little easier to plant.

I have used the Topsy Turvy Tomatoe Planter for 3 seasons now, and will never, ever plant my tomatoes in the ground again. This product is sturdy, simple to use, and produces beautiful fruit. Because the plants grow toward the sun and never touch the ground, the slugs and other critters cannot ruin or run off with your produce. As I have already stated, I have used the same bags for 3 seasons now, and have not had any problems at all. I highly recommend this product.

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