GARDENING : Tomato-Growing Ideas Keep Cropping Up
One of the great rewards of gardening is plucking a home-grown tomato from the vine and biting into it. Its sweet juiciness can’t be duplicated by any store-bought tomato. For that reason, anyone with a patch of ground, a spare container and a sunny location should grow at least one tomato plant.
Tomatoes require at least six hours of sunlight, rich, fast-draining soil and a consistent supply of water and fertilizer throughout the growing season.
Seedlings can be purchased at nurseries throughout the area and set into the garden now.
Adventurous gardeners still have time to purchase unusual varieties from seed companies. Starting plants from seeds enables you to choose from an impressive list of varieties. Seedlings can be set out into the garden as late as August 1 and still produce luscious tomatoes throughout the fall.
Garden hobbyist Bill Sidnam has grown more than 350 different varieties of tomatoes in his Santa Ana garden, although not all at the same time. Each year, he grows three or four of his favorites and test grows at least 15 varieties being introduced to the market.
Sidnam is an admitted tomato fancier who consumes the fruit at breakfast, lunch and dinner. His wife cooks some of the surplus, and he freely shares his plentiful bounty with friends and neighbors.
He recommends the following varieties for Orange County residents:
* Better Boy--best for the beginning gardener
* Supersteak--an improved beefsteak variety
* Celebrity--large fruits
* Early Girl--early bearing, smaller fruits
* Sweet 100--best cherry tomato with high sugar content
* Lemon Boy--flavorful fruit with yellow color
* Patio--cherry tomato, good for containers
* Pixie--early bearing cherry tomato, also good for containers
Sidnam also recommends two novel varieties just introduced to the market this year. Enchantment is an egg-shaped tomato with full flavor and a long fruiting season. Husky Pink is a medium-sized plant that bears pink, flavorful fruit and also is an attractive plant in the garden. Both are available from seed companies only. Enchantment is offered through Shepherd’s Garden Seeds, and Husky Pink is available from Nichols Seed Co.
Tomatoes’ growth patterns are characterized as either “determinate” or “indeterminate.” Plants that are determinate grow to a certain height, usually about four feet, and then stop growing when they set their blossoms. This type of tomato plant seldom requires staking or caging, but the drawback is that its fruit is produced within a period of about a week to 10 days.
For that reason, many gardeners prefer indeterminate plants. These plants keep on growing, often producing sprawling, unsightly vines that can occupy a square yard in a garden. They produce their fruit over a long period of time until frost occurs. Caging or staking will contain these plants to more manageable proportions.
Tomatoes are also hybridized for specific purposes--eating, saucing, canning or preserving. There are also early, mid-season and late season varieties.
Choose your seedlings from a nursery with care. Avoid plants that have already set blossoms or fruit. Their root systems aren’t developed adequately enough to support fruit production at this stage. Look for seedlings with thick stems and green, healthy leaves. These usually indicate a strong root system.
Before planting in a garden or container, have everything ready to reduce the likelihood of transplant shock.
Soak the seedling with water at least an hour before transplanting. This helps keep the soil around the roots to protect them. Choose a cloudy day or late afternoon for setting the plants in the garden since bright sun can harm the new transplants. Prepare the site by digging in organic amendments such as compost, grass clippings or peat moss. Be sure the peat moss is well-spaded into the soil so it doesn’t form a mat.
Peat moss is a recommended soil additive since it helps combat the excessive alkalinity of Orange County soil. At the bottom of the planting hole, place a handful of either timed-release fertilizer or an all-purpose fertilizer. Cover it with three inches of soil so the seedling’s roots don’t come in direct contact with the fertilizer. Fertilizer should be available to the young plant as it sends its roots in search of nourishment, but not so close that it burns them.
Tomatoes grow and produce best when they’re encouraged to develop strong root systems. Before placing the seedling in the ground, pinch off all but the top leaves and set the stem deep into the hole. Roots will emerge from along the submerged stem.
Staking and caging are recommended at the time of planting. Select a sturdy stake and drive it at least one foot into the ground, about three to five inches away from the plant. Sidnam also recommends placing a cage around each plant. He makes his own from concrete reinforcing wire available at building supply stores. Shape the wire to fit the plant circumference, allowing room for growth, and support it with several small stakes.
Certain insects attack tomatoes; the most common is the very ugly tomato hornworm. This voracious creature can devour fruit and foliage in a short time. It can be controlled by handpicking, but many gardeners prefer to combat them with Bacillus thuringienses, available at nurseries and garden centers. BT is a powder that’s mixed with water and sprayed on the plants. Completely harmless to humans and beneficial insects, it causes a disease that kills only the caterpillars.
Whitefly will also attack tomato plants. Hordes of tiny whiteflies gather under the leaves. They can be contained with a nontoxic insecticidal soap or placing commercially produced sticky yellow traps around the plants.
Tomatoes are heavy feeders. If you use a timed-release fertilize, one application each season is all that’s needed. If you prefer to use another method, be sure to supplement the growing tomato plant with fertilizer several times during the season.
Tomatoes require steady water and thrive when they’re watered deeply. The amount varies depending on soil condition, but a good rule of thumb is to apply water once a week until hot, dry weather sets in, and then water twice a week. In hot weather, apply mulch around the plants to retain the moisture and keep the soil temperature from getting too hot. This also reduces weeds.
Tomatoes grown in containers will need more frequent watering and feeding, and may require water daily in the intense summer heat. Feed with a small amount of soluble fertilizer weekly.
Sources for seeds:
* Nichols Seed Co., 1190 N. Pacific Highway, Albany, Ore. 97321-4598; (503) 928-9280.
* Shepherd’s Garden Seeds, 6116 Highway 9, Felton, Calif. 95018; (408) 335-5400. Although Enchantment is not listed in the 1992 Shepherd Seed catalogue, it can be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope plus $1.75 for seed packet.
