GARDENING : A New Way to Ketchup on Tomato News
Bob Ambrose publishes an eight-page, six-times-a-year newsletter for tomato growers.
“There were periodicals for chestnut lovers, palm growers and fern worshipers, but nothing for the tomato crowd,” he explains. “Yet there are over 30 million vegetable growers in the nation, and 95% of them grow tomatoes.”
Recent editions focused on technical questions such as how much to irrigate, why mulching is important, why plants need staking, good companion plants, what’s new from seed companies and how super growers achieve results.
“We want gardeners to understand the ‘why’ part as well as the ‘how to’ part,” says Ambrose.
There even is a coined word--tomatologist--to define “the broad study of the tomato from all scientific, artistic, historical and cultural perspectives.”
A membership is $12.95 a year and includes six seeds of the Brandywine variety, an heirloom type that many believe is the best-tasting tomato. Write the Tomato Club, 114 E. Main St., Bogota, N.J., 07603.
Ambrose is a former New York City advertising man who has a garden and greenhouse on his New Jersey property. He said the idea of a newsletter devoted to the tomato came to him while growing tomatoes in his garden.
His technical expert is Stephen Reiners of Cornell University, who estimates there are between 2,000 and 3,000 varieties of the tomato.
In a recent issue, Reiners discusses box culture of tomatoes, long advocated by Leopold Klein of Valley Stream, N.Y., 11582.
“It’s a great way to grow many of the older heirloom varieties that don’t have resistance to soil diseases like fusarium and verticillium, since the roots never touch infected soil,” writes Reiners.
He says it’s based on a very old technique first popularized in England called ring culture.
“Basically, it’s nothing more than making a box out of Styrofoam, filling it with soil, planting tomato plants and waiting for the first fruits.
“It does differ from growing tomatoes in simple containers such as plastic pots or barrels, however. In this system, the box insulates the roots, protecting them from temperature fluctuations. The result is steady growth and large yields.”
Klein recommends the thickest plastic foam available, usually about two inches, and cutting it into four pieces 22-inches square. Secure corners with wood trim or molding and tie with five pieces of plastic twine long enough to go around the box.
For an artificial growing mix, Reiners suggests a bushel of shredded sphagnum peat moss, a bushel of domestic vermiculite, a pound of dolomitic lime, four ounces of superphosphate and eight ounces of 5-10-5 fertilizer. Mix thoroughly.
(For mixes made with African vermiculite, he suggests substituting nine ounces of calcitic lime because of the higher pH.)
For the first couple of weeks, water the plants daily.
Reiners says that “at first two gallons will be enough, but as the plants grow and the summer heats up, plan on applying three to four gallons each day.”
Start fertilizing with a soluble application about two weeks after planting, using a nutrient ratio of 1-2-1 or 1-2-2. Stronger formulations will be needed later.
Klein is the author of a soft-cover book entitled “100 Pounds of Tomatoes Out of an Inexpensive Foam Box.” It is available in many libraries.
