Tomatoes

Anybody can grow tomatoes and a lot of people love to do it.

It is very fascinating to see the many varieties like Cherry and Grape Tomatoes, early varieties, large beefy tomatoes like Supersteak or Burpee Big Boy or even the many Heirloom Tomatoes. Very popular among those are the Brandywine varieties, Mortgage Lifter, Old German, Black Krim and many more. For those of you who like to can tomatoes I recommend ‘determinate’ species that make all their fruit at once and then stop producing. You find many Plum Tomatoes in this category.

The only thing tomatoes really need, is patience. You can’t put them out too early. They like the air and soil to be warm. Sometimes you think it will take them forever to turn red. This is one of the reasons why I always grow different types of tomatoes. Early varieties like Early Girl and Sweet Cluster yield many weeks before a Super Fantastic or Mortgage Lifter. The rule of thumb when selecting varieties in spring is that the larger the fruit, the longer it takes it to ripen. I also recommend visiting a local nursery and doing some research to make sure that you get tomatoes that are fit for your climate.

Tomatoes can be grown in a garden, in a container or even ‘Topsy Turvy’ as advertised on TV. I found that the up-side-down bags are getting quite heavy and watering gets cumbersome if you are a short person. It was not easy for me to find a good spot.

When choosing the container method, make sure you get a large enough planter (at least 10in/30cm diameter) to avoid the soil to dry out too quickly. I always add organic matter, like mushroom compost to the soil in my garden. For the container grown plants I am using regular potting mix.

Tomatoes like to be kept evenly moist and grow best in full sun. As the plants grow larger you want to make sure you have a steady support (trellis, cage, stake) in place. I am feeding my tomatoes when they start making flowers. I keep pruning the suckers that grow between the stem and leaf stalks and am removing the large lower leaves that are touching the ground and also any unhealthy looking plant parts.

At the end of the season, when frost is threatening, start removing all fruit, even the green tomatoes, and bring the last harvest indoors. A few tomatoes I let ripen on my kitchen counter, the rest I put in a cool, dry place. They need to be checked for blemishes, because rot can spread quickly from fruit to fruit. But even though they won’t taste as delicious as your sun ripened vegetables you will still enjoy these late season tomatoes!

Good luck! Hopefully these cold autumn nights are still a long time to come!