Tomatoes

Lycopersicon esculentum

Tomatoes are an incredible crop and probably the most popular garden vegetable. The tomato originated in South America and eventually made its way into the cuisine of just about every culture on the planet. There are many stories about the slow adoption of tomatoes in parts of Europe due to its similarity to poisonous nightshade plants. But eventually the temptation of the sweet, prolific fruits won out over the fear of a horrible death, and pizza was born. Tomatoes contain vitamins A and C and a host of healthful phytochemicals such as lutein and lycopene.

There are two main types of tomato plants you can grow. This is an important distinction, so remember to look for the type on each seed packet or plant tag:

Determinate tomatoes grow to a certain height, then flower and set fruit over a short period of time. Determinate tomatoes can be left to sprawl or given a shorter trellis. They are generally grown for preservation and canning; many determinate types are Roma or plum tomatoes.

Indeterminate tomatoes will continue to grow larger and larger through the season and continue to set fruit for many weeks (until the end of the season, when they are killed by frost). Indeterminate tomatoes require a tall trellis (either a single pole or fence-our Freyr trellis is a PERFECT way to support your tomatoes). Most cherry tomatoes and many slicing tomatoes are indeterminate varieties.

Tomatoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some principal categories are:

Cherry, Grape: Small, very sweet tomatoes usually eaten whole.

Plum, Roma: Medium-sized fruit, usually with an oblong, narrow shape (similar to a plum), used for sauces and for canning.

Slicing, Beefsteak: Large tomatoes used for slicing for sandwiches, for caprese salad, you name it.

What you eat: The fruit.

Recommended varieties: Cherry: Sungold, Sweet 100, White Currant. Slicing: Stupice (heirloom), Moskvich (heirloom), Big Beef, Black Prince (heirloom). Roma: Window Box Roma, San Marzano.

Hardiness: Frost will kill tomatoes.

Seed information: Germination temp. 60°–90°F, optimal 77°; germination time 14 days at 59°, 6 days at 77°. Seed viability 3–7 years.

Mature plant size: Up to 6 ft. tall and 36 in. wide.

How to plant: It’s crucial to start with large, healthy transplants. Look for plants with dark green vegetation in 4 in. or larger pots. Space plants 18 in. apart. If planting with a single pole trellis, drive the post in place first. Next, snip the lowest side branches and the bottom set of leaves off of your transplants, and dig a hole deep enough for each plant to be buried up to the next lowest set of leaves. (Tomatoes set new roots out of the buried stem, so planting them this way gives them the opportunity to develop a large root structure very quickly.) Add 1⁄4 cup of balanced fertilizer to the hole and mix with a trowel. Set the plant in the hole and fill it back in with soil. If you’re using a cir- cular cage, place it over the plant (take care not to puncture your drip irrigation system!).

When to plant: Tomatoes are best planted in late spring, mid- to late May in most areas.

How much to plant: Tomato yield is variable, but you’ll likely harvest 4–8 lb. per plant (up to 20 lb. in ideal conditions). We recommend starting with 1–6 plants for your first year.

When to fertilize: Before planting, and at 3 and 6 weeks after planting. Use 1⁄4 cup balanced fertilizer per plant, or liquid fertilizer.

General care: Prune and train your tomatoes to their trellis. After the plants have started ripening their first fruits, you can stop watering them. This will reduce the size of the tomatoes and the overall yield of the plants, but will encourage ripening and improve flavor.

Pests: Tomato hornworms, aphids, slugs, nematodes.

Diseases: Early and late blight, anthracnose, Verticillium and Fusarium wilt.

Container suitability: Good. Use 5 gal. pots or larger, or anything at least 12 in. in. deep.

When and how to harvest: Tomatoes taste best when ripened on the plant. They’re ready when fully red (or yellow, orange, or purple) and slightly soft to the touch. Harvest by cutting the stem just above the tomato, or by breaking it off with your hand. Tomatoes also ripen well off the vine if held at room temperature. This is useful for large tomatoes that don’t fully ripen on the vine, and in the fall when temperatures aren’t high enough to ripen the fruit outdoors.

Storage and preservation:

Counter: Tomatoes should be stored at 60°–70°F. A basket on the counter is perfect. Avoid the fridge unless you like mealy, tasteless tomatoes!

Freezer: You can puree fresh tomatoes, drain the excess liquid, and freeze them immediately, or you can cook the puree to the desired thickness and then freeze.

Dried: Sun-dried tomatoes.

Canned: Tomato sauce, salsa, whole or sliced tomatoes, paste.

What Tomatoes Can Teach You: How to Prune

Why you do it: Pruning helps ensure high yields of fruit and greater ripening success, especially with indeterminate types. It will limit the overall number of tomatoes, so the plant can produce and ripen higher-quality fruits. It increases air circulation through the plant (which helps keep disease down) and improves sunlight penetration (which helps with ripening). Late-season pruning reduces the production of late-season tomatoes, so that the plant has a better chance of ripening existing fruit. Generally speaking, determinate tomatoes need considerably less pruning than indeterminate types.

How you do it: The ideal tomato plant has two to three main stems, with single lateral branches radiating from each stem. We recommend pruning tomatoes a few times over the course of the season to keep them under control. Prune by breaking excess branches off with your fingers, or use pruning shears if branches are too large to break.

A. At transplanting time, check the crotch of each branch. Break off any new branch growing from the crotch. Also, break off any forming flower buds.

B. Continue to check branch crotches each week and break off new branches. Also, break off any flower buds that appear for 2–3 weeks after transplanting.

C. If using a single pole-type trellis, tie the main stem of the plant to it. If the plant develops other large stems that compete with the main stem, keep only one or two of them and make slings with twine to support them. Cut off any additional main stems that develop.

D. Keep this basic structure going as the plant grows. Prune off any yellowing, dying, or dis- eased leaves. The plant will continue to grow, set new flowers, and fruit.

E. Starting in mid-August, prune off any new flower buds. This will keep the plant from setting fruit too late into the fall.

F. This process sounds kind of complicated, but don’t hesitate! You’ll get more and more comfortable each time you prune.

Also useful for: Pruning tomatoes is a skill unto itself, but the basic technique of selectively removing foliage can help you with managing diseases and improving air circulation for any fruiting crop.

This is an excerpt from our first book, Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide To Growing Crops At Home (Mountaineers Publishing 2012)