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How to grow perfect tomatoes part 2
How to prune tomatoes, how weather affects them, how to water properly, how to save tomato seeds and how to store tomatoes
Read part 1 of How to grow perfect tomatoes
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Pruning tomato plants
Pinching the suckers off tomato plants
As mentioned in part 1, pruning tomatoes of the determinate (bush) variety is not necessary. However, you may wish to do so during wet and cool summers in order to increase air circulation around the plants to prevent fungal infections. With indeterminate (vine) cultivars, pruning is necessary to insure an excellent crop.
Start pruning vines about one week after you’ve planted seedlings outdoors. Remove all suckers as they develop so that all of the growth is on one main stem. Suckers are the stem outgrowths that appear in the crotch of each leaf. They don’t bear fruit, so the plant is wasting energy if it continues to feed this growth.
If you’re supporting the tomato vines with wooden stakes, top off the plant once it reaches the top of the stake, so the vine doesn’t outgrow its support. Use fabric to tie the vine to the wooden stake to avoid cutting into the stems and always tie-in loosely to allow for growth.
Weather
The climate in your area, even the micro climate in your garden is a significant factor in how your tomato plants will produce. Tomatoes are natives of the coastal areas of south america and they will thrive and yield bushels of fruit during summers with dry air and temps in the 80-85 degree range. During wet and cool summers however, tomato blight and other fungal infections can be frequent and widespread, sometimes resulting in completely inedible fruit. Early heatwaves, with temps in the 90+ range when the plants are young, slows growth and wilts leaves, reducing fruit set. Row covers can be effective in protecting your seedlings in either of these situations.
A watering can like this one from Fiskars should be used to water your tomatoes at soil level - not overhead
Watering tomato plants
Tomatoes should be watered by hand at soil level. Do not water overhead, as the residual moisture on the leaves and fruit may lead to fungal infections. Water deeply once a week and more often if needed during heat waves. Your hand is a great moisture meter – to tell if you’ve watered enough, stick your index finger into the ground up to the middle knuckle. The ground should feel wet the entire length, but not saturated.
Tomatoes like consistent moisture when fruit is on the vine. Large cracks frequently appear on the fruit after a long period of intense heat followed by periods of rain. Keep tomatoes well watered during dry conditions to avoid this.
Share the raised beds
Tomatoes like the company of basil, parsley, bush beans, mint, nasturtium, marigolds, garlic, and leafy vegetables. The herbs and flowers attract beneficial insects that prey on tomato pests and the leafy vegetables love the shade that tomato plants provide when summer is at its most extreme.
Harvesting tomatoes
For indeterminate tomatoes, harvesting will start with the first ripe tomato and continue through frost. Determinate tomatoes will for the most part ripen within a period of a few weeks and then the plant will begin to brown and fade away.
It’s pretty easy to tell when your tomatoes are ready to be picked. They’ll be firm (but not hard) to the touch, have a nice mature color, and can be pulled from the stem with a gentle tug. If you have to work hard to pull it off, it’s not ready. As the date of your first frost draws near, harvest the green tomatoes which have no chance of ripening by the first frost date and bring them inside. Let the plant direct all of its energy into the more mature tomatoes which have a better chance to ripen before Jack Frost visits.
Saving Tomato Seeds
Tomato seeds are one of the easiest seeds to save – just witness the thousands of heirloom tomato seeds passed down through generations. The process is pretty simple, according to Marc Rogers in Saving Seeds: The Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Storing Vegetable and Flower Seeds:
Let the tomato ripen completely, then pick the best of the best to save. Cut the tomato in half vertically and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Place seeds and pulp in a mason jar with a small amount of water and shake gently. Leave to sit two to four days, shaking occasionally, until the tomato seeds sink to the bottom of the jar. Add more water and shake again to separate and clean the seeds.
Remove the tomato seeds from the jar and allow to air dry on a paper towel. When the seeds are fully dry, store them in a white envelope inside a mason jar and keep cool until next season, preferably in the back of your refrigerator, but never let the seeds freeze. Make sure you mark the enevlope with the tomato cultivar and the date harvested and any other information you might find useful.
It is not advisable to save seeds from hybrid (F1) tomatoes, as the fruit may be sterile.
Keeping Tomatoes
Do not store fresh garden tomatoes in the refrigerator, as they lose flavor quickly-they’re best held at room temperature. If your harvest exceeds the amount which you can eat before they go bad, there are a few ways to store tomatoes for later use.
Freezing is quite good. One way to freeze tomatoes is to par-boil them, score the skin when hot, peel, and then put them in a freezer container (preferably glass). This is best if you make a lot of sauces over the winter. You can also freeze the tomatoes whole. I find freezing to be the the simplest and fastest method if you have the space and are not subject to frequent electrical outages.
Other ways of keeping tomatoes are by freeze drying, which makes a wonderful winter treat or by canning tomatoes for use over the winter.
Suggested Varieties (click on links or pics for more information)
- Burpee Black Truffle hybrid tomato
Ferry-Morse 1402 Tomato Seeds, Roma (500 Milligram Packet)
Heirloom Gardener’s Delight Cherry Tomato Seeds 75 Seeds
Ferry-Morse 3762 Heirloom Seeds Tomato – Mortgage Lifter
- Burpee Tangerine Mama hybrid tomato
Black Krim Tomato Seeds – Russian Heirloom
Bucks County Tomato 30 Seeds – Best Tomato 1999
Ferry-Morse Brandywine tomato seeds
- Burpee Honeybunch tomato
Cherry Tomato Sugar Sweetie Certified Organic Seeds
- Burpee Italian Ice hybrid tomato
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