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Tomato
Lycopersicon esculentum
(L. lycopersicum)
Tomatoes,
tomatoes, tomatoes.... There are so
many options with growing and eating tomatoes.
First, there are endless sizes, shapes and colors.
Do you want cherry, medium or standard, paste, including plum and pear,
or beefsteak tomatoes? Large,
small, extra-large, round, flattened, or elongated?
Yellow, red, orange, pink, white or bicolor?
Would staking or caging be better, or should you permit the plants to
sprawl on the ground? Should you
plant early, midseason or late cultivars, or all three? With
all of the options for tomatoes, you might think that choosing a type for you
might be difficult. Nevertheless,
its hard to go wrong with any decision you make or any tomato you select.
SITE:
Plant in full sun. Tomatoes
need well-drained soil that is high in organic mater.
The ideal pH is 5.5 to 6.5. Plentiful
moisture is required. Tomatoes
grow in all climates during the warm season.
In the far North, choose early-maturing cultivars.
In the South, early and heat-tolerant cultivars. HOW
TO GROW: If you decide to start
seeds indoors, sow six to eight weeks before you plan to transplant outdoors.
Set out plants two to three weeks after the last average date of the last
frost. At
the transplanting, stake, trellis, or cage tall, or indeterminate varieties.
Support is optional for shorter, or determinate varieties.
Prune staked plants (this means removing side shoots where the branches
meet the stem) for earlier and larger fruit.
Mulch is beneficial for preventing weeds, holding in moisture and keeping
unstaked plants clean. Keep
watered early and during flowering; reduce as the fruit sets.
Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers, as this will reduce fruiting.
Pick
off any tomato hornworms. To
prevent most diseases, plant resistant varieties.
To prevent blossom-end rot, mulch to keep soil moisture even. HARVEST:
If possible, pick fully colored, firm fruit.
Otherwise, pick full-sized green fruit or slightly colored fruit and
ripen in a brown paper bag. CULTIVARS:
[days to maturity are from set-out date]:
Slicing: 'Early Girl', 52
days, indetermediate, flavorful, long-bearing; 'Celebrity', 70 days, midseason,
medium-large, firm fruit, resists cracking, well-adapted;
'Brandywine', 78 days, indermediate, extra-large, pink fruit, spicy,
moderate yields, a Amish heirloom from 1885, is not disease-resistant;
'Beefmaster', 80 days, mid- to late season, intermediate, extra-large,
fleshy fruit, flavorful, high yields, disease-resistant; 'Better Boy', 72 days,
midseason, indermediate, extra-large fruit, disease resistant;
'Northern Exposure', 67 days, excellent flavor, determinate, bears well
in cool short-season areas. Cherry:
'Sweet 100 Plus', 70 days, indermediate, great taste, crack-resistant, extremely
high yields, best staked. In fact,
Sweet 100 Plus' name has actually been changed to 'Sweet Million', on account of
the incredibly large yields. Paste:
'Roma', 76 days, determediate, meaty, high yields, disease resistant; 'Viva
Italia', 76 days, indermediate, pear-shaped, high-yields, disease resistant. Yellow:
'Taxi', 65 days, determediate, sweet, meaty, medium-large fruit,
well-adapted. This
is just five of many, many vegetables; cucumbers, broccoli, rhubarb (yes,
rhubarb is a vegetable), lettuce, celery, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, okra,
peppers, potatoes, spinach, rutabaga, summer squash, and winter squash are just
a few. In
writing this report, I have learned many things about gardening. This year I
also apprenticed at Midway Gardens, a
local gardening store here in Bemidji. This
is their 26th year in business. I have learned innumerable things from Adele, a
woman who has worked there for 25 years. I
hope you have enjoyed reading this report as much as I had writing it.
Happy Gardening!! |
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