Producing a bumper crop of tomatoes
Know the type, and needs, of what you are planting
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable grown in home gardens and they’re a hot ticket item at garden centres across the province.
If you grew your own seedlings or managed to source tomato plants from a local nursery, I have some advice to help you grow a bumper crop of delicious fruits.
Tomatoes aren’t particularly difficult to grow but they do have some demands: plenty of sun (eight or more hours), fertile soil, and consistent moisture. They can be planted in garden beds or pots.
There are two main types of tomatoes: determinate (bush) and indeterminate (vining). Indeterminate tomatoes can grow seven feet tall and should be staked to keep plants off the ground. I use a one by two inch by seven foot tall wooden stake for each seedling. This is inserted at planting time.
Determinate plants are productive, but compact and only grow three to four feet tall. They’re ideal for containers and the majority of their fruits ripen around the same time. That makes determinate varieties popular with preservers and those who make sauce or salsa. Some determinate varieties have very dwarf growth. Tiny tim, terenzo, or fantastico are well suited for baskets or small spaces.
Proper planting can go a long way to promoting healthy tomato plants. Unlike most crops, tomatoes have the lovely ability to produce adventitious roots all along their stem. By planting your tomato seedlings deep - with at least half the plant buried below the soil - you’ll encourage a deep, large root system that is more resistant to drought.
Once planted, mulch garden tomato plants with a threeinch layer of straw or shredded leaves. There are several reasons for this. Mulch holds soil moisture, but it also reduces weed growth. Even more importantly, mulch creates a barrier on the soil surface and reduces the splashing of soil-borne pathogens like early tomato blight onto the foliage.
As my indeterminate tomato plants grow, I remove the lower leaves on each plant. These lower leaves are the first to turn yellow and if infected with blight help carry the disease up the plant. You don’t have to remove a lot of leaves, just those on the bottom 10 inches of the plant.
Consistent water is key to a good yield. Drought stressed tomatoes that dry out between watering are prone to issues like blossom end rot. They’ll also never reach their full production potential. I water container tomatoes daily if the weather is hot, and garden tomatoes once or twice a week, depending on the weather. I water each plant thoroughly as this supports a deep root system. Watering deeply but weekly is better than giving plants a light sprinkle every day.
I use a long-handled watering wand to direct water at the soil, not the leaves. Again, I want to avoid splashing water on the foliage. I also try to water in the morning so that if I do accidentally wet the leaves they have time to dry before night.
When I first plant my tomatoes, I add a slow release organic vegetable fertilizer to each planting hole. During the growing season I supplement this with a monthly dose of a liquid fish or seaweed fertilizer like the Nova Scotia product, Seaboost.
I also like to include flowers in my tomato beds. I tuck sweet alyssum, nasturtiums, or calendula plants in each bed. These attract beneficial insects that prey on plant pests but they also add colour to the tomato garden.
Niki Jabbour is the bestselling author of three gardening books, and a two-time winner of the American Horticultural Society Book Award. Find her on social media and at Savvygardening.com.