All of the local garden centers are hustling with vegetables, flowers, and shrubs. The weather is the perfect temperature for working outside and in the garden. I hope to get some of my warm season vegetables in the garden this weekend. The biggest part of my garden always seems to be tomatoes because everyone loves tomatoes. Here’s a few tips to keep your tomatoes going strong all summer.
First, plant your tomatoes in well-drained soil in full sun. Always start with a healthy tomato that is free of disease and insects. It’s easy to be tempted to purchase those tomatoes that are on the reduced rack because they’re so cheap, but try to resist the temptation! I usually wander through the sales area also, but many of them are too far gone or already showing signs of disease. There is no reason to buy a diseased plant and bring it home to your healthy plants. I prefer buying taller tomato plants because you can bury them deeper in the soil. Tomatoes have the ability to form roots all along the buried stem and this helps out during periods of drought.
Secondly, avoid watering them from overhead. Wet leaves are more susceptible to diseases and tomatoes have enough foliar diseases to worry about. Early blight is a fungal disease that is common in tomatoes. It lives in the soil and it infects the tomatoes when soil is splashed on the leaf. If you can prevent soil splashing on the leaf, you can suppress early blight. One way to do this is to use some type of mulch to prevent the soil from splashing up on the leaf. Water sparingly because tomatoes only need about an inch of water per week.
Lastly, harvest the fruit when it becomes ripe. Do not leave rotten fruit on the vine because it can spread disease and attract rodents to the garden. Tomatoes will generally ripen after you pick them if they are beginning to show color. I feel like every year, I lose a few tomatoes to a groundhog, squirrel, or some other varmint. I’m in the habit of walking the garden every day to try and harvest on a regular basis. Store your tomatoes at room temperature and we normally lay ours on the kitchen counter. If you have never grown tomatoes, try growing a few this year. There are many dwarf types that do well in a container on the porch! My grandfather was in the Alzheimer’s wing at a nursing home the last part of his life and I’ll never forget taking him tomato plants. He planted them in the landscape beds and babied them all summer long. Gardening gets in your blood and it stays with you for the rest of your life.
As always, if you have any questions regarding any horticulture facet, feel free to contact Lucas Holman, UT Horticulture Extension Agent, Wilson County at 615-444-9584 or Lholman1@utk.edu.
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