Published in
the Contra Costa Times on
Q. My tomatoes were a failure
last year. How can I increase my chances of having a decent crop?
A. Home grown tomatoes are
the most popular vegetable, and with good reason. The varieties that can
be grown in the home garden can reward with superior flavor and great texture.
There are varieties that will grow in whatever space you can provide from 8+
to small compact patio plants.
Several environmental criteria must be met to
have a decent crop, with the first and probably most important being the amount
of light the tomatoes will receive. Plant your tomatoes in the sunniest area in
your garden. The plants must have 6 hours of light a day, with 8 being most
optimal. This can be difficult to find in neighborhoods filled with large
trees. Check the garden carefully for your sunniest location. If light is
limited, the plants will grow but may not set fruit.
Prepare the soil by double digging; digging to a 12
depth, piling that soil to the side of your planting hole, then digging out
another 12. Place the pile of soil from the first 12, mixed with
compost back into the hole, and top with the soil from the last 12, again
amended with compost. Do not add too much manure or too much slow-release
nitrogen. If there is too much nitrogen, the plant will produce ample foliage
and no fruit.
It is late for starting seeds, but you can
plant the seedlings available from nurseries or local plant sales directly into
your prepared holes as soon as the soil temperature reaches 70F (21C). Choose
stocky seedlings about 6-8tall. Strip off all the leaves except those in the
top couple of inches. Plant your seedlings deeply in the soil, with only the
top leaves above ground. Plant peat or paper pots directly in the soil,
slitting the sides with a utility knife (carefully). Press the soil
firmly around the roots, and water in well with a dilute fertilizer
solution. Place the cage or staking system you want to use around the
plants. Large cylinders 30 by 6 ( 76cm x 183cm) made
out on concrete reinforcing wire are the best and are reusable for many years.
If cool weather is predicted, provide some form of
protection like floating row covers or water insulators. Tomatoes like
temperatures between 70 and 90 F. ( 21-32C)When
temperatures rise above that, the blossoms abort and fruit set is affected. If
day temperatures fall below 68F (20C) or night s below 50F (10C) plant growth
and fruit set are seriously inhibited. This can be mitigated to some
extent by the use of hormonal fruit set sprays. If hot weather is predicted,
water plants deeply. Hormone sprays are ineffective in hot weather.
One other urban problem that can significantly affect
your plants ability to produce tomatoes is ozone levels in air pollution. There
is little you can do in your own garden to fix this. Bike to work!