Easy Tips for Fabulous Garden Tomatoes!

Prepare the Garden - Tomatoes like lots of sun, low humidity and well worked soil with good drainage. Garden tomatoes won't grow well if night time temps are below 55F. That said, tomatoes will thrive almost anywhere, if the planting area is sufficiently equipped. Define your plot and determine if a fence is necessary. Dig down at least 12-14" throughout the garden, discarding all large rocks or roots and crumble any large clumps of soil.

Prep the garden bed by mixing in plenty of organic matter like shredded newspaper or bark, compost, bone meal, peat moss, etc. Level the garden area and determine if/where walk-ways might be needed. Keep in mind the size of the adult tomato plants!

Warm your Soil: After preparing your garden soil, tack plastic sheeting or landscape cloth down to your beds for a week or two. This will trap the heat of the sun and warm your beds well before you insert your tender tomato seedlings. Your garden, especially the tomatoes, will thank you for it by rewarding you with an earlier crop.

Provide Sufficient Garden Space Between Seedlings: Don't crowd your tomatoes! Each tomato plant will grow tall & wide and each needs ample sun and stretching space. Leave a minimum of 18-20" between plants for the best yield.

Bury Them: When transplanting tomato seedlings, bury all but the top few layers of leaves on the plant. You can do this in a shallow trench manner, for taller transplants. Roots will develop along all buried parts of the tomato plant stem and deeper roots will ensure better growth and a stronger plant. Shallow planting makes for spindly stems and small tomatoes. You will be pleasantly surprised at the difference, if you have never tried this!

Add Some Insurance: Add a few eggshells or a tablespoon of bone meal in the planting hole to help prevent blossom rot (the black or brown ring around the bottom of tomatoes). A first dose of commercial fertilizer can be added here, as well. Note that tomatoes prefer more phosphorus and potash but they require less nitrogen, so choose commercial fertilizers with lower first numbers, like 6-12-12 for more fruit and less foliage.

Plant Basil between Rows or Alternate with Tomato Plants: Recent studies show that these plants complement each other. Each plant grows larger and more vigorously when planted near one another though the reasons for this remain unclear. Basil goes great with tomatoes as well as many other foods though, so why not give it a try?

Don't Cage or Support Plants Too Early: Swaying strengthens young stems, resulting in a stronger plant that produces better fruit. Wait till plants are tall enough to require support before caging or tying off, to encourage strong stem growth.

Water Tomatoes Consistently and Adequately: A consistent, ample water supply and plenty of sun are the secrets to uniform and tasty garden tomatoes. Misshapen shapes, end rot and cracking tomatoes are due to inconsistent or inadequate watering. A deep, thorough watering two or three times a week is much more beneficial than shallow, daily watering. Water early in the day, without spraying the leaves, for best results. Allow time between waterings to prevent root rot and mold.

Prune the Tomato Plants: Each plant needs adequate space to produce abundantly and you should space plants with this in mind. Once the plants get to 4-5", you should prune the most bottom leaf clusters from the stem. A clearance of 1-1.5" maintained between the ground and the first set of leaves is a good standard. This helps prevent fungus, leaf rot and backsplash contamination from the soil. It makes weeding and mulching a cinch too. You can pinch off sucker shoots that develop between larger, V-joints of the main stem while the plants are still small, but this shouldn't be done too vigorously. Once the plant is solidly established, this is no longer necessary. Some gardeners also pinch off the first set of leaves on the top of the plants to encourage bushier growth below.

Mulch: Once plants are established, mulch helps regulate the ground temperature and retain moisture in between waterings. Mulch will also help with keeping down weeds. Many types of commercial mulch are available for this but shredded newspapers, straw, hay, landscape fabric or plastic sheeting all work well.

And please....don't refrigerate your garden fresh tomatoes! Putting tomatoes in the fridge causes a breakdown in enzymes, resulting in an unpleasant, grainy texture and diminished flavor (much like store-bought winter tomatoes, ugh!).