Tastier Tomatoes - Part 2: The sequel

So you're back for more info on growing tastier tomatoes? Let's pick up where we left off in Part 1. You just finished watering your plants...

Fertilizing and soils - pay attention because this affects flavor BIG-TIME! Start by building up your soil with organic matter every year before planting. Incorporate rotted leaves, composted materials, aged manure, etc. Avoid adding ash from wood stoves - it can raise the pH (good if yours is too low), but my experience is people add too much and create new problems. Do a soil test before adding any fertilizers. The results will show your soil's pH & calcium levels and it will also give you recommendations to bring them to correct levels just for tomatoes. In our area, we can purchase a kit for $10 at our local County Extension office - results typically come back within a week. Ideal pH for tomatoes is slightly acidic - 6.0 to 6.5. If your soil is more acid than this, add lime (in a readily available form) on top of the soil/under the mulch. If your soil pH is too high, it can be lowered by using sulfur. Avoid applying elemental sulfur when the weather is hot, as it will burn plants. Check locally for less 'hot' materials that are good for your area soils. Or, plan to adjust the pH in the fall after the harvest is in.

No blooms? A common problem in our area is people who grow great tomato plants that don't produce tomatoes. This can be a pollination problem or too much nitrogen. If you are going to add a commerical fertilizer, be sure it's a complete fertilizer that includes phosphorus & potassium. A 1:2:1 ratio (like 5-10-5) works well for tomatoes. If the first number on the label is higher than the other two (like 21-7-14) use this fertilizer on your lawn - NOT on your tomatoes. Be sure to follow the label directions and don't overdo it. Again, a soil test is really helpful so you know you're adding only what you need. In our area, the test may show a need for calcium. This is easy to do, but you'd never know without the test results.

While I add manure every Fall (that I work in before planting the following year), sometimes I notice yellow leaves appearing at the bottom of my plants. This symptom (and slow growth), indicates a lack of nitrogen. (Sometimes I cause this myself by working some of last year's straw mulch before it's totally decomposed.) At that point (or before, if I'm on the ball), I add a low rate of a liquid fish-based fertilizer to both the foliage and the soil. Yellow leaves at the bottom of plants can also be disease symptoms, but if there are no brown spots and it's early in the season, it's most likely a lack of nitrogen.

Foliage - Maintain a good foliage canopy throughout the season. This means you shouldn't pinch out young stems early in the season (even though some people recommend that for growing "giant tomatoes"). Even I have to fight the urge to pinch, pinch, pinch - but it's best just to leave them on & be ready to provide sturdy supports. Foliage not only provides cover, but produces everything needed during the ripening process. Think of the foliage as the engine that produces all the flavor. You are working against your goal if you remove healthy foliage.

Finally, when days shorten and nights turn cool, it's common to want to help tomatoes ripen faster. In an effort to get more sun on half-ripe tomatoes, people start vigorously removing leaves. In a word - DON'T! This causes several problems, most notably sunscald of actual tomatoes. Removing leaves also gives disease organisms a huge advantage - the door is held wide open for them to enter and wreak havoc. When I've lost canopy due to insect feeding (or some other incident), I've actually used row covers over my tomatoes late in the season to provide some shade for the tomatoes. As the season progresses, it does double-duty as frost protection.

And there you have it - a guideline for growing healthy, tasty tomatoes. Give it a go and the next thing you know, your friends & neighbors will be asking you for advice - or for some tomatoes!

Linda Grotzinger

Getting ready to mulch the garden after a nice rain.

Garden mulched with straw...

Close-up of mulch around young tomato plant.

Tastier tomatoes? Really??

Want to grow tastier tomatoes this year? Here's Part 1 (watch for the sequel!)

When someone suggested I blog about growing tastier tomatoes, my initial thought was that I would be happy to -- if I had a clue myself. I quickly filed it away in the 'maybe later but don't hold your breath' file.

Then, at the Allegheny Green Fest a few weeks ago, I chatted with a couple who'd just heard a talk on this topic. They confided that they now knew the secret to tastier tomatoes and that they'd been doing "everything wrong" in past attempts. I found that hard to believe, so I asked them what they planned to do differently this year. Turns out their "different" way was following some basic practices that I was already doing. That encounter was quickly followed by a conversation with a friend who's almost fanatical about "home-grown tomatoes" (I send her a shipment of my tomatoes each year). She told me another friend had shared their tomatoes with her last year, but that MY tomatoes tasted much better. While I assumed that this was a ploy to keep the tomatoes coming, her comment DID make me start thinking more about this subject.

Perhaps sharing some good garden practices for growing tomatoes will help some home gardeners grow better tomatoes, and if you grow better tomatoes, you get better flavor. So, here's my "sharing"!

It almost goes without saying that you need to grow varieties that are known for good flavor. However, before considering flavor, you need to screen varieties to determine tomato plants that will do well in your climate & soil conditions. Great taste means nothing if your growing season is too short for a variety you've selected, or if you're in a climate conducive to diseases and you don't select varieties with good disease resistance. How can you know which varieties taste best? Conduct your own taste test (hard work, I know)...maybe at a farmer's market or by asking your fellow tomato growers to let you taste their favorites. (FYI, I always grow 'Celebrity' tomatoes, but I also pick out something new to try each year. Last year it was 'Jet Star', this year it's 'Health Kick'.)

If you haven't already planted your tomatoes at the recommended spacing (or wider), that's the first step. The next most important thing you can do is to mulch them. Right away. One year I mulched about half my tomatoes within a week of planting them while the rest waited until I could get back to them. Not only was there the expected difference in weed growth, but there was an obvious size difference between those mulched early and those mulched late. This effect remained for the entire growing season. If you don't want to buy mulch, try my method: I use 3 inch thick flakes of straw (because I have it on hand), but half-inch stacks of newspaper work well, as does plastic (though it's a bit harder to monitor the moisture under plastic). Plant size is one benefit; other benefits of mulching include less risk of blossom end rot and disease spreading, and less watering on your part.

Support your tomatoes - don't let them sprawl on the ground. Good support helps avoid a multitude of problems - critter damage and diseases are two. Use sturdy wooden stakes, wire cages supported by stakes, or make your own supports. Have them in place before your plants get big to avoid breaking vines later.

Water - remember to water your plants before they dry out to the point of visable wilting. If you've mulched them, this will be an easier task. Let the water run slowly until it soaks deeply into your soil to encourage deeper roots that can access the water when soils dry out from the top down.

Okay. There's a good starting point - and a good ending point for "Part 1". In the sequel (Part 2) we'll talk about stuff that's a little less basic. Like getting the pH tomatoes prefer... What to do if your tomato plants don't bloom... Foliage issues...

So if you haven't already staked or mulched your tomatoes, get it done after a nice soaking rain or thorough irrigation. Come back in a few days and we'll tackle the next steps.

Linda Grotzinger