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.
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