Tomatoes are one of the most prized vegetable to grow in the home garden. A home grown tomato picked straight from the bush and eaten fresh or on a piece of toast for breakfast is one of summers great joys. Luckily, tomatoes are also fairly easy to grow. Good, early preparation will ensure an abundant, disease free harvest in December and beyond.
Origins: The tomato was originally a native of southern America found growing in the Andes as early as 700AD. The original tomato would have been a small cherry like tomato which was probably yellow in colour rather than the original red tomatoes that we see commonly today.
Varieties: When choosing tomato varieties, its important to consider what you are planning to do with your harvest,. If you are looking for a good eating tomato, you can’t go past a Grosse Lisse, Mighty Red, or the rich flavour of the dark skinned heirloom variety, Black Russian. Roma tomatoes are favoured for making sauces and chutneys, and there are many varieties of prolific growing cherry tomatoes, which can be eaten straight from the bush.
When to Plant - Tomatoes can be planted from seed
into pots or trays in late August. If you are using this option use a good quality seed raising mix and position your seedlings in a warm, sunny position protected from the cool nights and frosts that we can get at that time of the year. If you are planning to use established seedlings, its well worth waiting until soil temperatures increase to around 15 to 17 degrees. (how do you gauge that? – I have been told that if you sit on the soil with a bare bum and its uncomfortably cold, its too cold for planting tomatoes – No this is’t something I have tested, but if you happen to give it a go, I’d be happy to hear your results!!) – or you can wait until the end of September or early October when things should be warming up again.
Planting - Its vital that you plant tomatoes into ‘new’ soil, in an spot that hasn’t been used to grow tomatoes, potatoes, capsicum, chilli or eggplant in the previous year. All these vegetables are related and can pass pests and diseases on to the up coming tomato crop. Prepare your soil well in advance with good quality compost or composted animal manure. Tomatoes need to have free draining soils, in a sunny position. If your soils are lacking in calcium, or have a low pH it is beneficial to give the soil a light dusting of lime, this will reduce the likelihood of the fruit developing blossom end rot. When planting seedlings, remove the bottom set of leaves and plant the seedlings deep into the soil, up to the first set of true leaves. New roots will develop along the stem that is under the soil, this method will give your tomatoes a great head start with a well established root system. If you are planting varieties that require staking, make sure that you position the stakes prior to planting, and plant the seedlings around 10cm from the stake. After planting remember to water seedlings well and give them a good layer of mulch. Ongoing Management – Keep your tomatoes well mulched throughout the growing season. Water well through the establishment phase, but once flowers start to form, reduce the watering to every 2 or 3 days, this mild stressing will encourage more flower development and fruit set. Keep the plants well fertilised and with a high potasium fertiliser or tomato food. Potassium encourages flowering and assists in fruit development. If the bushes begin to get too crowded, it is beneficial to give them a light pruning to helps open them up and encourage air flow around the plant, reducing the likelihood of disease developing.
Harvesting - Ideally, tomatoes can be harvested when the turn red on the bush, this gives the best flavour. Continual harvesting will encourage more fruit development.
Recent Comments