 | For a plant/fruit that was once considered poisonous by early Americans, the tomato now enjoys a popularity that is unsurpassed by almost any other fruit. And yes, it is a fruit. Technically speaking, a fruit is any product of a plant, which has a fleshy body covering the seeds. But from a horticultural perspective, tomatoes are a vegetable, because fruits are generally grown on “woody” stalks such as bushes, trees, etc. Once tomatoes caught on in America, politics caught up with them, and the Supreme Court ruled in 1893, that they were a vegetable…so imported tomatoes could be taxed. Because at that time, fruits came into the country duty-free, and farmers were protecting their own crops.
If you’re going to plant a crop of tomatoes this year, make sure you do a little preparation beforehand, from determining your soil type, to the kind of tomato you want to grow, to the care they’ll need to produce the most fruits.
Do you want tomatoes for salads, sandwiches and other immediate eating needs, or are you looking to can them, make spaghetti sauce, relishes and other goodies? That will dictate whether you purchase plants that are “determinate” or “indeterminate”. The determinate varieties of tomatoes generally grow for a specified period, producing all their fruit within a certain time frame, like 2-4 weeks. This is the kind of plant favored by those who like to can or stew them and seal the results in Mason jars. For eating throughout the summer, choose indeterminate varieties, which will grow and bloom for the whole summer. A seed catalogue is an excellent place to find out about the various tomatoes for eating and cooking. As you browse the tomato section of your local nursery, look at the plant tags for information on height, light requirements, and maturation time.
Before planting, consider working a good “feed” of a general vegetable fertilizer into the soil. Something in the range of 5-10-10 or 5-20-20 is good. Remember not to overfeed your young plants with nitrogen. You’ll end up with more leaves than tomatoes. Restrict nitrogen feedings to the first month, and use a general fertilizer every three weeks after that. Tomatoes like a slightly acidic medium, and while they grow in many different kinds of soil, you’ll find they do best in a loamy, organic soil that is enriched with compost, and mulched to keep down pests, weeds, and preserve the moisture in the soil.
Tomatoes in general are a warm weather crop, which means young plants should not be set out until after the last frost of the Spring. In some regions, there are “folk tales” that guide planting, such as not setting them out until after the first full moon in June. If you’re unsure, check with your local gardening center. It’s possible in a small tomato patch, to insert stakes around the outside, and lay a very light fabric such as cheesecloth over the stakes to keep the frost off the tender leaves. If you find that your blossoms are dropping off, it may be due to night temperatures dropping down into the 50s, while the daytime is warm.
If you have chosen tomatoes that will not be staked or caged, plant them about three feet apart, to allow lots of room for vine growth. Be sure to lay down a good mulch of straw or other material so the fruits don’t rest on the ground and rot.
For varieties that require a “cage”,( that wire funnel that is set down over a plant and into the ground at the time you set your plants out) two feet apart will do, since the plants will grow upwards within the confines of the wire.
Those tomatoes that require staking, are generally of the larger varieties. As the plant grows, you tie the stalks to a stake with soft string or thin strips of cloth. One tip for staked tomatoes, is to cut out the “suckers” that sprout from the base of the plant, leaving two main stalks. The yield will be larger and heavier, although not as plentiful.
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