In Part 1 of Growing Tomatoes , we learnedhow to begin come , thin out your seedlings , and the best planting techniques to get your tomatoes off to a solid start . Now we ’ll discuss how to keep them fruitful during the grow season .
Tomato pruning basics
Pruning tomatoes of the determinate ( bush ) variety is usually not necessary . However , you may wish to do so during wet and cool summers in ordering to increase aura circulation around the tomato plants to prevent fungal contagion . With indeterminate ( vine ) cultivar , pruning is recommended to ensure an excellent craw .
Start crop tomato vines about three weeks after you ’ve planted seedling in your garden . transfer all suckers as they develop so that all of the growth is on one chief stem . Suckers are the prow outgrowths that appear in the crotch of each leafage . They will hold bloom and yield just as the subdivision do , but we should think about concentrating resources for yield tone and size of it . Learn more about clip tomatoes in my post here .
If you ’re supporting the love apple vine with wooden post , top off the plant once it reaches the top of the stake , so the vine does n’t outgrow its support . employ cloth , shoe laces , or garden twine to tie the tomato vine to the wooden post to forfend cutting into the stem . Always splice - in generally to grant for growth and stem node .
How weather affects tomato growth and fruiting
The mood in your surface area , even the microclimate in your garden , is a significant factor in how much fruit your tomato plant plants will bring on . tomato plant are to begin with native to the coastal areas of South America and they thrive under similar weather condition weather : ironical line and temps in the 80 - 85 degree range . During pie-eyed and cool summer , tomato blightand other fungous infections can be frequent and widespread , which sometimes result in a complete loss of plants and yield . Earlyheatwaves , with temps in the 90 + ambit when the plants are young , slows their maturation and reduce fruit set . I ’ve see flowers completely drop off the plant during an early June 100 point heatwave . rowing covers can be effectual in protect your seedling in either of these situations .
How to water tomato plants
love apple should only be watered around their root zones . Do n’t body of water from overhead with a hosepipe or sprinkler , as the wet left on the leaves and fruit may encourage fungous infections . In the absence of 1″ of rainfall in a calendar week , water your plants deep andmore often if need during heat undulation . How much is enough ? Your fingerbreadth is a smashing wet meter – stick your indicator fingerbreadth into the ground up to the middle knuckle . The footing should feel wet the entire distance , but not saturate .
Lycopersicon esculentum need consistent moisture when fruit is on the vine to avoid cracking andblossom end rot . Both consideration may appear on the fruit after a long period of teetotal , intense heat follow by heavy pelting . Keep tomatoes well water during ironical conditions to debar this .
Companion plant tomatoes with herbs and leafy greens
Tomatoes like the society ofbasil , parsley , bush beans , mint , nasturtium , marigolds , garlic , andleafy vegetables . The herbs and flowersattract beneficial insectsthat quarry on Lycopersicon esculentum pest and the leafy vegetables love the shade that Lycopersicon esculentum plants provide when summertime is at its most extreme point . The herbaceous plant should also keep rabbits from reach a home in the cool tincture of matured industrial plant – supposedly they detest the smell .
When to harvest tomatoes
For indeterminate love apple ( vine type ) , harvesting will lead off with the first ripe tomato and continue through frost . Determinate tomatoes ( bush case ) will , for the most part , ripen within a period of one month and then the plant will begin to embrown and fleet off .
It ’s jolly easy to distinguish when your tomatoes are quick to be picked . They ’ll be soft yet unfluctuating to the tactual sensation , have a nice mature colouring , and can be pulled from the stem with a gentle tug . If it does n’t need to let go , it ’s not ready . As thedate of your first frostdraws near , harvest the green tomatoes which have no chance of ripening and add them inside . permit the flora take aim all of its energy into the more matured tomato which have a better chance to mature before Jack Frost visits .
How to Save Tomato Seeds
Tomato come are one of the light seeds to save – just witness the thousands ofheirloom tomato seedspassed down through generations .
The process is moderately mere , harmonise to Marc Rogers inSaving Seeds : The Gardener ’s scout to Growing and stash away Vegetable and Flower Seeds : “ It is the whole plant , rather than an isolated individual yield , that you should consider ( saving ) in make your extract … the toothsome , early - bear plant life that you ’d prefer first to eat is the one from which you should deliver ejaculate . ”
Steps to save tomato seeds:
When the seed are fully ironical , store them in a white envelope inside a mason jounce . Keep them nerveless until next season , preferably in the back of your refrigerator , but never let the seeds freeze . verify you mark the envelope with the love apple cultivar and the appointment harvested and any other data you might recover useful .
Note that it is not advisable to save seeds from intercrossed ( F1 ) tomatoes , as the yield which get from them may not resemble the yield of the parent plant .
How to store tomatoes
Do not put in freshly pick tomatoes in the icebox , as they mislay spirit quickly – they ’re best held at elbow room temperature . If your harvesting exceeds the amount which you could exhaust before they go bad , there are a few direction to put in tomato for late use .
Freezing is quite good . If you ’ll be using them in the next month or two , simply chop up them up and freeze them in Mason jars . you could also freeze the Lycopersicon esculentum whole . If you ’ll be holding them longer , par - boil them , score the hide while hot , skin , and then jar and freeze . This is fantastic if you make a lot of sauces over the wintertime .
I line up freeze out to be the simplest and fastest method if you have the blank and are not subject to frequent electrical outages . Of course , if you have enough tomato , you could make a tub of sauce right away and freeze that for your winter pasta lulu . Other way of safekeeping tomatoes are by freezing - dry out or by canning . Learn the basics of put up in this place .
