Seven Essentials to Growing Tomatoes
This is my third season of growing tomatoes, and believe me, I have learned a lot in three years. But perhaps one of my greatest sources of knowledge came from a Hydroponic Tomato Growers Workshop that I attended last spring in California. This workshop was geared towards people who were considering starting their own greenhouse tomato business. This was a HUGE source of information for me! There were so many things that I wasn’t doing, and so many things that I was doing in the wrong way. So, from my experience and from what I learned at that workshop, here are are Seven Essentials to Growing Tomatoes.
#1. Start ‘em Early
Ok, you probably knew this one. In Canada our growing season is so short, not only due to the cold, but also due to our limited sunlight hours in the winter. We do have enough sunlight to grow foliage (like lettuce and the like), but we don’t get enough sunlight to produce fruit until about March. So if you have a sunny south window (or artificial lighting), start your tomato plants in late February/early March. That should give you a well established plant to transplant into your greenhouse. Read more about transplanting tomatoes…
#2. Grow Tomatoes in a Greenhouse
You know, tomatoes can be grown in the great outdoors, but they will be one or two months behind those that are in a greenhouse. I’m not sure how many frost-free days you have in your specific area, but you probably don’t want to lose two months of them.
So build a little greenhouse. It doesn’t have to be huge, although you can build a good sized greenhouse for little money as this article explains. Otherwise, Alberta’s weather may greatly hamper your bumper crop.
#3. Don’t Plant ‘Em Too Close
This can be said for lots of things. But especially tomatoes. They are such little plants when you transplant them, it’s easy to forget what a jungle they will grow to be in a couple of months. I did it. (twice) My mother-in-law did it. But don’t do it.
Tomatoes need proper air circulation, not to mention that pruning a jungle is difficult. The exact spacing will vary with variety, but as a general rule, put at least two feet between plants.
#4. Mulch Like Crazy
A good layer of straw mulch will help in a couple of ways. First of all, it’ll suppress the weeds. (That alone is worth it.) Secondly, it’ll keep the soil moist. Tomatoes are heavy drinkers and need a lot of water. A drip irrigation system coupled with a good thick mulch will make sure your tomatoes get the water they need. Just be sure not to over water – that’s what causes your tomatoes to split.
#5. Prune Often
This is the one that often gets missed. Some people believe that the more leaves the plant has, the more energy the plant will receive. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Yes, plants do need some leaves, but too many leaves will actually drain energy away from the plant. All the water and nutrients that the roots soak up must be distributed to those extra leaves, instead of the fruit. So here’s what you need to do.
First, eliminate all suckers. Suckers are the little shoots that appear in the elbow between the stem and a branch. Just bend it over and it will snap right off.
Secondly, remove any branches that are brown or wilting at the bottom. These do your plant no good. Get rid of them. For these, grasp the stem firmly in your hand and push the branch down with your thumb – it will snap off at its natural breaking point.
Did you know that it only takes three branches to support one cluster of fruit? A healthy, unstressed tomato plant should put out three branches, then a cluster of fruit, three more branches, another cluster of fruit, etc… Once the tomato plant has reached a good size, you can start removing three branches per week from the bottom of your plant. Thus, by the time you are ready to pick your tomatoes, there will be no leaves below that fruit cluster. Sounds crazy, I know – but that’s what the professionals do!
Note: For all tomato pruning, avoid cutting them off with a knife or other tools. Snapping them out with your fingers is very easy and the wound caused by breaking heals quickly. A cut is more likely to allow disease to enter.
#6. Pick BEFORE Tomatoes Are Ripe
This is another one that sounds crazy. Popular belief would have you “vine-ripen” your tomatoes. Surely they are sweeter, tastier, and probably better for you…. NONSENSE.
The fact is, by the time the tomato just starts to turn color (that slight greeny-orange color), it already has all of it’s goodness in it. And it’s actually the seeds inside that make the tomato ripen. As the seeds release ethylene (the gas applied to green bananas to make them turn yellow), the tomato ripens.
Don’t get this confused with the tomatoes in the store that are picked green and sprayed with ethylene – these are picked too early and do NOT have all the goodness inside yet.
So why not let them stay on the vine? A plant’s job is to reproduce itself. If the plant thinks it has successfully produced fruit, it will begin to shut down and produce less. But if you take the fruit away before it sends the “Mission Accomplished” signal to the plant, the vine will continue to pour it’s energy into producing fruit. (I hope I didn’t get too scientific for you there…)
#7. NEVER Refrigerate Tomatoes
Store tomatoes at room temperature. Never refrigerate. Temperatures below 12° for even a half an hour will begin to destroy the flavor. They may keep longer, but the amazing flavor that comes from a home-grown tomato will be lost.
So there you have it – not a comprehensive list by any means, but it’ll certainly get you on your way to growing delicious tomatoes in your own backyard. If you know of any other essentials to growing tomatoes, feel free to leave your comments!
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I read your articles earlier and decided to create my own dirt, with 1/3
peatmoss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost from 3 different sources.
I am growing flowers, tomatoes and zucchini, and cucumbers in this
soil. I am finding that the leaves of the tomatoes are taking on a lighter green color and have curling of the leaves and the leaves of
the tomatoe plants are streaked a light green to white color. Can
you help me to figure out what is happening with them? The tomatoes are growing well, other than one beefsteak tomato looks
like it has many scratches on the bottom of it. I also was wondering
whether I need to fertilize everything or not with such good soil?
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
One more question in regards to your tomato growing tips, when
you are growing determinate tomatoes do you still remove suckers,
and if you do will that hurt the plant?
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Linda, let’s see if I can answer all of your questions. First, the leaf curl – this is often a sign of stress and is quite common in outdoor tomato plants. If it were in a controlled environment like a greenhouse, then you might have other problems, but most often this harmless to your plants. There could be many causes – a severe pruning, over watering, transplant stress, etc…
The color issue is likely a deficiency of some sort – I would guess maybe iron. Plain ol’ manure should clear this up.
As for whether or not to fertilize your “home-made” dirt, you shouldn’t need fertilizer in the first year, but if you add a handful per square foot each year, that should be sufficient. However, depending on what compose material you use, your soil could be deficient of some things and fertilizer may in need.
And lastly, I would still remove suckers on determinate tomatoes. As well, for indeterminate tomatoes, at about one month before frost, I would pinch out the growing tip at the top and let the plant put all of it’s energy into existing tomatoes.
Hope this helps!
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:12 am
Dave, thanks for your reply, I really do enjoy reading your website.
I am a new gardener, and are growing tomatoes in raised boxes that
are attached to the deck, in which I added the dirt that you discussed
in a previous website. Can I put the manure, which is a mix of cow,
chicken, horse, etc. on top of the plant, or will it burn it ? The other
question I had about the discoloring of the leaves, could it be from
hail, as we have had our share of it?
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:18 am
Be sure that the manure you add is fully composted before you add it to existing plants. If the manure is ‘home-grown’, it should be composted for at least six months. If it’s store bought manure, it’s most likely already composted. Fully composted manure can be safely added to the soil around your plants. (Ideally, fall is the best time to add manure when there is no threat of burning your plants with fresh manure. Plus you can mix it into your soil without disturbing your plants.)
Hail damage is usually white spots or tears with brown edges. From what you described to me, it doesn’t sound like hail damage. If you could take a picture and send it in to me, I could probably give you a better idea of the cause. (email to dave@albertahomegardening.com)
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
great post…I think I ran out of the house and had to prune my tomatoes immediately! It sure helps!
I would love to see a post on how to prevent worms/moths in radishes and turnips
as well…..
watering systems….greenhouse and outdoors! We bought some soaker hoses at Canadian Tire but they all seem ot have holes in them…Not impressed!
I am so impressed with your greenhouse tomatoes…..I need a greenhouse NOW!…..
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Enjoyed your article. Great tips. Can you recommend some good varieties of greenhouse tomatoes for Alberta? I am growing mine in ‘Maxi-Caps’ in the greenhouse. My favorites so far are Sungold, Sugary and Juliette.
I am trying some heirloom varieties this year as well. Paul Robeson, German Red are doing well but some of the others are not. Some varieties are getting serious blossom end rot and others are not setting on much fruit. Any advice you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks.
August 4th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
In my experience, I’ve found Cherry Sugary, Sweet Baby Girl, and Early Girl to be my personal favorites. I’ve probably only tried about a dozen varieties, so I’m sure there are lots of other good ones out there – perhaps someone else can add their comments…
As for the blossom end rot, this occurs when your tomato plant can’t get enough calcium. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t enough calcium in your soil, but more likely its that your plant can’t absorb the calcium in the soil quickly enough for it’s needs. This can be happen with un-even watering. If you don’t do this already, you should consider a) mulching around your plants to conserve moisture, b) watering your plants on a timer to ensure consistent, adequate water. Hope this helps!
April 7th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
do i need too support tamato plants too grow?
April 7th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Sean – It depends on the type of tomato plant – some do need support, others can manage without… What varieties are you growing?
April 12th, 2010 at 8:44 am
I’m a huge fan of your blog and I read it regularly. Keep up the good work!
May 30th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Thanks for the advice, I shall try to prune right now…
July 28th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Good Morning.. I enjoyed reading your blog, it is very helpful. I have a greenhouse, not my first venture with tomatoes, but this year I have curled leaves on some of my plants. I have a automatic watering system and occassionally water between those times if it is very hot. The plants seem very healthy and only 3 have curled leaves, the tomatoes have set on already. I was curious to know what was wrong with those plants.. Is it a good idea to water once a week with Miracle Grow fertilizer for tomatoes or not?
Thanks. and keep up the great blog..
July 29th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Gillian, it sounds like a water issue. Tomato leaves will curl with too much or too little water. I can’t really speak to your Miracle Grow question as I don’t usually use ferilizers – just yearly compost. ~ Dave
August 5th, 2010 at 7:29 am
Dave.. guess what… it was not a watering issue… but yesterday I found millions of little green aphids… hardly noticiable to the naked eye.. I can’t beleive I missed them. I sprayed all of the plants with Safer Soap.. something I bought years ago, I am nto sure they even sell it anymore.. Today.. millions of the beasts laying on the beds. I am thinking that they came in the soil, as it is a new greenhouse and new soil. Do you have any other suggestions or knowledge of what product I can buy now to spray them again.? Thanks. Gillian