FROM THE GROUND UP

Tomato Time

"Early Girl" tomato vines will grow up to 6 feet tall and need stakes or cages for support to hold up the heavy clusters of fruit.

Plants grow quickly in warm days of August, but it's important to pick the right variety

By LESLIE CRAWFORD

August is a great time to plant a final crop of tomatoes. The days are warmer so tomatoes will grow faster than earlier months, producing a fall crop of fresh produce in your garden.

There are thousands of varieties of tomatoes, but it’s important to plant tomatoes suited to our coastal climate. The coast has fewer hot days than inland areas, so choosing a plant with fewer days until harvest — also known as early varieties — will be a key to success.

Plant tags yield a lot of information including days until harvest. Local nurseries can help with selection. Some early varieties to watch for are ‘Early Girl’ and ‘Celebrity.’ If you prefer cherry tomatoes, ‘Sungold’ and ‘Sweet 100’ are good options.

You’ll also need to decide on determinate and indeterminate tomato varieties. Determinate varieties have a limited growth pattern, are typically bushier, which is good for container gardening, and produce all their fruit at one time. Indeterminate tomatoes — cherry tomatoes are a good example — continue to grow, producing fruit until killed by frost. They can get big and have the potential to take over a garden.

Tomatoes need full sun for six hours a day and will thrive next to a south-facing wall for heat reflection. People with a south-facing stucco wall have success with year-round producing plants. Stake them for support when you plant them, so you don’t disturb the roots later.

Once established, tomatoes don’t need as much water as you might think, but they do need to be watered deeply and consistently, which is even more important as the fruit

The "Sungold" cherry tomato is a good option for Coronado's coastal climate. The popular variety grows in clusters of eight to 10 fruits.

TOMATO TIDBITS

• In the United States, more tomatoes are consumed than any other single fruit or vegetable. Technically, the tomato is considered a fruit. • Tomatoes are packed with vitamins A and C, calcium and potassium. • Cooked tomatoes are better for you than raw ones because cooking releases more beneficial chemicals.

LESLIE CRAWFORD

The giant hornworm can destroy an entire tomato plant in just one day.

matures. Use mulch to keep moisture fluctuation to a minimum. The droopiness of a plant is a good indicator whether it’s time to water. If your plant is wilting in the morning or late afternoon, it needs water. Don’t judge it by midday droop.

Once a plant is established, water once a week, deep watering in the morning so it can dry off the rest of the day. Overwatering leads to the fruit splitting, and your tomatoes will be tastier if they aren’t overwatered.

Tomatoes like food to help them grow. Find a fertilizer for tomatoes that has the correct balance of nutrients, but don’t overdo it. Overfertilizing will create a luscious plant, but you won’t get any tomatoes.

While tomatoes are easy to grow, issues can crop up.

One pest is the giant hornworm, the caterpillar of a sphinx moth. One big hornworm can decimate an entire plant in one day. These critters are hard to spot, blending in with the plant until they are monsters, getting as round and long as your little finger. You’ll know they are around because you’ll see little black caterpillar droppings around the base of your tomato.

Use a blacklight at night to make the hornworms glow and easier to spot and

you can pull them off. To keep the upper hand on the pests, use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a microbe found naturally in soil that makes proteins that are toxic to caterpillars.

Blossom end rot is another problem to watch for. It strikes the fruit of tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. The end or bottom of the fruit sinks in, turns dark brown or black and gets tough. Calcium deficiency is the cause, so you can preempt the problem by amending the soil with a shot of calcium, such as bone meal and eggshells.

Take advantage of the warm weather over the next couple of months and treat yourself to homegrown tomatoes. A fresh cherry tomato picked warm off the vine is one of life’s little pleasures. ■