TERRIFIC TOMATOES Dennis Morgeson Agent for Horticulture Washington County
OVERVIEW • Site requirements • Varieties • Growing needs • Bugs • Diseases
WHY DO WE LOVE THEM? • Easy to grow • Eaten raw or cooked • Grown in limited space • High yield • Low in calories • High in Vitamin C • Great Variety
GETTING STARTED – SEEDS VS. TRANSPLANTS Why Start From Seeds? Lots of varieties Many heirlooms Must be able to grow quality transplants to be worth the time, trouble
GETTING STARTED - TRANSPLANTS
• Transplants: Ready to Go Can purchase at planting time • Limited varieties
QUALITY TRANSPLANTS • Short, stocky plants • Dark green color • Sturdy stems the size of a pencil • No disease, insects • No fruit or flowers
DAMPING OFF Sudden seedling death Caused by soil borne fungi Favored by cool, wet soil Fungi attack under soil or at soil line • As seedlings grow, decrease moisture at soil surface to discourage fungi growth • • • •
SITE REQUIREMENT Warm season crop – plant after frost Full sun location for best fruit set Well-draining soil Soil pH of 6.2-6.8 Not in a location where tomatoes or related plants were grown last year • Avoid black walnut trees - juglone • • • • •
VARIETIES • Determinate • Reach specific height • Stop growing • Flower and fruit at growth tip • Fruits for a short period • Good choice for canning/processing
VARIETIES • Indeterminate • Increases in height through the season • Flowers and fruit produced throughout season • Spreads harvest out over longer period
DISEASE RESISTANCE • When selecting, look for cultivars with disease resistance: V = Verticillium wilt F = Fusarium wilt N = Nematodes
BIG BEEF VFFNTA HYBRID Big Beef VFFNTA Hybrid #3310 1994 ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS AWARD. One of the finest ever hybrids yet for home gardeners. Impressive yields of extra-large, 10 to 12 oz. smooth tomatoes with real old-time flavor. Its virtues include great disease resistance, early harvests and fruit that stays enormous even at the end of a long season. Indeterminate. 73 days.
PLANTING • Spacing: 1 ½ to 2 feet apart – small bush types • Larger plants – 3 to 4 feet unstaked • Staked plants – 2-3 feet apart • Caged plants – 3-4 feet apart • Between rows – 4 feet
PLANTING • Can be set deeper due to stem rooting • High phosphorus starter fertilizer at planting – 6-10-4 or 5-10-5 • Water well at planting • Set cage or stake at planting time
TRAINING • Caging: • Supports all sides • No suckers removed • Fewer cracks, sunburn • Fewer green shoulders • Lots of sizes or make your own
TRAINING • Staking: • Keeps plants off ground • Requires stakes, twine • Pruning, desuckering? • Periodically tied up further on stake and twine • Desuckered plants produce fewer, larger fruits
FERTILIZING • At planting with a high phosphorus starter fertilizer • When first fruit is golf ball size – 1 Tablespoon urea in a 6 to 10 inch circle around each plant or • 1 pound urea per 100 foot of row • Repeat at 2 weeks after picking first ripe fruit and • 6 weeks after picking first ripe fruit
WATERING • Water thoroughly at transplant • Need 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week
MULCHING • Prevents weed germination • Moderates extremes in soil moisture • Moderates soil temperature • Aids in disease control by reducing splashing water • Black plastic?
WEED CONTROL • Weeds greatly reduce total production • Compete for water, nutrients, sun, space • Harbor disease and insect pests
WEED CONTROL • Purchase weed-free seed • Prevent weed seed-set • Avoid un-composted manure • Keep borders clean • Avoid infested soils • Avoid weedy transplants
WEED CONTROL TIPS • By hand in small areas, use repeatedly • Mulch when possible • Limited use of chemical control, use in combination with hoeing and mulch • Herbicide drift can harm sensitive plants in the same area • Pre-emergence - before seeds germinate • Post-emergence – after weeds are actively growing
HARVESTING • Vine-ripened – fully finished on vine • Pink stage – finish off the vine • Over 86 degrees – “red” won’t develop, fruit are yellow-orange • Harvest all including green before frost
ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS DISORDERS
Blossom-end Rot: • Dry, black, leathery scar at end opposite stem • Calcium deficiency from extremes in soil water • Most serious when hot, dry • Mulch and irrigate
Blossom Drop • Caused by temp. extremes • Fruit set when night temps are 55 to 75 degrees • No fruit set = blossom drop • “Blossom Set” – may cause misshapen fruit & not effective in high temps.
Fruit cracking • Occurs during rainy hot weather above 90 degrees • Occurs after long dry periods then rain • Radial cracks form
Sunscald: • First as white, yellow patch • Patch blisters, dries • From poor foliage cover from disease or pruning
Blotchy ripening: • Uneven color develops from cool temps, root stress • low potassium
Poor fruit set: •
temperature extremes
•
dry soil
•
shade
•
excessive nitrogen applications
DISEASES Early Blight: • Leaves with dark brown spots with concentric rings • begins on lower foliage and moves up • Leaves shrivel and die • Plants defoliate leaving poor fruit set, sun-scalded fruit
DISEASE RESISTANT EXAMPLE • Tomato Better Boy Hybrid Lycopersicum Better Boy Hybrid Indeterminate vines just keep producing! • Big Yields of Big Fruits -- The Classic Favorite! Fruits weigh in at 10 ounces or more, crammed with flavor. • 70 days from setting out transplants. Indeterminate. A trusted favorite for many years, Better Boy is a great performer with big hybrid-quality yields of succulent, juicy yet meaty tomatoes. A good all-around choice, the plants are resistant to Verticillium Wilt, Fusarium Wilt Race 1, and Nematodes. • Start seeds indoors 5 to 6 weeks before the last frost date. Plant outdoors when danger of frost is past and night temperatures consistently remain above 55 degrees F. If an unexpected late frost is forecasted, protect young plants with plastic sheeting or other cover. Set plants 2 to 2 1/2 feet apart. Pkt is 30 seeds.
EARLY BLIGHT CONTROL
• Maintain proper fertility • Spray foliage at first sign of disease with: chlorothalonil, maneb, mancozeb, fixed copper • Apply fungicide weekly as needed • Make second planting in midsummer • Buy resistant varieties when possible
Fusarium and Verticillium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt
Leaves wilt, turn yellow and fall, often on one side of plant then other Inner vascular tissue is dark, brown Verticillium when cool Fusarium when warm Fusarium Wilt
FUSARIUM, VERTICILLIUM CONTROL
• Use varieties labeled as resistant with “V” or “F” Use crop rotation practices, especially if you have had a previous problem (explain)
Late Blight • fruit develops dark brown or greenish blemishes • blemishes present on stems • found in cool, wet weather • dead areas on leaves with mold undersides
LATE BLIGHT CONTROL
• Maintain proper fertility • Spray foliage at first sign of disease with: chlorothalonil, maneb, mancozeb, fixed copper • Apply fungicide weekly as needed • Use disease-free transplants • Control late blight in potatoes
OTHER POSSIBLE DISEASES
Anthracnose
Septoria Leaf Spot
Leaf Mold
Bacterial Speck
TOMATO PESTS
Tomato Hornworm: • Large, 4” worms with horn on end • Eat foliage, fruit • Use handpicking or Bt
Cutworms: • Cut off plant close to soil in early season • Use a cardboard collar at planting
Stink bugs: • Suck juice from plant and cause white spots to develop just below fruit skin
Root Knot Nematodes • Microscopic worms • Causes plants to be stunted, yellow, wilt • Feed on plant roots • Use resistant varieties noted by “N” on tag
TROUBLE SITES? • Use containers to grow a large amount of tomatoes in a little space • Large containers work best
SOME OF MY PERSONAL FAVORITES Hybrids:
Heirlooms:
Better Boy
Kentucky Beefsteak
Big Beef
Pink Brandywine
Big Boy
Red Brandywine
Park’s Whopper
Pineapple
Super Beefsteak
Big Rainbow
Roma
Cherokee Purple
Sweet Million
Russian
Celebrity (determinate)
German Queen
Jet star
German Johnson
Fantastic
Black Krim
Lemon Boy
Giant Belgium
Super Sauce
San Marzano
Goliath
Hillbilly Potato Leaf
QUESTIONS?