A recipe for growing successful tomatoes

By Staff
Jerry A. Chenault, Urban Regional Extension Agent, New and Nontraditional Programs
If there's any one topic that Extension agents think most about (even in their sleep) this time of year, it's tomatoes. Fixing broken tomatoes. Malfunctioning "dermaters." Seems millions of people grow them; and most have at least some kind of problem. And now that Extension agents are spread thinly over several counties each, these problems can be a real problem. Get my drift? So, here's the plan:
Let's make a fail-proof recipe for growing tomatoes. Really! I can't guarantee that this recipe will be 100 percent all the time, but it's as close as I can calculate and I think it will give tomato growers tranquility and prosperity.
Starting with the site. Set plants in full sun. Just gotta. No shade allowed. And the soil needs to have at least one-fourth (in the planting hole) rotted manure or compost. Make that hole big (2 ft. wide by 12 inches deep), and add a blessing of 1/2 cup of fertilizer (such as 8-8-8). Add 2/3 cup of lime to each hole if your soil hasn't been tested and limed in the past three years. Mix all this stuff up, and pick a tomato variety with a long name to go in the hole.
A long name? Yep! One with lots of initials after it, that is. Like "Celebrity VFFN". Those initials stand for disease resistances. The "N" is for nematode resistance. Select hardy, disease-free plants. And water them in after you plant … even if the soil is moist already. Then mulch around each plant with 4 inches of old sawdust or 5-8 inches of wheat straw (or pine needles) in a circle. This does all kinds of good things for your tomatoes. Don't skip it.
Now, we're back in modern times again. Back to where you probably already are in this year's production. What can you do? Add nitrogen! Sprinkle 1 tablespoon in an 8-inch circle around the base of each plant after the first fruits are 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Repeat this again every 4 to 6 weeks. You'll be amazed.
Water your plants about once per week if it doesn't rain. Water deeply (6 inches deep) … not a quick squirt here and there. Support your growing beauties with either stakes or cages, and spray every week (beginning when plants are 8 inches high) with an insecticide (such as Malathion or Thiogard) mixed with a fungicide labeled for vegetables (such as Bravo/Daconil). An occasional substitution of Sevin as an insecticide is okay, but it won't take out the aphids which can cause some real problems for your plants. Don't let those insects ever get their dirty little needles stuck into your leaves (or your tomatoes may get virus diseases that cannot be repaired!).
So there it is – a complete recipe for tomato success. May you grow some real whoppers this year.