Everything about tomatoes
Which tomato varieties are best for you?
Which tomato varieties should a beginner or intermediate gardener grow? It depends on how much time you have. The first year requires lots more time for setting up.
Cherry tomatoes have many advantages and are what Deep Roots recommends that beginner gardeners grow in their first year. They grow well in large pots. Harvest them as soon as they are ripe. Since the fruit weighs less and is smaller tomato cages work well. If the cage starts to tip over just put a sturdy stake down the middle. They need less pruning. And sometimes no pruning is okay too. But pruning excess leaves and stems means more energy goes to producing fruit. You can harvest gradually all season long. Kids and adults love eating them right off the plant. Plus, squirrels don’t general like to eat them.
Determinate tomatoes or “bush” tomatoes, are the easiest to grow since they are smaller. They don’t require a trellis or pruning. But you might need a stake depending how tall they get. They need carful protection against squirrels if you don’t have a dog that runs around your yard often. But the disadvantage of determinate tomatoes is a large harvest all at once which is fine for a farmer who sells their crops, but not so great for a family who wants to harvest and eat a few tomatoes at a time. Always choose determinate tomatoes for a small container. Ash from a fireplace placed at the bottom of the seedling hole adds potassium and produces a big harvest and healthy fruit. We will try this trick this season. See video about adding ash
Indeterminate tomatoes are a vine that grows tall, produces fruit gradually. But they will need careful pruning, support and staking. A plant with very large and a heavy fruit needs even sturdier support. They need lots of protection from squirrels in our local area. Add trellis photos.
Further down this page are ideas for stopping squirrels, plant support and pruning.
Where to buy your tomato seedlings:
Seed and Seedling Sale on the Deep Roots online store: Deadline to pre-order is April 20. Good Earth Greenhouse is growing 4 indeterminate varieties of organic seedlings for the Deep Roots community: (1) Sun Gold (yellow and orange cherry tomato), (2) Early Girl (medium size), (3) Green Zebra (discourages squirrels), and (4) Brandywine (large heirloom). Learn more here.
Good Earth Greenhouse 7900 Madison Street, River Forest collaborates with Deep Roots on our online Seedling and Seed Sale. They sell many varieties of conventional tomato seedlings at their store that are NOT in the Deep Roots online store. They sell many varieties of conventional determinate tomatoes. Shop and Share Days (May 5 to May 17, 2020) at the greenhouse gives Deep Roots 10% of all purchases. Watch for a flier in a Deep Roots newsletter that you need to bring to the greenhouse so they know to donate 10% of your purchase amount to Deep Roots.
The Oak Park Tomato Lady (Lissa Dsyart) grows a large selection of organic seedlings at her home. Sign up for her newsletter on her website to get her list of tomato varieties and sale dates.
Website: https://tomatoladyoakpark.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TomatoLadyOakPark
Email: tomatoladyoakpark[at]gmail.com
News Story: https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/5-7-2019/Oak-Park's-'Tomato-Lady'/
Temperature is very important
Tomatoes, peppers, and basil are all plants that really need to be in 50 degree or above weather, so you want to wait until the night temps are staying above 50º to put your plants outside uncovered and/or put in the ground. The soil, however, needs to be 15 to 60 degrees before planting seedlings. The soil is usually colder than the air in spring.
Usually Mother's Day May 10 is the start to when to plant tomatoes, but it can end up being later, unless you want to babysit them. If you do want to plant earlier than Mother's Day just keep an eye on the weather. If it's going under 50 degrees you can put something over your plants to help mitigate the cold, ie: a milk jug with the top cut off and set over each one upside down, a sheet over the plantings, or a bucket put upside down over each. “Floating row cover” is light-weight gardening fabric that is placed on top of the seedlings if temperatures may go before 50º. The idea is to make a little microclimate so they will stay cozy with the heat from the soil.
Sunlight
Tomatoes, like other fruiting vegetables (e.g., squash, melons, peppers), need at least 6 hours of full sun every day. However, it doesn’t have to be consecutive; if there’s shade during part of the day, that’s ok, as long as the plant gets a total of six hours.
Building healthy soil
Tons of healthy, happy soil microorganisms is the foundation for healthy plants and healthy soil. This is the single most important factor in increasing the harvest and growing nutrient dense organic produce that can keep our families and community healthy. As the microbe population grows the soil fertility increases. A deep, organically rich soil encourages the growth of efficient, extensive roots that are able to reach more nutrients and water. The result is extra-lush, extra-productive growth and pest resistance. Just as the microbes in the human body both aid digestion and maintain our immune system, soil microorganisms both digest nutrients and protect plants against disease and other threats.
Don’t till your soil. The more you disturb or compact your soil the less fertile it becomes. Soil should be loose and fluffy with lots of air pockets to allow flow of air and water. So don’t till or walk on your soil.
Super Growth Edible Soil Blend sold on the Deep Roots online store contains top soil, dense leaf mulch, leaf compost, sand and charged biochar in the proper proportions.
Biochar is a special kind of pulverized charcoal specifically manufactured for use in farming and gardening soils. The biochar mixed into the initial soil of a bed or container remains in the soil to increase fertility and water absorption while decreasing nutrient leaching. “Activated” or “charged” biochar has microbes and nutrients already in its pores. Deep Roots charges raw biochar by storing half biochar and half organic composted manure in a large bin for about 6 months. Never add raw “uncharged” biochar to your soil.
Biochar works well as an ingredient in potting mix for container plants, seeds, cuttings, or transplants. It can be used as a substitute for perlite, vermiculite, wood chips, and/or pine bark, which are typically added to peat moss to improve its physical properties including water drainage and aeration. We are still researching the best recipe for potting soil for containers.
Fertilizing
Tomatoes are “heavy feeders” — pulling nutrients out of the soil faster than most plants. Also, their nutrient needs change over the season to support 3 stages of growth – roots, leaves and fruit. There are several ways to fertilize tomatoes depending if it’s a raised bed, in ground bed or container. More water and nutrients will leach out from containers. There are many commercial multi-purpose organic fertilizers for tomatoes, herbs and veggies. They are easier since the many nutrients and ingredients that tomatoes need through the stages of growth are all in one bag.
Our favorite multi-purpose organic tomato fertilizers are made by Dr. Earth and Espoma. They contain mycorrhizae fungi which will give an extra health and size boost to all your veggies. Most gardens are dominated by healthy soil bacteria.
Dr. Earth Organic Tomato Tone serves as both a starter and a maintenance fertilizer. It has microbes and mycorrhizae fungi. Plus, it becomes a spray fertilizer (“foliar spray”) when dissolved in water. This is the multi-purpose fertilizer we have used in Estelle’s testing garden. Follow the directions on the package for how much to put into a seedling hole or a large container and how to apply for the remainder of the season.
Espoma Organic Bio-Tone Starter Plus Fertilizer is added to the seedling hole since it has nutrient, microbes and mycorrhizae fungi for building root mass and giving roots the ability to absorb more nutrients. But switch to Espoma Tomato-tone Organic Fertilizer 3-4-6 for periodic applications until harvest. Video: https://www.espoma.com/gardening/container-gardening/tomatoes-in-containers/
Deep Roots will continue to research and test other commercial multi-purpose and DIY fertilizing methods. Learn more about compost and fertilizers on our “Compost and Fertilizers“ page.
Tomatoes in raised beds and containers
Tomato roots like to go deep. Use a 15” or taller raised bed or container. Leave 4 inches of space at the top for dense leaf mulch.
On YouTube we found an intriguing method for growing determinate tomatoes in small containers by Jeff Bernhard. He uses a unique combination of fertilizers that we have not yet had time to test and research. He use a Miracle Grow liquid fertilizer I wouldn’t use. We want to try his method with lots of biochar in the potting soil. Some experiments with lots of biochar in container plants have been promising for retaining water and nutrients.
The Secret of Great Container Tomatoes by Jeff Bernhard, on the Executive Gardener YouTube channel. Videos of the same tomato plants starting out in grow bags and a few month later: Video1 Video2
Spacing
Space the seedlings according to the directions on the seedling label – 18 to 36 inches apart. Spacing depends on type and size of the plant. Indeterminate tomato if pruned properly will grow mostly vertically and push more energy into the fruit and away from leaf growth.
Planting your seedlings
It’s difficult to grow tomatoes from seed, so most gardeners buy seedlings from a greenhouse or nursery. Seedlings come in a variety of sizes; try to get larger, healthy-looking ones — 10” tall or taller. Wait until after the last frost to plant. Consider heating your bed prior to planting by covering with black plastic (weigh it down with rocks) for two weeks prior to plant date.
What is “hardening off”? Seedlings grown indoors need to adjust to outdoor temperature, wind and light conditions before they can be transplanted. Place the seedling pots outside on a few warm days and take them indoors at night. This gets them used to outdoor conditions and is called “hardening off.”
Dig a hole twice as large as the pot. Add about a cup of compost and a multipurpose organic “starter” fertilizer like Dr Earth Organic Tomato Tone OR Espoma Organic Bio-Tone Starter Plus that contain multiple nutrients, plant food, microbes and mycorrhizae fungi. The ECTO and ENDO mycorrhizae develop the roots to allow better absorption of nutrients and is essential to the first stage of growth.
Cut off the bottom set of leaves. Plant the root ball and the stem up to the top two sets of leaves. This sounds odd, but lots more roots will form from the buried stem and result in a sturdier and healthier plant. This video, planting in a container, also applies to a raised beds or a ground lever beds. I usually use Dr. Earth Tomato One Fertilizer or Espooa organic Tomato in the seedling hole.
Watering
A 4-inch of dense leaf mulch covering the soil retains moisture much longer and keeps disease from splashing on the lower leaves. Test before you water. Plants will wilt from too much heat, not enough water and too much water. When you push your finger into the soil, does the tip feel damp? When you pull your finger out, are there lots of tiny soil particles? Water regularly only when when seedlings are first planted. Let the soil dry out before deeply watering since this encourages more intensely flavored tomatoes. Tomatoes need about one inch rain per week, and more during the hottest days. Water in the morning, if possible, and avoid getting water on the leaves, as this can promote disease. Water slowly and around the stem and don't spray so that the soil splashes back up on the leaves which can cause disease. Some people prefer drip irrigation to keep optimal moisture levels.
Learn more
Learn more about Deep Root dense leaf mulch
https://www.deep-roots-project.org
Soil moisture ball test method
Soil moisture finger test
Trellis options
Trellis choices are all about what you want to spend, how you want it to look, how tall you want the plants (and if you can harvest very high up). The goal is mainly to keep the plants off the soil to reduce viruses, and keep good air flow around plants. That being said, tomatoes ARE vines, and I know someone who grows her tomatoes as true vines on the ground, with a layer of straw between the soil and the vine for a virus buffer, and as a mulch for the roots (and she has great success with it.)
Trellis options: (1) Use tomato cages (circular or square), (2) Deeply bury a strong stake and tie the plant’s main stem to it, (3) Tie the main stem to a flat trellis or side of an arbor, (4) Tie a row of tomatoes to several rows of horizontal strings supported by sturdy metal stakes buried deep in the ground at the outer edge of a bed (called the “Florida Weave”).
Although the heavy wire tomato cages are the easiest to use you have to buy the tallest ones you can find for the large indeterminate tomatoes plants. Plus, bury as even taller sturdy stake down the middle of the cage to keep a large plant from toppling over from the weight of the tomatoes at the end of the season.
Pruning tomatoes
Determinate tomatoes don’t need major pruning but indeterminate tomatoes do. What’s the difference between “indeterminate” and “determinate” tomatoes?
Pruning determinate tomatoes, or “bush” tomatoes, are varieties that grow to a compact height (3 to 4 ft). Determinate tomatoes stop growing when fruit sets on the top bud. All the tomatoes from the plant ripen at approximately the same time (usually over a period of 1- 2 weeks). Removing the bottom leaves is sufficient. Video.
Pruning Indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow all season and are usually very prolific. Many favorite heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate varieties. Pruning indeterminate tomatoes correctly is critical so the plant’s energy goes into the fruit, not the leaves. Allow one or two main stems called “leaders.” Prune the “suckers” (new baby branches) since they will begin new main stems. Suckers grow at a 45º angle between the main stem and a branch of leaves. Video
Cherry tomatoes can have 3 to 4 large leaders. Prune “suckers” so plant energy goes into fruit production
Protections from squirrels
Squirrels eating tomatoes is a huge problem in the Oak Park area. Learn about the squirrel combat zone.
(1) Grow only cherry tomatoes. Squirrels tend not to eat my cherry tomatoes, but do eat all larger tomatoes, from my experience. They eat the green zebra tomatoes much less and sometimes not at all. Some protections from squirrels:
(2) Put a small brown paper lunch bag over the tomato when it starts turning beige or reddish but is still somewhat green. If the squirrel doesn’t see the red tomato it doesn’t know it’s there. Check every day for new ripening tomatoes and add more paper bags.
(3) Cover the tomato bed with deer barrier netting or light weigh metal fencing. Securely attach vertical posts in the corners of the bed (or pound into the ground) and drape the netting over them. Weigh down the bottom of the netting with bricks or stones. If you grow indeterminate tomatoes make the roof of the netting tall enough to fit your trellis or tomato cage. Make an way to easy get inside.
(4) To cover a single small or medium-size tomato plant with netting make a dome-shape frame with two half-inch white PVC pipes bent into upside-down U shapes. This dome netting structure may be sold online.
(5) Surround a single tomato plant with hardware cloth – a light-weight metal screen that can be taller than a tomato cage.Cover the top too. Make it easily opened and closed so you can reach inside.
(6) Dogs and cats often will keep the squirrels away from your tomato beds even if they are NOT always in the yard. I have noticed that squirrels don’t like to nest and hang out in yards where dogs and cats live. Maybe try borrowing your neighbor’s dog for a couple hours a day in your yard. But be careful since some dogs like to dig up plants.
(7) Squirrel repellent pellets made from fox urine are a new product sold in some hardware stores and online. The pellet go around the outside of the pot or bed. Make sure there is no access from above for a squirrel to jump onto the top of the plant.
(8) Chili powder is one of the most surefire ways to deter squirrels from your garden. Squirrels tend to bury their noses into the ground when digging around in a garden. If they get a snout full of hot chili pepper they will run the other way and think twice before coming back around. Natural Ways to Repel Squirrels From the Garden Using Spices
Pest control
Bugs like tomatoes. Here are some common pests and some ways to eliminate or minimize damage (or loss of fruit, in the case of squirrels).
Tomato hornworm: These large green worms have a long red horn-like protuberance on one end. If you seem them, you can just pick them off the plant and dispose of them.
Tomato fruitworm: These are one inch green worms with yellow or white stripes. You can also pick these off the plants.
Diseases and other conditions
Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. The blossom end (opposite the stem) will start to get soft and turn black. Fertilize with Epsom Salt as explained in the fertilizing section above. It’s more a calcium absorption problem in the plant than soil deficiency problem
Powdery mildew of tomato is a relatively new fungal disease in North America. Symptoms include white coating on leaves and stems, yellowing, desiccation, and defoliation. The leaves will be covered with a white spots which will eventually cover the whole leaf and eventually kill the plant. Damp leaves, overcrowding plants can also contribute to the mildew. Pruning excess leaves opens up air flow and redirects energy to the fruit. Water in the morning so the water can evaporate.
There are DIY organic sprays as well as commercially available products to treat and prevent mildew. We recommend organic/biological products over chemical ones. Try a dilute milk spray of one part cow's milk and nine parts water. Another home-made spray is one teaspoon baking soda in a quart of water. It's thought that raising the pH of the plant's surface discourages the fungus. Neem oil has helped reduce and remove powdery mildew. Do not apply oils during a drought, when temperatures are above 90º F, or within two weeks of treating plants with a sulfur product.
Leaf spot looks like a black spot with a yellow ring around it.
Early blight
Harvesting
When are they ripe? You can usually tell by color, if you have planted red tomatoes. Others, for instance, green zebra tomatoes, are green when ripe, but the stripes get more yellow and the fruit yields slightly when pressed.
Ripening indoors
Ripen tomatoes indoors on a window sill that gets sunlight. Or put tomatoes in a paper bag with an apple which produces a gas that promotes ripening. There are great recipes for green tomatoes for the ones that never ripen.
Tomatoes Growing in Containers
View more details about growing tomatoes in containers in our “Container Gardening Growing Tips” page.
Use standard potting soil with the fertilizer listed above until Deep Roots has time to test a new potting soil recipe using charge biochar mentioned in the “Healthy Soil” section above.
The Secret of Great Container Tomatoes by Jeff Bernhard, Executive Gardener YouTube channel, Videos of the same tomato plants starting out in grow bags and a few month later: VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2
This is an intriguing method for growing determinate tomatoes in small containers or grow bags by using a unique combination of fertilizers. We want to try this method will the biochar-rich potting soil mentioned above. You may find these videos interesting.
Growing tomatoes in hanging baskets
Growing Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets Vertical Gardening article
If you have a small garden, growing tomatoes in a hanging basket is a way to create vertical space.
Choosing Right Tomato Variety: The best ones for baskets are ‘hundreds and thousands’ (UK variety), Tumbling Tom (both red and yellow) and Maskotka.
Choosing a Basket: Use a 12 inches deep hanging basket and line it plastic. Make some drainage holes in the plastic and place it inside the basket. Hanging baskets dry out quickly and lining them helps keep moisture in the soil.
Soil: Use potting mix instead of garden soil. We recommend you make your own by substituting our charged biochar for the vermiculite, perlite, and/or shredded wood. Biochar holds water better than these ingredients normally used in potting mix. Using biochar in potting soil is a very new innovation and most gardeners don’t know about it.
Fertilizer: Add slow-release granular fertilizer before planting. We like Dr. Earth Tomato, vegetable and Herb Fertilizer. Add a 1-inch layer of composted cow manure on top. Over the season feed occasionally with potassium-rich liquid fertilizer for optimum growth.
Sun: Hang your basket in your sunniest spot. Tomatoes need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily to form fruits.
Planting: One plant per pot is ample. Cover it with mulch to stop evaporation. If your basket is big enough, you can also plant herbs like basil, chive, and mint with tomatoes. Vinca, marigold, and nasturtium are good companion plants, too. Don’t hang your basket at a windy spot and find a stable structure to hang it.
Watering: Carefully water because hanging baskets dry out quickly. Water your tomato plants daily, if you live in the hot climate, water twice in a day in summer.
Intercropping with tomatoes and companion plants
MiGardener video: Plants you can intercrop with tomatoes to maximize yield & protect soil health
There are several advantages to growing a low crop at the base of your tomato plants.
Intercropping grows more food in less space. Wasted space around the base of vertical tomatoes is only wasted if you don’t use it. But to give the short crops space to grow and breath heavily prune the lower leaves of the tomato plants.
Plan how the sun falls on the empty space at the base of the row of tomatoes.This works best if one row of tomatoes is down the middle of a rectangular bed. If one short side faces north and the other short side faces south, the sun reaches both of the long sides of the bed.
Intercropping increases the diversity in the garden which controls pests. Tomato hornworms seek out one crop by scent (pheromones) like many pests. Increasing biodiversity increases the pheromones and masks the tomato scent reducing the number of pests.
Small plants at the base of your tomato plants can be a “living mulch” that has several benefits. It covers bare soil discouraging weed seeds to sprout. It also protects from sun that can bake the soil which can kill the good microbes. And also protects form heavy rain that can wash nutrients out of bare soil and from strong wind that can blow soil away. The living mulch protects from evaporation keeping more moisture in the soil. But additional dense leaf mulch under the short plants.
Why are good and bad plants to use for intercropping with tomatoes?
Since tomato plants are very heavy feeders its bad to plant heavy feeders at the base. Don’t plant spinach which feeds heavily on nitrogen. Lettuce feeds lightly on nitrogen so will work fine. Very early in the season you can plant radishes in the shaded areas.
In the shady middle of the bed grow lettuce and herbs that don’t require a lot of nutrients or sun like thyme, oregano, and sage. Thyme is a low-growing ground-cover that requires little care, protects the soil, likes the shade and grow high yields. Extend the yield of lettuce by protecting it from the hot sun. Lettuce bolts (grows flowers and turns bitter) because of the stress from the sun’s heat.
Put sun-loving plants in full sun along the longs sides of a rectangular bed. Beans are sun-loving crops that don’t take much nitrogen from the soil and often give nitrogen back to the soil.
Plant roots crops like carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas that don’t need lots of nitrogen and have spindly low foliage that won’t compete for sun or block air flow.
Don’t plant under tomatoes tall large plants like broccoli and brussel sprouts.
Flowers are great to plant under tomatoes because they increase pollination from insects. Aldo some flowers like marigolds repel bad insects like tomatoes horn worm, aphids and soil boring nematodes. Lavender like full sun.
Onions grow well with tomatoes because they don’t restrict air flow because their leaves are really tall and spindly. They won’t compete for nutrients and they won take up much space.
