Tomatoes

Buying transplants or starting seeds indoor early, gets tomatoes off to the best start in the garden when warm weather finally arrives and it saves several weeks in growing time. Some gardeners transplant their tomatoes soon after the soil is prepared for spring gardening, when there is a high risk of damage from freezing. Be prepared to cover early set plants overnight to protect them from frost. For best results with very early plantings, consider black plastic mulch and floating row covers for heat accumulation and frost protection. For best results with minimal risk, plant when the soil is warm, soon after the frost-free date for your area.

For fall harvest and early winter storage of tomatoes, late plantings may be made from late spring until mid-summer, depending on the length of the growing season. These plantings have the advantage of increased vigor and freedom from early diseases, and they often produce better quality tomatoes than later pickings from early spring plantings. Time late plantings for maximal yield before killing freezes in your area (up to 100 days from transplanting for most varieties).

Apply starter fertilizer when transplanting. Hoe or cultivate shallowly to keep down weeds without damaging roots. Mulching is recommended, especially for gardeners who wish to maintain their plants for full season harvest. Black plastic or organic materials are suitable for mulching. Delay application of organic materials until after the soil has warmed completely in early summer so that growth is not retarded by cool soil temperatures early in the season.

Water the plants thoroughly and regularly during prolonged dry periods. Plants confined in containers may need daily or even more frequent watering. Side-dress nitrogen fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) at the rate of one pound per 100 feet of row (equivalent to 1 tablespoon per plant) after the first tomatoes have grown to the size of golf balls. (If ammonium nitrate is not available, use 3 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer.) Make two more applications 3 and 6 weeks later. If the weather is dry following these applications, water the plants thoroughly. Do not get fertilizer on the leaves.

Many gardeners train their tomato plants to stakes, trellises or cages with great success. Not all varieties, however, are equally suitable for staking and pruning.

Tomato cages may be made from concrete-reinforcing wire, woven-wire stock fencing or various wooden designs. Choose wire or wooden designs that have holes large enough to allow fruit to be picked and removed without bruising. The short, small, narrow type often sold at garden centers is all but useless for anything but the smallest of the dwarf types. Most modern determinate tomatoes easily grow 3 to 4 feet tall and indeterminates continue to get taller until frozen in the fall, easily reaching at least 6 feet in height. Use cages that match in height the variety to be caged and firmly anchor them to the ground with stakes or steel posts to keep the fruit-laden plants from uprooting themselves in late summer windstorms.

Trellis-weave systems have recently been developed for commercial operations and can work just as well in a garden planting. Tall stakes are securely driven into the tomato row about every two or three plants in the row. Make sure the stakes are tall enough to accommodate the growth of your tomato varieties and make sure they are driven very securely into the ground to prevent wind damage. (The woven rows of tomatoes can catch much wind.) As the tomatoes grow upward, strings are attached to the end posts and woven back and forth between the supports, holding the tops of the plants up and off the ground. This operation is repeated about as often as the tomatoes grow another 6 inches, until the plants reach maturity. The fruit is held off the ground as with staked or caged plants; but the foliage cover is better than with staked plants, and the fruit is more accessible than with cages.

Early breeds

Sub Arctic Plenty (45 days to harvest; 3 to 4 ounces; fruit concentrated in center clusters; determinate)

Early Cascade (55 days; 4 ounces; trailing plant, large fruit clusters; indeterminate; resistant to VF)

Early Girl (54 days; 5 ounces; earliest full size; indeterminate; resistant to V)

Quick Pick (60 days; 4 ounces; round, smooth, heavy yield; indeterminate; resistant to VFNTA)

Medium

Champion (65 days to harvest; 10 ounces; solid, smooth, large; indeterminate; resistant to VFNT)

Mountain Spring (65 days; 9 ounces; globe, very smooth; determinate; resistant to VF)

Yellow or Orange

Mountain Gold (OP) (70 days to harvest; 8 ounces; deep tangerine orange; determinate; resistant to VF)

Lemon Boy (72 days; 7 ounces; lemon yellow, mild flavor, productive; indeterminate; resistant to VFN)

Jubilee (OP) (72 days; 8 ounces; deep orange-yellow; indeterminate)

Golden Boy (80 days; 8 ounces; deep golden fruit, few seeds; indeterminate)

Small-Fruited/Salad

Super Sweet 100 (70 days to harvest; 1 inch; red, cherry-sized fruit in large clusters; indeterminate; resistant to VF)

Sweet Million (65 days; 1 inch; red, sweet, crack resistant; large clusters; indeterminate; resistant to FNT)

Yellow Pear (OP) (70 days; 1 inch; clusters of yellow, pear-shaped fruit; indeterminate)

Large Red Cherry (OP) (70 days; 1-1/2 inch; solid, deep red, tasty fruit; indeterminate)

Mountain Belle (65 days; 1 1/4 inch; red, crack resistant, ripens uniformly and holds on the vine; determinate; resistant to VF)

Dwarf/Container

These tomatoes are popular for use in containers, hanging baskets and garden or patio locations where space is limited. Because more people now live where traditional vegetable gardening is not possible, container and patio gardens have become more popular. Their ornamental value is an added benefit and their fruit quality has recently been improved as well. They have fruit in red and some other colors and are not suitable for pruning (except the new Husky hybrids).

Tiny Tim (45 days to harvest; 1 inch; very dwarf, red cherry fruit; determinate)

Cherry Gold (45 days; 1 inch; golden version of Tiny Tim; determinate)

Red Robin (55 days; 1 inch; super-dwarf plant, 6 inches tall; mild taste; determinate)

Yellow Canary (55 days; 1 inch; similar to Red Robin, but yellow fruit; determinate)

Pixie Hybrid II (52 days; 2 ounces; compact dwarf plants; determinate)

Patio Hybrid (65 days; 3 ounces; strong dwarf plants, relatively large fruit, ideal container plant; determinate)

Small Fry (72 days; 1 inch; red, good in hanging baskets; determinate)

Husky Red Hybrid (68 days; 6 ounces; dwarf plant, large fruit; extended harvest; indeterminate; resistant to VF)

Husky Gold Hybrid (70 days; 6 ounces; AAS winner; same plant types as Red and Pink; gold fruit; indeterminate; resistant to VF)

Husky Pink Hybrid (72 days; 6 ounces; smooth pink fruit on same husky-type plant; indeterminate; resistant to VF)