How to grow healthy tomatoes

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There is a local garden nursery in town here called Farmington Gardens. We bought about 90% of our plants and seeds there this year, and really like the quality of their plants and the staff is very helpful. On their website is you can find a link to their blog, which I check a couple times a week. The posts are really informative, like this recent one on growing healthy tomatoes. I already knew to pinch the suckers, but I had no idea about trimming the first foot of leaves or how and when to top off the plants at the end of the season. I thought I would copy and paste it here for future reference!

How to grow healthy tomatoes - By Farmington Gardens

Now that we’ve got our tomatoes in the ground and summer is nearly upon us, we should give some attention to HOW we are growing these little beauties. The right cultural practices will insure the best possible harvest. None of this is hard, but attention to a few details can make all the difference.

  • Our main objective is to encourage photosynthesis (the production of sugars from which it grows) and to discourage disease. The single best way to accomplish both of these goals is to keep them off the ground by staking or caging. It is best to do this shortly after planting, so that you don’t disturb an established root system. Providing them upright support gets them up into the light and improves air circulation, which decreases the likelihood of disease. After the plant get 18 inches tall or so, start trimming off the lowest branches. As it grows taller, take a few more of the lower branches off, until eventually you have trimmed it about one foot up the stalk. This pruning aids air circulation as well as prevents soil from splashing the lower leaves - another disease opportunity. (Adding a little mulch under the tomato will also prevent backsplash as well as retaining soil moisture.)
  • Pinch out suckers which grow in the crotch between a branch and the main stem. This can be hard to do, because you feel like you are robbing yourself of future fruit. However, by cutting out these suckers which will inevitably be thinner and weaker, you are enabling your plant to produce large, healthy fruit.
  • Remember that tomatoes are vigorous vines and heavy feeders. We recommend 2-4 tablespoons of organic fertilizer (like EB Stone Organics) every 30 days until fruit begins to set. Simply sprinkle a little on the soil, scratch in with your fingers, and water well.
  • The most common problem local growers have with tomatoes is blossom end rot. This is when the bottom end of a tomato turns black and rather flat. This is a physiological condition caused by growing conditions, and not a fungal disease or pest infestation, and therefore will not spread from plant to plant. It is important to maintain a consistent level of moisture and calcium in the soil to prevent this. Tomatoes planted early in cold soil are apt to have the first fruits scarred with blossom end rot; subsequent fruit can be fine. If you didn’t plant initially with lime, sprinkle a small handful of lime under each tomato plant, and water in well. This will add calcium to the soil. And I’ve already mentioned mulching, which will help prevent this problem, by retaining moisture in the soil.
  • In late summer, if you find you have plenty of large green fruit but too few ripe ones, I suggest you start thinning out some of the excess foliage. This will open the fruit up to sunshine, and will slightly stress the plant, both of which should hasten ripening.
  • And finally, my most important tip for ripening tomatoes: topping the vines. Mid- to late-September it is important to curtail any further blooming on your indeterminate tomatoes. I leave all the green fruit that has already set, but cut back each branch to where the fruit is attached. This will cut off all the blooms and all future blooms, and will focus the plant’s energy into ripening the existing fruit before frost. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea at the same time to do a little more thinning of foliage.

Follow these easy steps and you’ll be harvesting bushels of tomatoes this summer!