Plant tomatoes now for a big harvest this summer

'Large Cherry' tomato grown in the author's garden

Who doesn't love tomatoes?  I do believe they are the number one plant grown in summer gardens across Oklahoma, and perhaps, across the nation.  Here are a few of my tried and true tips for making this summer's harvest your best yet.

• Tomatoes need full sun and should be given plenty of room.  Keep them away from trees or other shrubs to increase yield.
• Plant them deep.  Whether you grow your tomato plants from seeds you started earlier, or you buy them from your local nursery, once you're home, dig the hole deep in the soil and pinch most of the side leaves off of the plant until only the top leaves show.  Then plant the tomato so that only six inches of the plant shows above ground.  Don't worry, tomatoes and peppers both develop roots all along their stems.  Your tomato will grow big and happy.
• Space tomatoes three feet apart.  You can cage plants or use bamboo or other stakes in a tripod and tie the stems to them as they grow.  Determinate (bush) tomatoes do well in smaller cages.  Indeterminate (vining type) tomatoes do better in five foot cages or staked.  Many heirloom varieties are indeterminate.
• Think well drained soil and also fertile, but don't mix in too much nitrogen, or you will have a beautiful plant, but less fruit.  Instead, mix a good amount of compost (purchased or homemade) into the bottom of the hole and the backfill.  Also, in the bottom of the hole, place crushed eggshells.  They provide calcium to the growing tomatoes and prevent blossom end rot.  You can also use a 10-20-10 fertilizer in the top six inches of soil at the time of planting.
• Choose plants which are disease resistant.  This will save you from having to spray later.  Often codes for disease resistance will be on the tomato's identification tag.  The codes are:  Verticillium wilt (V), Fusarium wilt, Race 1 (F), Fusarium wilt, Races 1 & 2, (F2), Root-Knot nematode (N), Tobacco mosaic virus (T), Alternaria stem canker (A), and Stemphylium (gray leaf spot) (S)
• Tomatoes should be planted when the weather has warmed and the soil temperature is above 60°F. These conditions usually occur around April 5th in southern Oklahoma and approximately April 25th in northwestern Oklahoma. Temperatures below 50°F impair tomato growth.
• Be sure to mulch plants at the time of planting.  Mulch decreases weeds which compete with the tomato for nutrients and space.  It also keeps the ground evenly moist and cool, along with prohibiting soil from splashing upon the tomato's leaves.  This prevents foliar diseases.
• Firm up the earth around the plant and then water it in.  Tomatoes like to be watered from the ground up, so if you have an irrigation system or soaker hoses, they are ideal.
• As the tomato grows, tie it to the stakes with twine or stretchy, plastic ties.  To make staking tomatoes easier, prune the plants by removing the small side shoots which grow where the leaves are attached to the main stem.  You don't need to remove all of them from the plant.  Some will help shade the fruit from sunscald.
• Once the plants have fruit, you will need to again feed them to increase size and yield.  I like to use compost, but you can also use a granular fertilizer.  An organic fertilizer like Garden-Ville's SeaTea is also good.  Apply it as a soil drench around plants or as a foliar spray.

I hope this helps you grow your best tomatoes ever.  This afternoon, I was in Jenks, Oklahoma, at their street festival, and I visited the Tomato Man's (the late Darrell Merrell's) daughter.  Lisa is growing more heirloom tomatoes than anyone else in the state.  If you're in the area of Sand Springs, you should visit her at her farm, 2208 W. 81st St., where she carries the most stock. 

In Guthrie, Guthrie Greenhouses are also carrying a lot of heirloom tomatoes.  Their retail shop is located on the main highway into Guthrie, Highway 77, or Division.

Try some heirloom tomato varieties this year.  Your tastebuds will thank you for it.