How To Grow The Best Tasting Tomatoes – February 2020 BOOM! Magazine

How To Grow The Best Tasting Tomatoes – February 2020 BOOM! Magazine

How To Grow The Best Tasting Tomatoes

By Jim Mooney

This article covers some of the common challenges that I faced with growing tomatoes in Middlesex New Jersey (my hometown), Oxford England (US Air Force) and my home in Millbrook Alabama.

The philosophy of growing is first, learn how the plant grows without you. Second, do not try to get the plant to grow in a way that it was not intended to grow.

To keep your tomato plants healthy, the two primary principles of growing tomatoes are spacing and moisture.

Spacing: 

  • Tomato plants need airflow. Place your plants 24 to 30 inches apart and continue to heavily prune any lower leaves or branches that are less than 12 inches above the ground. In most cases, your tomato plant may only have two main branches coming up from the ground.

Watering: 

  • Do not water your plants overhead. Heavy moisture on the leaves or water spotting can be the first step toward blight or a fungus outbreak.Mag
  • Water carefully and slowly near the roots and use caution not to splatter the water on the plant leaves.
  • On average, except during a draught, water for one hour every two to three days when there has been little or no rain. Some experts recommend that you use a soaker hose; deep watering encourages stronger root formation.
  • After periods of heavy rainfall, you should examine your plants and check for airflow and excessive water and when necessary, prune lower branches or leaves. Gently remove (leaf shaking with your finger) any excessive moisture on the plant. Wait three days before watering. It is not uncommon to see gardeners using a portable fan, portable hairdryer or other devices to gently remove excess water from the plant leaves.
  • Mulching prevents splash back and keeps the plant dry while retaining soil moisture. Mulch and compost create a bug friendly garden that attracts wasps and other insects that attack tomato worms.
  • If any of the plant leaves are wilting, your plant is under stress and you must determine if you need to increase your watering or if you are watering too much.

Common Issues: 

  • Blossom End Rot (BET): Commonly caused by overwatering or not watering your plants. Overwatering prevents the plant from absorbing calcium. In rare cases, when confirmed by a soil test, BET can be caused by a lack of calcium in the soil. A common remedy is to add eggshells to the soil, but it takes about a year for the eggshells to break down. A quicker calcium fix is to add Tums to the soil for immediate benefit to the plant. Crush the Tums into a powder and apply 7 1/2 Tums per square foot. This equates to 750 Tums for a 10′ by 10′ garden.  Though not economical it does provide for an emergency fix.
  • Tomato worms: Also called tomato hornworms, (Manduca quinquemaculata) they can quickly decimate a healthy tomato crop. These worms are identified by their green bodies, ornamented with white V-shaped marks along the sides along with the prominent “horn” growing at the rear of their bodies. They defoliate your tomato plants and feed on the fruit. To protect your tomato crop, consider using Mother Nature as a natural pest control method to kill tomato worms by heavy mulching to attract hornworm predators and growing basil, plant dill, marigolds or borage among your tomatoes to repel hornworms. Growing the herb borage has the added benefit of enriching the soil with potassium, calcium and other organic minerals. To outwit the pupae that may be lurking in the soil, rotate your crops, and the pests may move on from your garden.  Mother Nature will also send in reinforcements in the way of lady beetles, green lacewings and braconid wasps, as well the common wasp, the egg or larvae stage, lady beetles and green lacewings solve the problem by eating the immature hornworms. Once developed into mature caterpillars, plant, braconid wasps lay eggs on the worm, which in turn eat the caterpillar as they develop. If you notice hornworms covered in white egg masses, there’s no need to remove the caterpillar, as the wasp larvae are doing the job for you. Common wasps kill and feed off tomato hornworms.
  • Cat facing: Malformation of the fruit caused by faciated blossoms fusing together creating deep hardened fissures or pockets. There are no preventive measures. Fruit is edible and tasty and at worst, you may have to cut away small portions of the fruit.
  • Cracking: Section rots and is inedible.  Too much water too fast. Caused by improper watering or extended periods of heavy rain. Water slowly and deeply every three days rather than daily.

Maximizing the Taste:

  • Molasses: Nitrogen is essential but too much nitrogen and the fruit loses its full flavor potential. Add two tablespoons of molasses to a gallon of chlorine free water and spray on the plant leaves every 2 weeks through the growing season. High potassium will offset the excess nitrogen and raise the lycopene which increases the sugar levels in the tomato plant for maximum flavor.
  • Aspirin: Induce stress by spraying aspirin on the plant to trick the plant into defensive mode against an attack. Ascylic acid beefs up the flavor, adds vitamin C and makes the plant stronger.  In the event of a real bug or fungus attack plant defensive mechanisms are already in place. Place one aspirin in a gallon of water and add a dash of mild liquid soap (Dawn) to allow the aspirin water to stick to tomato plant.  Spray the plant when first setting in the ground and spray every two to three weeks.  This will also help germinate the plant, stimulate growth and attract fewer insects.
  • Best Time To Pick: Pick your tomatoes early in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day when the fruit sugar is at its highest concentration.
  • Do Not Refrigerate: This will cause the flavor to “tank”.  After picking, the fruit while on the counter or in a bowl, the fruit continues to ripen and aromatic compounds as the flavor continually evaporates into the air and is recaptured.

My hope is that the information in this article will help you grow the healthiest and tastiest tomatoes to impress your family and friends.

Jim Mooney, an Intern in the 2019 Master Garden Class, lives in Millbrook.  For more information on becoming a master gardener, visit www.capcitymga.org or email capcitymga@gmail.com.