Keeping Tomatoes Healthy, Compost Soil, Pests, Fertilizer, and Freshness

Rotate the crop each year to avoid diseases that live in the soil. I like to wait 3 years, if possible, before planting tomatoes where I’ve had them before. I never plant tomatoes where I grew potatoes or eggplant the previous season, since some diseases attack all these vegetables and live in the soil from year to year.

Plant resistant varieties. Many varieties are resistant to verticillium wilt and fusarium wilt—two troublesome diseases for which there is no cure. Some seed companies list resistance to these diseases by putting “F” (fusarium) or “V” (verticillium) after the variety name. “N” stands for resistance to nematodes, the tiny worms that plague many southern gardens andcause stunting of the plants and poor crops.

Don’t let anyone smoke near tomato plants since they can infect tomato plants with tobacco mosaic virus, a serious disease which cuts down on the harvest.

Consider a spray program. To insure a long life for your tomato crop, dusting or spraying with a standard tomato formula is very effective. Start a week after setting out the plants and repeat the application every 7 to 10 days.

Green Tomato Roundup

Tomatoes succumb to the lightest frost, but don’t panic at the first frost if your tomato vines are still loaded with green fruit. You can protect the plants by covering them with sheets, burlap bags, or big boxes. It’s worth the effort because the next frost is often 2 or 3 weeks after the first.

If a heavy freeze is on its way, pick all the tomatoes. Green tomatoes about three-fourths their full size will ripen eventually.

Some people pull the whole tomato plant, hang it upside down in a dark basement room, and let the tomatoes ripen gradually. Check them regularly so you can catch the ripe tomatoes before they fall on the floor—splaat!

We put green tomatoes on a shelf in the root cellar and cover them with newspaper. Some people wrap each tomato individually, but that’s too much work, especially when you check for ripe tomatoes. You have to open each one. Instead, we lift the newspaper cover, select the ripe tomatoes, and remove any that are starting to rot.

Your own Fresh Tomatoes for Christmas

I’ve got a great way to have fresh home-grown tomatoes for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I start at the end of summer. From my Pixie tomato plants I pinch off suckers that are 6 inches long. I pinch off the bottom leaves and put them in water for an hour or two to get them to start rooting. Then I plant them deep in large pots filled with garden soil or Pro Mix.

Two plants will fit in a 10-inch pot. For smaller pots, one plant is plenty.

I keep the soil moist for a week or so to ensure that the suckers root. I put the pots outdoors in the sun. When the frosts come, I bring them inside and set them on a table near our two south- facing picture windows. Once they bloom, I spray the flowers with Blossom Set. When the holidays roll around we usually pick the first of many small but juicy and flavorful vine-ripened Pixies!

Tomato Diseases and Pests

Early blight is one of the most common and most harmful diseases. It is caused by a fungus and appears first as a brown spot, surrounded by yellow, that spreads outward on the leaves. The lower leaves wither. Higher leaves are hit, too, and the crop can be badly damaged. To control early blight, mulch to reduce splashing and use an all-purpose tomato dust.

Late blight is a serious disease in areas east of the Mississippi and is more pronounced in cool, moist weather. Leaves develop large, brown spots and wither. Spots on tomatoes turn brown and harden.

Leaf spot is a fungus disease that can hurt production. It’s often a problem in the Southeast and some northern areas that have warm, moist weather. The leaves have small spots with light centers. They may turn yellow and drop off. The fungus that causes the disease lives on old tomato vines, in the soil, and on perennial weeds. Rotating crops is important to keep the disease in check.

Flea beetles are small, tiny black or brown insects which eat small holes in the leaves, most often early in the season. Spray or dust with Sevin or rotenone.

Blister beetles and Colorado potato beetles feed on tomato foliage, and may also be controlled with rotenone, Sevin, or an all-purpose dust or spray for tomatoes.

Aphids can bother tomato plants all season long. They suck the sap from the plants and weaken them, and spread disease.

Hornworms are huge, green, caterpillars with thornlike horns at their back end. They eat both leaves and tomatoes. They work quickly, too. Hand-picking these creatures is the best bet in the home garden because you usually discover them at harvest time when it’s unwise to spray. The non-toxic spray Bacillus thuringensis (available as Dipel or Thuricide) is effective.

A season-long pest which eats tomatoes big and small is the tomato fruitworm or corn ear- worm. Control worms with Dipel as soon as you notice them.

Stink bugs are mostly a southern problem. Like aphids, they suck sap from the plant. To control, keep weeds in check in the garden and spray with Sevin or malathion.

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