Gardening News & Tips

Better Boy Tomatoes

Better Boy tomatoes are a hybrid that ruggedly resists many bacteria, parasites and fungi but does not do well when you plant it in the garden before the cold weather ends.

Like most tomatoes, it does require some nurturing but this popular tomato pays you back with succulent fruit well known for its flavor.

How to Grow

Most people use tomato starts rather than beginning the Better Boy from seed. However, if you prefer to start your own tomato seedlings, you have to begin approximately six to eight weeks before the first frost. You'll need to use sterile potting soil in either flats or containers and plant the seeds

Black Tomatoes

Black tomatoes such as the wonderful flavored and ample sized indeterminate Cherokee Purple tomato are ready for harvest in 75 days.

If you have put off planting a garden because you fear your two black thumbs will get in the way from digging in wholeheartedly, we have a unique and tasty project for beginners and avid gardeners alike. The heirloom tomato originally hails from Tennessee. The productive plants bear 10 to 12 ounce dusky rose/purple fruit with deep red interiors in 80 days.

Varieties of Black Tomatoes

Growing black tomatoes like the heirloom variety;

Sun Gold Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes such as the Sun Gold tomatoes variety are prolific producers that add splashes of colorful taste into summer salads. This delicious cultivar produces bright orange cherry tomatoes that taste sugary sweet! You are in for a real treat from the tall, vigorous growing plants that bear fruity clusters.

Before planting, mix a fertilizer high in phosphorus into the soil. This application will take care of the plant until the first fruits are set. Feed then and every month while the fruit is developing. Stop fertilizing when the tomatoes near maturity.

How to plant

Where gardening space is limited, plant these tall-growing tomato plants at the back of the flower garden or tie them to a wire fence. There is some evidence that the prime crops grown in tomato cages may be due to the growth stimulating effect of the electromagnetic field set up by wire cage frames.

Sow the sun gold tomatoes seeds indoors 5-7 weeks prior to setting out transplanting after last frost date. When you grow or purchase transplants, aim for the ideal, which is a stocky plant. Unlike other plants, tomatoes are set deep in the soil. Plant them so that the first leaves are just above the soil line. Plant leggy plants horizontally so roots will form along the buried stem.

Sweet Hundred Tomatoes

Container gardening is an excellent way to grow Sweet Hundred tomatoes. The heavy producer, Sweet 100 can be grown successfully in barrels and/or pots. This is an ideal solution for growing the small sized tomato cultivar to save space. Place the containers on wheeled platforms for greater mobility. Do not be fooled by the fruit's small stature, at the opposite end of the scale of record breaking monster size tomatoes, these sweet petite fruits pack a juicy punch in every bite.

how to Plant

Plant your Sweet Hundred cherry tomato plants where they will receive an average six hours of sunlight per day. The plants should be planted at least 3 feet apart. Water immediately after planting.

Soil

Tomatoes require moderately fertile clay or sandy loam with proper drainage and a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.8. Most tomatoes prefer a soil temperature of 70- 80 degrees. The preferred daytime temperature is 65-80 degrees.

To Stake or sprawl

Tomato cages were already in use in the 19th century and remain about the best culture method to date. One study found single plants in cages yielded up to 62 pounds of fruit! Barring cages, old timers still believe it's best to simply allow plants to sprawl. Although not as productive, sprawling vines still produce about twice as many tomatoes as staked plants. However, it may be a trade off because the harvest season is typically earlier yet shorter lived when fruits are allowed freedom to roam.

Quick Pick Tomatoes

It is a gardener's pride and joy to watch their produce grow plump and ripen. Your Quick Pick tomatoes variety offer a promise of wonderful eating to come even faster than other varieties.

It is no secret that vegetables harvested straight from the garden plot to kitchen pot taste so much better than store bought brands. Additionally, the vitamin and mineral content as well as flavor are at its peak of freshness when vine ripened veggies are picked fresh. Quick Pick got the name because they are one of the fastest tomato producers.

Planting

Plant Quick Pick tomatoes in the springtime to a planting depth of

Tomato plant suckers

Tomato plant suckers look like harmless extensions of the tomato plant. They grow between the main stem and branches in the crotch where they connect.These are really side shoots that develop into another main stem if you let them continue to grow. They seem harmless and an opportunity to grow more tomatoes but they aren't. If you allow them to continue, they suck the nutrients from the main plant. This competition leaves both the tomatoes on the sucker and the main plant smaller and less developed.

If your goal is to produce as many tomatoes as you can and you don't worry about their size, leave the suckers on the plant. However, if you want a sandwich sized beefsteak tomato or one that looks good sliced in a salad, you must remove the tomato plant suckers from the plant. Remember, the suckers also have suckers, which produce even more suckers and eventually no fruit gets enough to eat.

Some gardeners don't prune their tomato plant, that is, they don't remove the suckers. As mentioned before, your tomatoes won't be as big if you don't and your plant will be almost too heavy, particularly if it's an indeterminate variety. Indeterminate plants continue to grow all season and can get quite large.

The main deciding factor on whether to remove suckers is the size of your main stem. If it's strong enough, you can allow a few, two or three, suckers to grow to get more fruit from the tomato plant. However, if you let everyone grow, you'll weaken the plant and have smaller fruit. There's no real agreement on removing suckers, some people don't remove any except those at the base of the plant.

You don't need to prune out your suckers if you have a determinate tomato plant. These plants are far more compact and cease growing when they reach a specific height. Normally, they don't have any fruit until they reach that height and then it all sets at once. You don't get any benefit from removing the suckers from this type of plant. If you don't know whether your tomato plant is determinate or indeterminate, look up the tomato on the Internet and it normally gives that information.

In order to prune, you simply look over the plant. When you see new stems growing in the V between a branch and the main stem, you have a tomato plant sucker or side shoot. It can be just a few small leaves at first but if left to grow becomes another full branch with fruit and leaves, stealing nutrients from the tomatoes forming on the main branches.

Pruning is relatively simple in the early stages. All you have to do is first identify the tomato plant sucker and they pinch them off with your fingers. This only works if your sucker is less than two inches in height. Larger ones require you to use a pruner to clip them off the plant. This also is far more stressful on the plant than removing them early. Make certain that your pruning sheers or clippers are clean and disease-free to protect the mother plant.

Go to Identifying-Garden-Pests from Tomato Plant suckers