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Show 4 - SOLSTICE TIMES - JUNE 15, 1997 GARDEN GRAB BAG If there is one plant for the garden which deserves the all-around medal for being easy to grow, highly productive, good for you, and generally loved by all when it’s fresh out of the garden, it’s the tomato. This versatile vegetable, Lycopersicon esculentum, comes in many different sizes, colors, and shapes but is generally broken down into 4 categories of which there are approximately 3,000 varieties - the cherry, medium, plum and beefsteak - which refer primarily to size of the produce. The two distinct “types” are determinate and indeterminate with a new type being called fruit from “setting” but you can use covers, cold frames, wall 0’ waters, milk jugs, etc. , to protect them and extend your season. The preferred soil pH is a little on the acid side with 6.0-7.0 being just about perfect. Cages, stakes, or trellises should be set into the ground at the same time the small plants are set out to avoid damaging the roots later and as the plant grows it can be tied with cloth strips or try old pantyhose cut in strips. Trenching, rather than deep burial of the roots, is also recommended. This is done by stripping all the leaves except those at the very top and laying the plant on its side in a trench approximately 3" deep, bending the top up gently at the end. This allows the entire length of the stem to produce additional roots in the dwarf indeterminate. The terms refer to the tomatoes which either grow to a certain size (usually a bush shape about 18” high) and produce one heavy crop (determinate) or those which continually keep growing throughout the season, constantly producing flowers and fruits (indeterminate). Determinate types are often preferred by folks who want the tomatoes for canning, freezing, drying, sauces, juices, soups, pastes, and ketchup. The new dwarf indeterminate varieties are primarily grown in containers or small areas and have warm topsoil and helps produce a more vigorous plant. Since the soil should be rich in humus, dig compost or rotted manure in deeply (one foot deep by one foot wide) when transplanting to the garden and the plant should be mulched to conserve water and eliminate weeding. An old trick is to mix a heaping teaspoon of Epsom salts in the hole. Tomatoes need plenty of sun but protect from blazing heat or gusting winds by using a sheltered spot if available or companion planting. They love bone meal and wood ashes and it is also recommended that if you use a synthetic fertilizer it should be used at least once every two weeks during the warm weather and as often as weekly during the spring and fall when the weather is cooler. Too much nitrogen, however, will produce leaves but not much fruit so don’t overdo it! The greatest protection a plant has from pests and the more compact shape of the determinate varieties but produce high yields of produce throughout the season. Most disease is if it is healthy and strong. Prevention of problems includes using disease-resistant varieties (VFNT heirloom varieties which are treasured for their unique restrict soil diseases, early morning watering, routine crop varieties), keeping the fruits off the ground and mulching to colors and tastes are indeterminate and indeterminate types can even grow and produce year-round if their containers are taken indoors. Tomatoes were originally referred to as “Love apples,” pomidoros, or even cancer apples and weren’t considered as edible until about 1820 when the first seeds were offered in catalogs. This was because it’s a member of the nightshade family whose members were all considered as poisonous. It fruits summer to fall and yields an average of 4-10 pounds of produce per plant although the record for tomato production was 342 pounds per plant and some of the beefsteak varieties routinely produce tomatoes weighing in rotation, cleaning up the garden debris at the end of the season and burning diseased plants. Pests include (1) the tomato hornworm which is very distinctive and can be handpicked off the vines or prevented in advance by placing collars made from frozen juice containers or paper cups around the plant, (2) nematodes which can be controlled by planting French or African marigolds around your tomatoes, and (3) spider mites and black flea beetles which can be controlled with garlic, onion or basil sprays. Blight turns the leaves brown and the stems black and verticillium wilt causes wilting of the lower leaves and then travels upward. These plants should be pulled and burned, resistant varieties at over 1 ,pounds each! Even someone with very little gardening knowledge and who can only provide minimal attention can produce great tomatoes. Because tomatoes cannot tolerate heavy frost, we need to start seeds indoors 6—10 weeks before the last frost or plan on purchasing them from the local nursery. Unused seed can be used for up to four years. Keep seedlings at temperatures no higher than 70 F. so they won’t suffer setback when put out or set them out daily. Since tomatoes do best at temperatures between 650-80o F., they should be planted only after the soil has warmed to at least 60° F. and after the last frost. Any slight frost can harm young plants and nighttime temperatures below 55 F. will prevent o Groundwater Locating 9 Well Development HC 64 Box 2003 Castle Valley, Utah 84532 801-259-8042 Studies & Reports. Water Treatment Systems. Anton Layne Kabonic |