Tomatoes - Secrets to Growing Success

Organic Gardening (now Rodale's Organic Life) published 10 tips for growing tomatoes successfully --  Tomatoes - Secrets to Growing Success (see below).  Succession planting is the tip that surprised me.  Three weeks after the first planting, start a 2nd group of tomatoes or a 2nd transplant to spread out the harvest over the season.

I would reiterate an 11th tip.  Mulch, mulch, mulch.  With salt hay or straw.  As soon as you plant.  Why?  3 reasons.  1. To prevent weeds from colonizing around your tomato plant's roots.  2. To keep the moisture from evaporating out of the soil.  3. Most importantly, to prevent any disease organisms in the soil from splashing up on your leaves when it rains or you water.  (You never do overhead watering in the evening, right? Especially when the night is expected to be warm & humid!)

The most common disease of tomatoes in our Garden is the fungus Alternaria solani, known as early blight.  Once the blight has taken hold, there is no cure.  Since the spores live in the soil and on plant debris, use only clean straw or hay that has not been previously applied to our soil.  And if using last year's stakes or cages, sterilize them first.  The alternaria spores appear to be able to survive on them to reinfect your plants this year when the leaves or stems touch the support system.

An old 2002 NYT article on alternaria solani recommends: 

• Plant vigorous seedlings
• Space far apart for good air circulation, in fertile, well-watered ground
• Mulch as soon as you plant, so rain can’t splash spores from the ground onto the lower leaves. (Use landscape fabric if the soil is still cool, and switch to straw when the weather warm.) 
• Water only at ground level - wet leaves not only spread early blight, but also succumb to it more quickly

The things that help most, in the end, are cherry tomatoes and waiting.  Plants with small fruits are somewhat resistant, and late varieties with large vines come through better than early, short ones.

Here are the tips from Rodale's Organic Gardening article, Tomatoes - Secrets to Growing Success:

1. Choose a bright, airy spot.
Plant tomatoes where they will get at least 10 hours of light in summer. And leave room between plants for air to circulate.
2. Rotate even a little.
Alternate your tomato bed between even just two spots and you diminish the risk of soilborne diseases such as bacterial spot and early blight.
3. Pass up overgrown transplants.
When buying tomato seedlings, beware of lush green starts with poor root systems. They will languish for weeks before growing.
4. Bury the stems.
Plant your tomato seedlings up to the first true leaves. New roots will quickly sprout on the stems. More roots means more fruits.
5. Water deeply but infrequently.
Soak your tomato bed once a week, or every five days at the height of summer. Water directly on the soil, not on the leaves.
6. Pinch the suckers.
Prune off these non-fruiting branches. This directs the tomato plant's energy into growing bigger, better fruit.
7. Stake them high.
Use 6-foot stakes for indeterminate varieties like the 'Brandywine' tomato. Put in the stakes when transplanting to avoid damaging roots.
8. Add compost and trim.
While the first fruit is ripening, encourage new growth and continued fruit set by scratching compost around the stem, and trim some of the upper leaves.
9. Plant again.
Three weeks after you plant tomatoes in your garden, put in another set so all of your harvest doesn't come at once.
10. Pick ripe, but not dead ripe.
Heirloom tomatoes that are too ripe can be mealy. Harvest them when they're full size and fully colored.

For more information about growing tomatoes, check out this 10 minute video A Complete Growing Guide For Big Healthy Organic Tomatoes.

Want a sweeter, juicier tomato?

One practice someone recommended might be worth trying: Sprinkle baking soda over the tomato seeds when you plant them!