Q: How do I grow the perfect tomato?

A:

Tomato Talk

Tomatoes are the show stoppers of every home garden. They can also break a gardener's heart. Here are some tips for keeping your tomatoes healthy, and full of fruit.

1. Tie your tomatoes: tomatoes will quickly start to grow up and over their cages. make sure to secure branches to the cage or add a large wooden stake placed directly parallel to the main stem and gently tie the plant to the supports.

2. Prune: This is a big one! Prune any and all yellow leaves, sucker plants (growing in the elbow of the main stem and branches), leaves near the base of the plant and any leaves that are overlapping. Plants need good airflow to prevent disease.

3. Picking Pests: Keep an eye out for any caterpillars on or near your plants (especially the green horned caterpillar). Remove immediately and search the underside of leaves for eggs. If it seems that the plant is infested use organic Bt spray (you can buy it on Amazon)

3. Blight: This is a common and very distructive fungus that attacks tomato plants. The pictures above show tomato leaves with the beginning signs of blight. How can you get rid of it? First, use clean pruning shears to remove all infected leaves. Make the following solution and apply to plants daily for 7 days or until you no longer see discoloration. Blight is a fungus and will spread to other plants. wipe down pruning shears with rubbing alcohol before using again.
Baking Soda Spray
3 Tbs Baking Soda
1 Gallon Water
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2-3 drops dish soap
Shake vigorously, spray until plant is well soaked with mixture

4. Fertilize: If your tomatoes do not seem to be growing or producing flowers it may be a result of low nitrogen in the soil. Mix one glug of Liquid Fish Fertilizer ( we use Neptune's) with a gallon of water and pour one inch of liquid around the base of each plant.