Published: March 27, 2008 12:15 pm            

Ace of Spades: Sixteen-step program to a bountiful tomato crop in ’08

Originally published in the March 21, 2008, print edition.

Here are some ideas to help you have a better tomato crop. Tuck these ideas away for future use.

• Rotate your plants at least every year. Some experts suggest putting the tomato plants on soil that hasn’t had tomatoes, potatoes or peppers on the soil for three years. You may not be able to do this if you are limited on garden space.

• Always plant the tomato plants at least 4 feet apart, even 5 feet if you are having blight problems.

• Always buy the varieties with the most letters, like VFN, VF; the more letters the better.

• The Determinate plants are the shorter plants, ripen in a shorter time frame, and are the best for canning.

• The Indeterminate plants produce fruit all summer until freeze-up time, if you can keep the blight under control.

• Plant different varieties with different days to maturity, 62-day, 70-day, 80-day, etc., any later than these three numbers you probably will have fewer ripe tomatoes during the season.

• When buying plants or starting from seeds, Zone 4 stretches from St. Cloud south to central Iowa. Above St. Cloud is Zone 3, and south of central Iowa is Zone 5.

• If possible, water the plants in the morning, so the leaves are dry by night time. Water at the base if possible, this too will help.

• Cut off the bottom several sets of the tomato branches, so no branches are touching the ground.

• Once the ground has warmed up, have the tomato cages in place. Get heavy-duty gauge cages, so they will not fall over with the weight of the plants or on windy days. You may want to pound some 1/4- to 1/2-inch metal stakes into the ground to help hold up the caged plants.

• Once the ground has warmed up, apply some hay mulch or cedar wood chips around the base of the plants. This holds water from splattering back up to the lower tomato branches.

• Get the product Manab if you have blight problems. Always follow instructions in how to mix and apply.

• Another option for tomato plants is to use a raised garden, at least 2 to 3 feet high. Use this method too, if you have walnut trees near the garden. The roots of the walnut tree go out beyond the canopy of the tree itself. A raised garden will eliminate the problem of the juglone juice given off by walnut trees.

• Plant your tomato plants in the most sunny area you have in your garden.

• To help to keep the cutworms from cutting the stems of the tomatoes, put a cardboard collar or a three-inch size of tin foil around the stem. Another idea is to put a long spike or nail close to the stem. Be sure to remove the nail from the stem this fall.

• To keep the disease from entering the tomato plants next season, remove any diseased foliage from the garden.

You should have a successful tomato crop if you follow these steps.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.