Help me raise the best tomatoes!

[isuhunter]

You guys have convinced me to make my garden bigger, so I will be doing that. As I've been lurking around the site everyone has something they do that "helps" their tomatoes. Critique my "process" of growing tomatoes.

I plant in a garden which I keep slowly amending the soil and am starting my compost pile for future amendments.

I plant a variety of tomatoes, some heirlooms and hybrids, some from seed and some store/online purchased.

I typically mulch with grass clippings.

I water as I see needed. I use miracle grow tomato fertilizer.

I've never pruned.

I have rebar cages -- this year I'm going to go to the "florida weave" i think to save space.

Should I look at fish emulsion? Pruning? Different mulch?

[isuhunter]

Here are some pics of how I started my seed.

[drew51]

Looks like you're doing fine. Be careful of grass if sprayed with weed killers. Cover the bed in leaves in the fall. Work them in or use as a mulch in the spring. Leaves are a great source of trace minerals. I shred them well first. They breakdown super fast that way. I cover with some compost to hold in place.
Watch that the grass doesn't mat up on you. Keep it broken up.

[Blueaussi]

If you're already using Miracle Grow, I wouldn't use fish emulsion. That's a lot of nitrogen, and a lot of nitrogen is like ringing the dinner bell for aphids.

[isuhunter]

Originally Posted by Blueaussi

If you're already using Miracle Grow, I wouldn't use fish emulsion. That's a lot of nitrogen, and a lot of nitrogen is like ringing the dinner bell for aphids.

I used an extremely diluted miracle grow when they were still in solo cups, I haven't used anything since.

[b54red]

I recommend you do some judicious pruning and keep your plants to no more than four stems and keep most of the suckers off. This will encourage larger fruit and better fruit set as well as allow better air flow. I feed my tomatoes weekly with a hose end sprayer and I use TTF because of the heavier fruit set I get with it; but I used MG for many years with very good results. I found that when I started keeping the plants pruned and fed them weekly I got far better results than when I only fed them once a month or so. I also suggest you apply a good fungicide every week or so to help prevent foliage diseases although that may not be as critical where you are as it is down here.

Good luck and have a great season.

Bill

[isuhunter]

Here are some pics of my individual tomatoes. Just took today.

[isuhunter]

Continued

[Labradors2]

Looking great! I would get your stakes in soon, before you accidentally spear some roots with them later when the plants are bigger and the roots have spread.

I hope you will have a fantastic crop this year!

Linda

[Gardeneer]

You are doing just fine. Your soil looks like BLACK GOLD.

About fertilizing, in an already established garden, you have to read the lips of your plants (in the absence of elaborate soil analysis). MG is what I use also, but with reduced strength and less often. "K" and "P" are durable and can accumulate over time. But it is "N" that needs to be fed gradually b/c being highly water soluble, it can leach out. But if your soil has fair amount of organic mater, "N" also can be trapped and released slowly. That is one of the advantages of organic matter, easy on your wallet and friend of the environment.

ON THE MULCHING>

I like what you've don in that pot : PINE BARK NUGGETS. That is what I prefer to use.
I tried grass clippings (after sun drying). Did not like it. It get mushy when wet (haven for slugs..bugs) and cakes up when dry. Well ,of course , it is free but other than that not impressive IMO.

Gardener

[isuhunter]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Looking great! I would get your stakes in soon, before you accidentally spear some roots with them later when the plants are bigger and the roots have spread.

I hope you will have a fantastic crop this year!

Linda

Should I weave them place cages on all of them?

[Labradors2]

If you're going to weave them you need stakes at each end and (I think) one in the middle (assuming that you have four plants in each row). Otherwise, each plant will need it's own cage, but I hope you already know that those store-bought cages are wimpy. Indeterminate tomatoes will grow up to the top of them and then fall back down again so they are not ideal. That is why people make their own cages, weave or string their plants.

Linda

[Salsacharley]

You could start a weave now but they are so small it might be a lot of effort. They do need support of some kind. They are at the stage where a good wind will break them. You could tie them to small stakes and start the weave later. That's what I do.

Your grass clippings are pretty green which might provide too much nitrogen. This could impair calcium uptake as well as attract aphids as mentioned above. If they clump together they will become anaerobic, causing odor and bad bacteria. Make sure they don't clump up.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by isuhunter

Should I weave them place cages on all of them?

[isuhunter]

Low of 35* on Monday night!

[dustee1]

Originally Posted by isuhunter

You guys have convinced me to make my garden bigger, so I will be doing that. As I've been lurking around the site everyone has something they do that "helps" their tomatoes. Critique my "process" of growing tomatoes.

Hi isuhunter,
You're off to a great start. I love seeing the pictures of others processes. The fact that you a growing from seed is awesome!


If you truly wish to take your garden to the next level I would recommend soil testing with recommendations from a reputable lab. I prefer to use IAL (International Ag Labs) but have used several other labs, big & small such as Logan, Spectrum, Motzz, etc. All were useful.


But be forewarned , once you start learning about soil test results & especially soil microbes there is no turning back. It may seem perfectly logical to buy a microscope ($600) to check the microbes in your compost tea. You’ll also need an EC meter to know how much energy is in your soil. And surely not any EC meter will do you’ll want the one with the 24” direct read probe ($465). And obviously your garden wouldn’t be complete without its own weather station ($800) with a fan aspirated radiation shield of course. If you are still not deterred & don’t mind being labeled crazy like me, then by all means get yourself a refractometer ($90) & shoot for that 14 brix tomato (see description below).

Description of the different brix levels from the 10 brix tomato challenge back in 2010.

• 4.0–5.0 The majority of commercial tomatoes seem to fall into this range. Undistinguished flavor.
• 6.0 This is where the tomato starts to taste like a tomato. Brightness comes into good tomato flavor.
• 8.0 Denser, more intensity and bright, concentrated flavor, a noticeably good tomato
• 10.0 Dense, solid, tremendous varietal flavor. We are experiencing a truly great tomato.
• 12.0 You will remember this tomato taste for a long time.
• 14.0 The highest brix tomato (Brandywine) I have tasted. Unbelievable. A flavor to make an Italian grandmother weep with joy.

You did request help growing the best tomatoes.


Ted