I knew I was doing something wrong with my tomatoes. Big bushy plants, very few tomatoes. I even know the main problem – me! I put the plants in the ground and pretty much ignore them. I did make progress last year. At least my tomatoes got some serious support from these old fence pieces. A rather ingenious system with rebar running from end to end; rebar that could easily be adjusted as the plants got taller.
I don’t mean to ignore my tomato plants. You would think that someone who keeps up a major garden on a half-acre lot could take care of two tomato plants. Trouble is, I prefer tending my flowers, so this Tomato Soup Echinacea plant is much more likely to see TLC than a real tomato plant. Please don’t tell my tomatoes.
Maybe this year will be different since I learned a few things from Wally Schmidke at Bertholds Nursery. Wally spoke to the Elk Grove Garden Club last night and I took notes.
My first concern for my tomatoes is location, location, location. I’ve been planting them in the same spot for years, which is a no-no. I’ll probably switch out the soil with some from Mike’s 2nd dahlia garden. That garden was intended to be a vegetable garden, but we’d have to want the vegetables more than the dahlias for that to happen. Not likely. That garden soil is rich with compost that Mike has been creating for me. Ok, he thinks he was creating it for his dahlias, but I’m sure he will share.
My second concern is whether or not I bought the right tomatoes for us. I now know I want indeterminate, as the tomatoes will ripen at a variety of times. Determinate tomatoes are all ready at one time. Roma and patio tomatoes are often all ready at one time. I also should have given some thought to heirloom v. hybrid. Heirloom sounds good as they tend to have great flavor. Problem is they tend to crack and are more disease prone. I’ll save that decision for next year as I already have mine. Wally suggested Whopper, a hybrid that has good production and good disease resistance.
My third concern is the size of the plants. Mine are rather puny. I could have bought bigger ones. I could also have bought mine early, kept them inside, and repotted them while waiting for the weather to warm up. Wally wants lots of roots. If I had big plants I could have taken off some of the bottom leaves and planted part of the stem to have it generate more roots. Here’s Wally with a couple of his tomato plants.
I also need to prune the suckers when the plants get big, something I have failed to do in the past. This picture from Wally will help remind me.
Some of Wally’s other tips:
• Our Chicagoland compacted clay soil is rather alkaline. Tomatoes like neutral or slightly acidic. One option would be cotton burr compost, which would break up the clay and help the PH go acidic.
• Don’t overtill, it kills the good bacteria. A better choice would be to plant a cover crop in the fall, then just aerate a bit with a pitchfork.
• Dr. Earth is a good fertilizer to mix in at planting. Use it again later in the season, and be careful to not disturb the roots. Dr. Earth has mycorrhizae, which helps roots grow by pulling in nutrients and water. Bone meal and potash are good too.
• If you foliar feed, be sure to do the underside of the leaves. Fish emulsion and seaweed concentrate are options.
• Cut leaves/branches off that are near the ground.
• Use dechlorinated water. If your water is chlorinated, put some in a 5 gallon bucket and wait a few days.
• Water the soil, not the leaves. 1″ per week is enough. Don’t overwater.
• Don’t overcrowd your plants.
Want more of Wally’s tomato tips? Come to Bertholds in Elk Grove Village on Saturday, May 25th, from 2:00 – 3:00 to hear Wally’s tomato tips for yourself.
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