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Index : Vegetable Gardening
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- 18. Still Time to Plant Tomatoes - Top
- The tomato is by far, the most popular home garden vegetable. People love to grow them because they taste so much better than the store-bought variety. But success with tomatoes here in the desert requires early planting.
Although it's too late to start your own tomatoes from seed, there is still time to purchase tomato plants in the garden centers and get them into the garden.
Of all the types of tomatoes now available for sale, I recommend "Celebrity", "Heat Wave", and "Early Girl". These are medium-sized tomatoes; proven producers here in the desert. Roma tomatoes also are a good choice. And if you you're the type of person who has trouble with garden plants, I suggest cherry and grape tomatoes. They will grow and produce despite your best efforts to the contrary.
When you select plants from the garden center, choose the larger tomato plants. Larger plants have more roots and are more mature, which means they will flower and produce fruit before the extreme heat of Summer sets in.
Make sure the plants you purchase are healthy. The stem should be green and covered with small hairs all the way down to the soil. If the base of the stem is brown and woody; don't buy it! Also, check the roots. Carefully invert the pot and slide the plant out. Pushing in on the sides of the pot will make the root ball slide out easier. You should be able to see an abundance of white of cream-colored roots on the outside edge of the soil. If the roots are black, brown, or gray - don't buy it!
You have two choices when it comes to planting tomatoes. Either plant them in the ground, or in pots. Planting in the ground makes watering easier; but it will require you to prepare the soil by mixing in lots of organic matter. Compost, either bagged or bulk, is usually the easiest to find. Mix at least one-half compost with one-half garden soil.
As well as organic matter, mix in one-quarter cup of vegetable fertilizer or ammonium phosphate into the soil around the plant. This will stimulate root growth, flowering and fruiting. If you are preparing an entire bed, incorporate 1 to 2 pounds of fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed area. In containers, use the one-quarter cup per plant recommendation.
If you are growing you tomatoes in containers, you can simply purchase a good quality potting soil. The container should be at least 16 inches in diameter to accommodate one tomato. Containers made of wood or clay are best because they stay cooler than ones made of plastic. Never; absolutely never, plant in black nursery pots! The black heats up in the sun to temperatures that will bake the roots inside.
When planting your tomato, plant it deep, so that the lower part of the stem is covered with soil. The hairs on the stem are actually root hairs and, when buried underground, will grow into new roots. This will jump-start you plant, getting it growing and producing quicker.
You'll also need to stake the tomato to keep it from taking up too much space. As tomatoes can get large, use a wood stake one inch or thicker. Tie the tomato to the stake with green plant tape or velcro plant tape.
One of the most important aspects of growing tomatoes is to keep the plants well watered. This means daily or twice daily watering after planting, then daily during hot weather. Tomatoes in pots need may require twice daily all season long. Your objective is to keep the soil evenly moist. Don't let it dry out, or keep it too wet. I like to use a moisture meter to check the soil moisture level. They're inexpensive and can be purchased at most garden centers and hardware stores. Just keep the needle in the moist range, half-way between wet and dry, and your tomatoes should thrive and produce and abundant crop!
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161. - Updated: March 31, 2002
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