Mulching Tomatoes

Organic mulches that cover bare soil over plant roots slowly feed the beneficial soil microbes, discourage weeds and help retain soil moisture. They also influence soil temperature to promote tomato plant health.

Tomatoes and other plants stop growing when soil temperatures get too high in the summer. That 3 to 4 inches of organic mulch will cool the soil 5 degrees or more in the summer and prevent it from drying out.

What About Plastic Mulches?
Some books recommend using black plastic mulch for giving tomatoes a good start in the early spring. You will also see ads for red plastic mulches which in the commercial sector have proven to help with an earlier and bigger harvest of tomatoes. For the beginning veggie grower we recommend sticking with the organic mulch primarily because it is food for those very important beneficial soil microbes. The plastic mulch heats the soil and keeps down weeds, but is not food for those microbes.

For complete details see our file Mulching The Vegetable Garden

Watering Tomatoes

Tomatoes are picky about water. Too much water rots roots; too little stops fruit production. Try to provide fairly even moisture, rather than allowing the soil to be very dry, then very wet and then very dry again. This stresses the plants, inviting disease and makes them mad.

Tomatoes like a continuous and uniform water supply, but not soggy soil. They need about an inch of water a week from you and the rain, two inches a week when the summer gets very hot in July and August.

Ideally, water early in the day, soaking the soil, not the leaves. If you can’t get to it till evening go ahead anyway. Let the water trickle slowly so it penetrates the soil to 8 to 10 inches. During periods of sparse rainfall check soil moisture every 3 or 4 days, more often in windy areas and during the hot summer. A layer of mulch will help retain soil moisture. Porous soaker hose systems hooked up to a mechanical or computerized timer are very effective for delivering water properly to the entire vegetable patch.

For more details see our file Watering the Vegetable Garden

Fertilizing Tomatoes

In revision

For general details see our file Fertilizing The Vegetable Garden

Pruning or Grooming Tomatoes

If you want to start an argument or at least have a really heated discussion, get two or three tomato gardeners in the same room and try to get agreement about pruning tomatoes. There almost as many opinions as there are tomato gardeners. So consider this task as definitely optional. If you do not prune your tomatoes at all, you will get lots of tomatoes. Those that believe in pruning feel they get bigger and tastier tomatoes.

Only indeterminate types of tomatoes might be pruned if that is your preference. Train the plants to single strong stems by pinching off tiny, young secondary stems, or “suckers,” which develop where leafstalks join the main stem. Pinch them with your fingers rather than use a knife or pruners to minimize the risk of spreading disease. Reducing the number of suckers yields fewer, but larger tomatoes and controls the spread of each plant. Also, remove the bottom branches and leaf stems from staked or caged tomato plants to foster better air circulation. Those branches don’t bear fruit.

An optional measure is to pinch the tops of indeterminate plants to remove their growing tips when they reach the top of their stake or trellis. This encourages larger fruits. Do this about a month before expected first frost in the fall so fruit that is already set will have time to grow and ripen fully.

Providing Support For Tomatoes

Vertical growing of tomato plants saves space and discourages slug pests. It also allows fruit access to light for earlier ripening, better air circulation and cleaner fruit.

Stakes: Use sturdy stakes, 6 to 8 feet tall and an inch or more wide with pointed bottoms. Drive them into the ground about 3 inches from the plants on their north side down a foot or more when planting the seedlings to avoid root damage later. Tie plant stems to the stakes with soft but strong 18-inch fabric strips, or padded twine. As the stem grows, every 12 to 18 inches knot the tie around the stake first, then wrap it loosely around the main stem and knot it.

Cages: Center tall, sturdy wire cages 15 to 18 inches in diameter over each tomato seedling, pushing it into the soil about 6 inches or tying it to 3 or 4 short supporting stakes. As they mature, the plant’s many branches protrude through the wire which supports them. Choose wire with openings wide enough to reach your hand in to pick the tomatoes. Indeterminate varieties need a cage about 5 feet tall; but determinate (bush) varieties do fine in cages 2½ feet tall. Tomatoes growing in cages don’t need pruning.

Trellises: Support either type of tomato plant on a trellis system of nylon mesh netting. As they grow tall, fasten the main stems to the trellis netting with cloth or other soft ties. Weave the lateral branches in and out of the mesh to support them and their fruit.

For more discussion about this topic see our file Vertical Growing In The Vegetable Garden