Soil preparation Workthegardensoilonlywhenitisdryenoughnottosticktothegardentools.Severalweeksbeforeplanting,workthetop8to10inchesofsoil.Removeallrocksandtrashfromthesoilandrakeittobreakuplargeclods. Tomatoesgrowbestinsoilsthathavelotsoforganicmatter.Ifpossible,spread2to3inchesoforganicmaterialsuchascompost,leaves,orrottedhayovertheplantingarea.Mixthisorganicmaterialintothetop4to6inchesofsoil.

Planting Mostfamiliesneedonlyafewplants,soitisbesttobuyplantsandnotgrowthemfromseed.Buyhealthy,greenplantsthatare6to8inchestall. Donotsetouttomatoplantsuntilalldangeroffrosthaspassed.Transplantfalltomatoesinthegardenabout100daysbe-forethefirstexpectedfrost. Ifpossible,setouttomatoesonraised

T omatoesarethemostpopulargar-denvegetablecropinTexas.TheyareagoodsourceofvitaminAand

fairsourceofvitaminC.Freshtomatoesarepopularinsalads,onsandwichesandsliced.Theycanbecookedandusedinmanyways.

Varieties Texasgardenerscangrowavarietyofsmall-andlarge-fruitedtomatoes: Small fruit •BHN968 •LargeRedCherry •Porter Large fruit •BHN444 •Celebrity •Phoenix •SolarFire •Sunpride •Tycoon

Site selection TomatoesgrowwellinmostTexasareasifplantedinsoilthatdrainswell.Theyneedatleast6hoursofsunlighteachday.

JosephMasabni,AssistantProfessorandExtensionHorticulturist,TheTexasA&MUniversitySystem

E-51711-10

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atoes • tomatoes • tomatoes • tomatoes •

Easy Gardening

Ifyouplantogrowsingleplants,digahole2feetwideand10inchesdeep.Refilltheholewithhalfsoilandhalfor-ganicmatter.Forthistypeofplanting,mix2leveltablespoonsoffertilizerintothisplantingarea.

Fertilizing Add2to3poundsoffertilizersuchas10-10-10forevery100squarefeetofgar-denarea.Spreadthefertilizerevenlyoverthearea,andthenmixitintothetop3to4inchesofsoil.

Watering Waterthetomatoplantsslowlyanddeeplytohelpthemdevelopastrongrootsystem.Donotletthetomatoeswiltse-verely,oryieldsandfruitqualitywillbelow.

Care during the season Forthehighestyields,placemulcharoundthetomatoplants.Spreada2-to3-inchlayeroforganicmaterialsuchascompost,leaves,orhayaroundthegrow-ingplants.Mulchingwillhelpstopweedgrowthandwaterlossfromthesoil. Youcanlettomatoesgrowonthegroundorsupportthemwithstakesorcages.Whenyoustaketomatoes,putthestakeinshortlyaftertransplantingtolessenrootdam-age.A6-foot-long

bedsofsoilthatareabout6incheshigh(Fig.1).Makethetransplantholes3to4inchesdeepand2to4feetapartintherow.Forstakedorcagedplants,spacetherowsatleast3feetapart.Forunsupportedplants,leave4to5feetbetweentherows. Transplantyourtomatoesintheeveningoronacloudydaytokeepthemfromdryingtoomuchandwilting.Beforeplacingtransplantsintothesoil,fillthetransplantholeswithwaterandletitsoakin.

Planteachtransplantslightlydeeperthanithadbeengrowing(Fig.2).Packthesoillooselyaroundtheplant.Leaveaslightlysunkenareaaroundeachplanttoholdwater.

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Figure 3. Loosely tie the tomato plants to support stakes.

Figure 1. Plant tomatoes on beds raised to about 6 inches.

6”4 - 5’

2 - 4’

Figure 2. Plant tomatoes slightly deeper than they were first growing (A). If the plants are leggy, set them as shown (B).

A B

1inchindiameter,scatter1leveltable-spoonoffertilizeraroundeachplant.Scat-teritabout6inchesfromthestalks.Workitlightlyintothesoil.Watertheplantsafterfertilizing. Fertilizetheplantsevery3to4weekswith1to2leveltablespoonsoffertilizer. Tocontrolweeds,youmaycultivateorhoearoundtheplants.Workthesoilonlydeepenoughtokilltheweedsbutshallowenoughnottodamagethetomatoplantroots.

Insects and diseases Manyinsecticidesareavailableatgar-dencentersforhomeowneruse.Sevinisasyntheticinsecticide;organicoptionsin-cludesulfurandBt-basedinsecticides.Sul-

stakeset10inchesdeepinthesoilwillworkwell.Astheplantgrowstaller,tieitlooselytothestakeevery12incheswithpiecesofragortwine(Fig.3). Prunethestakedtomatoestoproduceamoreorderlyvine.Re-movethesmallshootsthatgrowoutofthepointwhereeachleafjoinsthemainstem(Fig.4).Removetheshootsbybendingthemsidewaysuntiltheysnap. Todeveloptheplantintotwomainvines,removeallbutthelowestshoot.Itwilldevelopintoasecondbranch. Cagingisanotherwaytotraintomatoplants.Youcanmakeagoodcagewithapieceofconcretereinforce-mentwire5feettalland6feetwide.Putthecagesovertheyoungplants.Pushthecagesdownintothesoiltokeepthemfromblowingover.Usingthismethod,youcangivethevine

supportwithouthavingtotieit(Fig.5). To-matoesgrowingincagesdonotneedtobepruned. Whenthefirstfruitsareabout

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Figure 5. Cages made from re-inforcing wire give good sup-port to tomato plants.

Figure 4. Prune toma-toes by removing the suckers or small side shoots.

Name and description

Control

1⁄16 inch long; bronze-black, blue, or green, with light markings; jumps quickly; eats holes in leaves

Sevin

A 3-inch-long caterpillar with a horn on the back end; green with stripes on the side

Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel, Thuricide, Biotrol)

1⁄8 inch long; pale green or yellow; adults are banded black and white

Sulfur dusts, permethrin, insecticidal soaps

Adults are white; nymphs do not move

Pyrethrin, malathion, insecticidal soaps

Flea beetle

Hornworm

Psyllid

Whitefly

pink,letthemripenatroomtemperature.Theymaybestoredintherefrigeratoraftertheyreachfullcolor.

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furalsohasfungicidalpropertiesandhelpsincontrollingmanydiseases.Neemoil,sulfur,andotherfungicidesareavailableforuse.

Harvesting Forbestquality,picktomatoesatfullcolor.Ifyoupickthemwhentheyare

AcknowledgmentsThis publicationwas revised from earlier versions written by Sam Cotner, Professor Emeritus and former Extension Horticulturist.