Maintaining those tremendous tomatoes
How are your tomatoes looking? The nice warm weather along with enough rain, consistent soil temperatures, sound organic practices and great fertilizers like Dr. Earth Organic 5 Tomato, Vegetable & Herb combined to raise my plants to over 6 foot tall with huge, thick main stems.
Keep up with your weekly inspections for insects. Remember to take a magnifying glass out to your tomato patch and check the undersides of the leaves for spider mites, etc. Early detection is the key to successful control.
Maintain removal of suckers and lower branches, you want to give your tomato plant the shape of an apple tree. I remove bottom branches about 2 to 3 feet from the soil up the plant to avoid soil splash back which may cause diseases. Use a razor blade knife with a new blade sterilized with rubbing alcohol before pruning. Prune one plant at a time; clean the razor before moving on to the next plant. I generally leave five to six main branches coming up to the top canopy of the tomato. Secure branches and main stem to center pole and cages using soft stretch tape; do not tie it tightly to leave room for stem growth.
Hand pull weeds around the base of your tomatoes. Deep cultivation can damage tomatoes root system and cause problems with production.
Keep working with your tomatoes, this may be the best growing year yet!
Tremendous Tomato Contest Rulesbull;Tomatoes must be grown by entrant. Purchased fruit is inegible. All entries must include a photo of the submitted tomato growing on the vine shortly before harvest.bull;Entries must be brought into Pesche's Garden Center for weighing.bull;Tomatoes must be a minimum of 2 pounds for entry. Winning tomatoes will be determined by weight and size.bull;Entrants will agree to have their names and images used for publicity by contest partners Pesche's and the Daily Herald and will agree to share their techniques for success, including soil condition, fertilizers and other growing methods.bull;Contest ends Oct. 10Prizesbull;First place: $100 Pesche's Gift Card plus more than $100 worth of organic products determined by Pesche's.bull;Second place: $75 Pesche's Gift Card plus more than $75 worth of organic products determined by Pesche's.bull;Wally Schmidtke has been a manager at Pesche's Garden Center for 20 years. Wally is a horticulturalist; an expert in plant pathology, and insect problems. His favorite subject is organic gardening. His hobby is raising organic heirloom tomatoes.