Tomato Masters
Cynthia Sandberg
Love Apple Farms
LoveAppleFarms.com
Welcome to Love Apple Farms
Class Guidelines
Please try to keep talking to a
minimum.
Hold your questions until I ask
for them. Have faith in my
agenda.
Selecting Tomatoes for Your Garden
Every tomato variety has its time and place
● Culinary purpose
● Climate
● Sunlight limitations
● Disease resistance
Photo courtesy of Don Barnes
Culinary Purposes of Different Shapes
Beefsteak - Slicers,
salads, not great
canners
Oxheart - Double
duty, slicing and
canning
Plum, Pear, Romatype - Use for canning
and salsa making
Ruffled - great for
stuffing (a bit hollow)
The role of color when selecting tomatoes
- Red tomatoes are not typically sweet - they are “bite you back,”
higher acidic flavor than other colors. Some people would call
them having “old fashioned” flavor.
- Pink tomatoes are sweet
- Orange tomatoes can be sweet or mild in flavor (think Sungold)
- Yellow tomatoes can also be on the sweeter side
- Black or purple tomatoes have less acid, but more of an umami
flavor, some say smokey or barbequey flavor
- White tomatoes can be some of the sweetest around, with hints
of guava and honey
- Green when ripe tomatoes can be complex in flavor, with
excellent balances of sweet and acid.
- Bi-color tomatoes will be the flavor of their coloring: if red and
yellow, there will be a nice acid/sweet balance
Selecting for Your Climate
● Coastal
● East Bay
● Central Valley
● Higher elevation
● Oxhearts
○ Droopy, wispy foliage is
normal.
○ Use 50% shade fabric in
hot climates
○ Or shady p.m.
Hoophouse made from
PVC for oxhearts
Story
Fruit Size and Minimum Sunlight Hours
Cherry
Minimum 3
Size: 1/2 oz
hours of sunlight
Small Fruit
Min 4 - 5 hours Size: 1-3 oz
of sunlight
Medium Fruit
Min 5 - 6 hours
of sunlight
Large & XL
Fruit
Min 7 - 8 hours Size: >9 oz
of sunlight
Size: 4-8 oz
Know The Characteristics of the
Tomatoes You Select
● Indeterminate or Determinate?
● Heirloom or Hybrid?
Indeterminate Growth Habit
● Undetermined as to
how tall it will get
● Requires proper staking
● Will shade other plants
● Harvest over longer
season
Determinate Growth Habit
● 3 feet tall or less
● Shorter harvest season
● Usually hybrids
● Place on south side of
indeterminate tomatoes
● Cut tall tomato cages in half
Heirloom vs. Hybrid
● Saved seed will sow true
● 1 genetic parent
● Diversity in color, shape,
taste
● Less prolific
● Green shoulders
● Mostly Indeterminate
● Cannot save seed
● 2+ genetic parents
● Disease-resistance & shelf
life
● More prolific
● Perfect-looking
● Mostly Determinate
When to Plant Your Tomato
Issues with planting too early:
● Low nighttime temperatures
● Cold rain
● Frost
● Cold soil
● Cold damage
● Stunting
● More susceptible to pests and
diseases
Issues with planting too late:
● Shorter season
● Getting fruit to ripen
Mild & Coastal Gardens
Planting Date
Never
before
April 1
Normal or Usual Conditions
Planting Date
April 15
(unless it's been a cold, rainy spring)
Higher Elevation Gardens
May 1
If You Just
Gotta Plant
Earlier than
you Should
Inverted
Bucket, Bin or
Box
(on at night, off in
morning)
Warm Soil with Plastic
Keeping Your Plants Warmer in Early
Part of Season
DO NOT DO THIS WITH PLASTIC!
● Floating Row Cover
attached to
structure or cages
● Can leave on 24/7
first few weeks.
● Don't let it rest on
plants.
● Available on line or
at good nurseries
● Use lighter weight
FRC or scant light
will penetrate.
More Elegant
Example of FRC
Wrapping
Note this is NOT
plastic!
NO!
I killed all
of my
tomatoes
one year
using
plastic
cover
Choosing Your Site
● Reserve the sunniest spots for the larger fruiters
● In North/South oriented beds, place cherry sized
fruit in North side, small and medium sized in
middle, and large and XL sized fruit on South side
of bed
● Consider day length in Fall - Bay Area's peak
tomato season
● Coastal fog reduces
light
● Shade from trees is a
factor
Story
My first attempt at growing tomatoes in west/east
oriented beds
BREAK
Bed Amending Recipe
For a 50 square foot bed:
● 1 barrow homemade compost OR
1 bag Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme
● 2 quarts G&B 4-6-3 Tomato, Veg, & Herb Fertilizer
● 1 quart pure Worm Castings
Bed Amending Step by Step
● If bed too full, remove a barrow of
soil
● Sprinkle all amendments evenly on
top
● Turn over soil as deep as you can
(two digs preferably)
○ Use a spade fork
● Rake smooth
Spacing
Optimal = 3 feet + apart
Minimum = 2 feet apart
● Crowding will give you
less fruit, not more
● More airflow reduces
foliar diseases &
increases blossom
production (because less
shading)
● Harvesting tomatoes is
easier
Planting Hole Recipe
Big Fish Head (or fish parts)
● Seafood restaurants, fishmongers, buy whole fish to eat and
freeze head and tail
● Requires 2 foot deep planting hole - so varmints don't dig
up
● Substitute: ½ cup Fish Meal - hole won't need to be as deep
● Slow release Nitrogen and Calcium source
½ cup Bone Meal
● Organic phosphorus source
○ Essential for blossom
production
○ More blossoms, more
fruit
● Increases calcium
availability for the tomato,
which prevents Blossom
End Rot
½ cup G&B Tomato, Vegetable & Herb
Fertilizer 4-6-3
● Or other organic dry fertilizer
○ Down To Earth 4-6-2
○ Sustane 4-6-4
● Breaks down slowly
● Contains macronutrients (N,P,
K) and Calcium
⅓ cup 100% Pure Worm Castings
● Best fertilizer on
earth!
● Make sure it's pure
- no fillers
● Available at LAF
Tomato Plant Sale
or our Farm Store
● Start your own
worm bin!
2 Aspirin Tablets
● Helps the plant's
immune system
● Non-coated
● Generic, cheapest is
fine
Several Crushed Eggshells
● Supplies extra
calcium
● Chicken eggs
● Start saving in bag
under your sink
● Crush with your
hands and chuck in
the hole
⅓ cup Mychorrizal Fungi Sprinkled on
Root Ball
● Fungus that has a symbiotic relationship with plant - it
lives on plant roots, creating a larger root mass and in
exchange it helps the plant take up nutrients.
● It helps protects the plant from some diseases, such as
verticillium and fusarium wilts.
● Plant needs less water as well
● Mykos by Xtreme Gardening our favorite.
Stories
Sungold in pot at Wegman's Nursery
Giant pumpkins!
Deep Planting
● Tomato should be planted half way
up its stem (unless it's a grafted
plant).
● Deep planting too early in spring may
be detrimental.
● Remove lower leaves with clippers.
● Hairs on stem will root when they
contact soil.
Watering In Your Transplant
● Place the tomato in the hole and add some water with hose on low
pressure.
● Begin to back-fill hole with soil.
● Never compact soil.
● Leave a depression, or well,
around plant.
● Water 3 times on first day.
● Tomato will not need water
again for at least a week,
maybe more, unless you have
very light, sandy soil.
STRETCH BREAK!
Fruit Formation Issues
Blossom drop or no fruit?
● Low night time temperatures
● High day time temperatures
● High humidity (fog)
● Excessive smog or dust
● Excessive nitrogen fertilizer
● Too much shade
● Plants set out too early
Cat-Facing, Stitching, Concentric Cracking
● Environmental factors
(cold, fog)
● Changes in weather
● Usually still edible
When to Water - Not a Simple Answer!
● What kind of soil do you have?
○ Sandy soils drain faster
○ Clay soils retain more water
○ Loamy soils are best (combo of the two)
● Age of plant
○ Smaller plants need less water, but more often
○ Larger plants need more water, but less often
● Temperature and climate
○ Plants transpire more in
warmer weather and in windier weather
● Mulched or not
○ Mulching retains moisture
Over-Watering Issues
● #1 cause of bad-tasting fruit
● Increased diseases - including leaf curl - can kill the plant
● We hate timers!
○ Not weather-dependent, not what the tomato needs
● Drip irrigation is best (upcoming class on June 28)
● Early morning watering is best
● Don't get leaves wet - no sprinklers
● Soaker hoses get clogged easily
Proper Staking is Key
● Ineffectual cages
○ We like to start with these cages, but they
need proper caging later
● What if you don't stake?
● Proper cages
● Staking and twining cages
● Pushing in branches
● Don't push in leaves
Concrete Reinforcing Wire
Available pre-cut at Central Home Supply in Scotts Valley or from
Keaney Family Farm (delivered)
Twine All Cages Together at 3 Levels
Mulching
● Tomatoes like it, especially alfalfa
● Don't use other hay - contains seeds
● Not too early
● Weed control
● Moisture retention
● Fertility additive
● Intense heat on top of soil
damages roots
Intense Heat
● Shade with shade cloth or floating row cover
○ Clip on to south and west side of tomato cages
● Sun scald
Fertilizing
● For health
● For yield
● For taste
● Foliar spray: Worm Casting Tea + aspirin
Worm Casting Tea Recipe
● Big handful of castings in a 5 gallon bucket of water
● Let sit for two days, stirring occasionally
● Strain through cheesecloth into sprayer
● Dilute up to 3X with additional water before using, if you
like.
● 1.5 aspirin per 2 gallons diluted tea
● Apply weekly to foliage in a.m.
Pruning
● Sucker growth after August 1
● For diseases/pests
● For taste
● Remove all leaves touching
ground
● Remove 50% interior leaves if
you’ve staked properly and
interior is dense
● End of season pruning
LET’S GO OUTSIDE AND PRUNE!
Diseases
● All members of the Nightshade family are very disease-prone
● Diseases can be spread by:
○ Pests
○ Soil
○ Air
○ Infected plant (natural and unnatural)
○ Seed
○ Human (TMV)
● Hard to diagnose - seek professional help
● Cure is almost impossible
● Prevention is key!!!
○ Mycorrhizal fungi
○ Aspirin
○ Worm Casting Tea
Use Disease Resistant Varieties
● "A" Alternaria stem canker
● "F" Fusarium Wilt
● "FF" Fusarium, races 1 and 2
● "FFF" Fusarium, races 1, 2, and 3
● "N" Nematodes
● "T" Tobacco Mosaic Virus
● "St" Stemphylium gray leaf spot
● "V" Verticillium Wilt
Other Diseases
● Bacterial Speck
○ Cold and moist
○ Planting too soon
● Blossom End Rot (BER)
○ Calcium deficiency
Other Diseases
● Leaf Roll
○ Older leaves roll upward and inward, become stiff and leathery
○ Probably caused by high light intensity and high soil moisture
○ Some varieties more susceptible than others
○ Provide partial shade during periods of intense sunlight
○ Seen on plants that have outgrown their pots too
Late Blight
Late Blight aka Phytophthora Infestans
● Prevalent in wet weather (or foggy weather) that is between
64 and 72 degrees
● Responsible for Irish Potato Famine
● Can kill tomatoes within a week
● In wetter weather, do a prophylactic spray of Serenade,
sulfur, or Copper based fungicide
● Once you have it, hard to control it
● Doesn't over-winter
● Late Blight Reporting Map: usablight.org
Remedy for
cold/foggy
climates
Note bamboo poles
twined together
LAF Version here
Tomato Russet Mite (TRM)
● Microscopic - check weekly with 10x or 20x hand
lens
○ Look on foliage above dying leaves
● Preventative: Neem Oil, Wettable Sulfur
○ Organic smothering agents
○ Contact all surfaces of plant
○ Every 2 weeks
● Organic miticides: Azatrol, Agri-mek
○ Several applications
○ Early in morning
● Does not stay in soil
● Only overwinters on living tomato, eggplant,
pepper, or morning glory plants
Thrips
● Need hand lens to see
● Fast moving, long little
bugs
● Can impart tomato
spotted wilt virus
● Will damage leaves and
growing tips
● Control with Pyrethrin,
Neem Oil, Spinosad,
Azatrol on rotation basis
each week.
● These will RUIN your
tomatoes!
Psyllids
● Can easily kill
tomatoes
● Relatively new
pest
● Need hand lens
to see
● Manage early,
before damage
is done
● Spray spinosad
Hornworm and Fruitworm
● Hornworm: denudes branches
● Fruitworm: Eats tops of fruit
● Predatory insect: Trichogramma wasps
● www.beneficialinsects101.com
Growing in Pots
● Why grow in a container?
○ Disease issues
○ Sunlight issues
○ Gopher issues
○ Soil issues
○ Renters
● It is more difficult to grow in a pot
● Minimum size: 15 gallons
● Potting soil: Always new, G&B is good.
Sunland or Happy Frog also good
● Special container amendment recipe
● More water
● More fertilizer
● Shade dark colors of pots from intense sun or
use fabric pots (Geopots)
Cages can go right over the pot
Shading Black Plastic Pots from Sun
Harvesting
● First ones low and inside
● How to tell when they're ripe
● Hang time
● Over ripe
● At end of season
○ Harvest green
○ Ripen inside
○ To avoid frost loss
Seed Saving
● Only heirlooms, no hybrids
● Only from healthy plants and best fruit
● Can develop strains that do very well in your microclimate
● Fruit must be ripe
Label fruit with permanent marker when you harvest
it in the garden
Cut tomato along its equator line
Squeeze juices and seeds into plastic cup
Add an inch of water to the cup and let sit in a sunny
window for 1 week until mold forms on top
Peel off mold and rinse seeds in sieve under faucet.
Plop rinsed seeds onto a labeled wax paper
Let dry naturally for 4 days and store in sealed
container in cool, dry place
Items Available for Sale Today
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Jams & Pickles - prices on jars
G&B Fertilizer $8
G&B Bone Meal $8
G&B Fish Meal $9
Geopots $12
Sabotens $29
Mykos $5 (one pouch will do three tomatoes)
Spade Forks $29
And More!
Upcoming Events at Love Apple
Cocktails with Simon Majumdar - August 8
Winter Vegetable Gardening - August 9 or Sept 19
Propagating Perennials - August 16
Beginning Cheese Making - August 22
Compost, Vermiculture & Soil Fertility - August 23
Home-Made Pasta - August 29
Sauerkraut & Kimchi - August 30
Donuts, Beignets & Fritters - Sept 6
Questions?