Side Road USA

The trick to tomatoesCasual gardeners can enjoy the sweet success of homegrown tomatoes with a little soil preparation and the right plants.By JOHN A. STARNES JR.

Published July 10, 2004

[Photo by John A. Starnes Jr.] Before you can feast on vine-ripe tomatoes you’ll need to give your plants something to feast on, too.

How many of you garden in pursuit of the perfect pleasure offresh vine-ripe tomatoes? To have your teeth pop through that cool tautskin, then sink into the juicy decadence - it's an affirmation oflife's simple pleasures.

But it's a pleasure that eludes many of us. Instead, what we getfrom our humble gardens are sickly vines and malformed fruit.

Don't despair, you can grow tomatoes successfully if you follow afew simple rules: create healthy, fertile soil; choose the varietiesbest suited for the season; and take advantage of our climate.

Tomato vines are hungry plants, yet we plant them in miserablesandy soil fed with chemical fertilizers. Try this method to revitalizea garden patch:

Choose an area 6 feet by 6 feet in full sun; spread a 25 pound bagof cheap dry dog food nuggets, a 20 pound bag of cheap clay cat litterand half of a 50 pound bag of alfalfa pellets. As the dog food decays,it releases plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium,calcium (which prevents black "blossom end rot" in ripening fruits) andminerals. The proteins and carbohydrates feed the earthworms,beneficial fungi and bacteria that create soil fertility by decomposingorganic matter.

The cat litter releases potassium-rich clay that helps sandy soilretain moisture. The alfalfa pellets supply beneficial bacteria, traceminerals, nitrogen and organic matter. Once everything has beenapplied, use a shovel to turn the soil. Water deeply, then cover thesite with overlapping layers of cardboard boxes. Water the cardboarduntil it sags and softens.

For mulch use 6 inches of pine needles, or 4 inches of coastal hay(check feed stores), or oak leaves or chipped mulch from a treetrimming service. Let it ripen for two to four weeks, watering deeplyeach week.

To get a more vibrant root systems, plant your seedlings a few inches deeper than they grew in their starter pots.

Use our climate to your advantage by planting heat-sensitive largerfruiting types in fall and early spring and the heat-tolerant smallerfruiting types in spring, early summer and again in early fall. Cherry,grape and most Roma types tolerate our muggy summers best; good onesinclude Sweet 1000 and Sweet Million. Folks with limited space or whouse containers often get the best results with patio tomatoes. Look forthe word "determinate" on seed packets or plant tags. This means seedswill grow into a fairly small plant, produce one crop of tomatoes, thendie.

"Indeterminate" types can produce both large and small fruit, makebig vining plants and keep blooming until they succumb to a hard freezeor are removed by hand. The cherry types for summer are indeterminateand therefore crank out tangy-sweet "maters" for a year or more.

There are as many secrets to "raising" tomatoes as there are toraising children, but try this trio of ingredients for healthy vinesthat are free from bugs and disease. It might also help heal yourgardening ego.

- John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organicgardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizesroses for the diverse regions of Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com

[Last modified July 9, 2004, 10:44:02]

(this is a reprint of original publication)