In my opinion, home grown tomatoes are the eighth wonder of the world. I have been growing tomatoes for about 35 years. Last year I had an awful crop, so I decided to check out the internet for tomato gardener's tips. I love when gardeners share their gardening tips. Then I made some changes to this year's garden. I live in the Chicago area, so we cannot plant tomatoes until after Memorial Day due to the possibility of frost in late May. The evening temperature on May 28 was 29 degrees.
I did a double dig in mid May. A double dig is hand cultivitating (digging) the garden soil to a depth of two feet. Yes, that is a lot of work. Next I dug in compost, chicken manure and organic fertilizer to the soil. I then let the soil feed on the goodies that I gave it for two weeks.
After Memorial day I planted the tomatoes by digging holes that are two feet deep and two feet wide. BIG TIP--I put a handful of Rock Phosphate at the bottom of the hole. Rock Phosphate helps tomato plants develop strong roots and flowers. Next I pinched off the bottom row of leaves and planted the tomatoes deep. Tomatoes are one of the only plants that like to be planted deep. I watered the soil, not the leaves, with Miracle Grow Quick Start fertilizer and covered the soil with mulch and red tomato plastic. I also sprayed the plants with a copper fungicide to prevent Leaf Spot disease. The mulch conserves soil moisture and keeps the soil from splashing onto the leaves when it rains.
I planted Mums around the tomato plants to attract bees for polination.
Watering tips. Tomatoes love moist soil. I never let the soil get dry. Watering dry soil causes the tomato skin to crack. The mulch helps keep the soil stay moist. Never water the plants using an overhead sprinkler and never get the leaves wet. Wet leaves can cause Leaf Spot disease. I know, rain gets the leaves wet, but watering overhead can cause disease.
Tomatoes are heavy feeders. I fertilize once a week with liquid Texas Tomato Food. It is made from Kelp and is high in calcium which prevents blossom end rot. I also spray the tomatoes once a week with Bonide Blossom Set. This stops the flowers from falling off before they form a tomato.
BIG TIP. This year I picked the tomatoes before they are perfectly red. This prevents the skin from cracking and stops birds from poking holes in the tomatoes. I picked the tomatoes when they went from green to yellow. I put them in a paper bag with an apple. In about a week they are perfectly red.
It's time to pick the tomato in the center of the picture.
These were yellow in color about a week ago. Today they are perfectly red and ripe. No cracked skin and no holes.
So, did all of my hard work make a difference? I planted six tomato plants. After two months all the plants, except one, are about six feet high and there are about 15 to 20 tomatoes per plant (about 100 tomatoes total). The leaves are cleaner than past years, there are plenty of flowers and the tomatoes aren't cracked and do not have blossom end rot. So far, so good.