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Getting Started with Homegrown Tomatoes in North Florida
By Karl Miller
For many fruit and vegetable gardeners, few accomplishments match the thrill of pulling a ripe 4-‐inch diameter beefsteak tomato off the vine. Here are a few basics for those relatively new to tomato gardening in north Florida. These observations and recommendations are oriented towards someone wanting to grow tomatoes in the soil (not in a greenhouse) for fresh eating (not for canning).
When do I start? Tomatoes are one of the few warm-‐season vegetables in our area that do not do well directly seeded outdoors. Tomatoes are almost always put out as a starter plant because they are very vulnerable to cold temperatures, animals, disease, and over-‐ or under-‐watering during their first few weeks of life. I start my seeds indoors in pots in a sunny window or under a grow light during the first week of January. It is not necessary to start quite this early, but it will take 6-‐8 weeks to get robust starts for transplant. If shepherding little green creatures through the winter does not appeal to you, or if you’ve run out of time, you can skip this step and purchase tomato starts at a farmer’s market or other venue.
A happy Sun Gold transplant. Labeling your garden plants is always a good idea. When can I plant outside? You will hear some people locally talk about March 10th as a reliable ‘frost-‐free’ date. However, there are no guarantees with Florida weather. It’s important to point out that most people reading this will probably be growing tomatoes in town, where it is quite a bit warmer than outlying areas. For example, in the Duckpond area, where I live, winter lows are consistently 4-‐8 degrees warmer than outside of town, which for young plants can be the difference between life and death. Personally, I put tomatoes in the ground during the last week of February, but I always keep extra starts on hand in case we get hit with a severe freeze in March. If I lived outside of town I would probably wait until the second or third week of March.
What do I plant? Most tomato varieties fall into two general categories: determinate and indeterminate. Determinate varieties are relatively compact and bushy and tend to produce most of their fruit early in a single concentrated pulse. These are ideal for canning and freezing, because fruit comes all at once. Indeterminate varieties, however, continue to grow indefinitely, like a sprawling vine, continuing to produce flowers (and fruit) along the way. The majority of tomatoes prized for fresh eating and cooking are indeterminate.
In our climate, it is easiest to grow cherry tomatoes, which ounce for ounce can have just as much, or more, flavor as the big beefsteak tomato you may dream about. A local favorite is Sun Gold, an easy-‐to-‐grow hybrid that is incredibly sweet and delicious to most taste buds. This year I am growing the Sun Gold (orange color), Yellow Pear (heirloom,
yellow color), and Violet Jasper (heirloom, crimson red and green stripes). New gardeners in north Florida will increase their chance of success by starting off with cherry tomatoes.
Larger tomatoes take a greater combination of patience, skill, and good fortune. They take longer to ripen on the vine and thus any small cracks or blemishes have more time to be discovered by invading pests and diseases. In addition, our extreme weather can wreak havoc on these beauties; too little or too much water can be associated with blossom-‐end rot or cracking. However, I love Brandywine, which I believe is the gold standard of flavor for big slicer tomatoes. This year I am planting Brandywine (heirloom, dark red), Pink Ponderosa (heirloom, bright pink color), and Moskovich (heirloom, red color). Lately, I sometimes try a couple plants of the latest hybrid tomatoes, partly out of curiosity and partly to hedge bets against a severe outbreak of disease (which I have never
had). These modern hybrid varieties, with humorous names that sound like super-‐heroes, are bred for superior resistance to disease but typically fall a wee bit short on flavor!
For more information about tomato varieties, these are my favorite seed suppliers:
• Seeds of Change http://www.seedsofchange.com/
• Johnny’s http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
• Tomato Growers Supply http://www.tomatogrowers.com/Tomatoes/departments/1/
• Baker Creek http://rareseeds.com/
How can I increase the odds of success for my little tomato plants? Some of the most important things you can do for your tomatoes should occur before, or at, the time of planting. Tomatoes like rich soil with plenty of nutrients and a pH of 6.5 -‐ 7.0. In practical terms, this means you will need to build up your soil with organic matter. Occasionally in north Florida, home gardeners will be confronted with very acidic soils and need to use lime to reduce the harmful effects of low pH. If in doubt, get a soil test. Composting organic matter in place (i.e., on your future tomato bed) during the fall and winter is a great approach. Amend your future tomato bed with animal fertilizer, crushed rock products such as greensand (for micro-‐nutrients), and small amounts of wood ashes (for potassium). If you’ve run out of time or want to skip this step, you can probably buy composted garden soil from a garden store or elsewhere a few weeks before transplanting and still have success.
Using poor sandy soil and dosing it with nitrogen-‐rich fertilizers is not likely to work, because tomatoes require a balanced supply of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and micro-‐nutrients.
I believe I have consistently had success with tomatoes because of the care I give them during their first couple weeks in the ground. First, it’s important to bury your starts deeply, well above the lowest set of thin simple leaves (which are called cotyledons). I dig a trench a few inches deep and lay my plant almost on its side, gently curving it upwards until only the true leaves are above ground level. Roots will form all along the buried stem! Second, I always water in my tomato transplants very deeply the first week to encourage deep root growth. I hand water the base of each plant (without soaking the leaves) for several minutes at a time, multiple times within a morning, but only on alternate days. Later in the season, I get by with watering tomatoes only occasionally because their root systems are strong.
Do my tomatoes need pruning? Support your tomatoes with cages and tie them loosely to stakes for extra support. Only indeterminate varieties of tomatoes should be pruned. Keeping your plants up off the ground and at least reasonably pruned will probably decrease the likelihood of rot and may slightly increase your yields. For an excellent video on the art of pruning tomato “suckers” check out the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81iFrX45qag.
That’s all for now. Have fun!
Karl with a homegrown Brandywine beauty!