• Varieties:  Tomato varieties can be grouped by size (large, medium and small) and color (red, yellow, orange, purple, white, green and pink).  Additionally, they can be considered slicing tomatoes (good for salads and sandwiches), paste tomatoes (good for cooking down into sauces), and cherry tomatoes (best eaten whole, off the vine).  Parthenocarpic varieties produce fruit without fertilization.  Hybrid varieties have been bred for specific characteristics, but their off-spring are usually devoid of those specialties; do not save seed from hybrids.  Heirloom varieties are the result of generations of careful selection and seed saving; they tend to have better flavor, yields and hardiness.  Open-pollinated varieties are pollinated by wind, insects, birds or animals, not by human manipulation; also referred to as non-hybrids.  Determinate tomato varieties typically spread laterally or grow more like bushes requiring little or no trellising and have harvests that diminish as the season progresses (often determinates will flower briefly and set one short harvest of fruit, with no more forthcoming.  Indeterminate tomato varieties grow more like vines requiring trellising and have harvests that increase as the season progresses (indeterminates will continuously flower and set fruit throughout the growing season; the larger the plant, the more fruit it ultimately will produce). 

   

  Heritage notes:  Originally from South America, tomatoes are in the nightshade family.

• Days to harvest:  Very early tomatoes will mature as quickly as 50 days or so, whereas main-season tomatoes may take up to or longer than 80 days.  Early tomatoes are often determinates.  Smaller tomatoes will ripen significantly sooner than the larger varieties.  Pruned tomato plants will take up less room and are likely to produce fruit two weeks earlier.  To prune, snap off suckers (the sprouts that grow between the main stem and the leaf axils) with your fingers.  If you need scissors, you’ve waited too long.

  Culture/ growing conditions:  Transplant after the danger of frost has passed.  Plant determinate (bush) varieties about 2 feet apart and indeterminate (vine) varieties about 3 feet apart.  Space your rows 3-4 feet apart.  Determinate tomatoes are easier to stake or cage as their growth is more limited, however, indeterminate tomatoes will take some creativity and diligence to contain.  Training tomato vines with trellises, cages and/or stakes prevents the plants from collapsing under their own weight, keeps the fruits off the ground away from insects and rot-causing moisture, and makes harvest easier.  If done very carefully, trained vines can take up quite a bit less room than suggested in the above spacing recommendations.  Determinate tomatoes are more suitable for container gardening.  Tomatoes do best in full sun, though some afternoon shade can prevent sun-burned fruits and may improve yield (tomatoes can fail to set fruit if temperatures rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit), though it will also slow down the ripening process.

   

  Soil preparation tips:  Deep-rooting and heavy feeding, tomatoes will do best in medium-rich soil.  Abundant soil phosphorous is important for early high yields.  Too much nitrogen will cause rampant growth and soft fruits susceptible to rot, if the plants set fruit at all.  Acidic soils and soils low in calcium can cause blossom-end rot.

Transplanting tips:  Remove lowest leaves and bury crown several inches deep; the buried stem will grow roots and result in a stronger root system.  Also, when planted deeply like this, more of the roots will be sheltered sooner from drying out. 

Disease/Predator resistance if known:  A few varieties are resistant to various diseases.  Disease problems are relatively rare in this area because our summers are so dry.  If you smoke or use tobacco in any form, wash your hands before handling tomato seedlings, to avoid spreading tobacco mosaic disease.  If your garden has had disease problems of any kind in the past, avoid planting tomatoes where eggplant, potatoes, petunias, or peppers have grown.

Storability/how to store:  Store ripe tomatoes at room temperature in a single layer, out of the sun, stem side down for up to 5 or 6 days; if you can’t eat them before they start to rot, store in the refrigerator.  Determinate varieties are best for people canning their tomatoes because the fruits on each plant will ripen all at once.  Sun drying half-inch thick tomato slices is an excellent (and easy) way to preserve a large portion of your harvest; all tomatoes dry well this way, but use sauce tomatoes for best results.  Tomatoes canned whole, as sauce or salsa keep indefinitely and are far superior to those purchase in supermarkets.