Caring for Your Tomatoes

Healthy, robust tomato plants have stronger natural defenses against insects and diseases, and they will produce more fruit of higher quality. Once your plants are in your garden, use about three inches of mulch around them to conserve moisture. Mulch also prevents disease by limiting wet foliage from splashing when you water.

Tomatoes require lots of water, especially during fruiting. Watering with a garden hose is fine, but it can be time consuming and it is difficult to know if all of your plants are receiving adequate water. Uneven watering will cause blossom end rot. A garden hose will usually also wet the foliage, and wet foliage provides a breeding ground for tomato diseases and fungus. A soaker hose is very easy to use and waters all of the plants evenly and slowly without getting foliage wet. Tomato root systems will grow one to two feet deep with feeder roots spreading to about three feet in diameter. Mulch is essential to hold the water where the roots can evenly absorb it.

Tomato plants need support. You can stake your plants or use cages. If you stake, you will need to tie the plant to the stake at intervals just above the blooms. Use soft twine or fabric strips, something strong yet soft. Tie in a figure eight and leave the stem plenty of room in the loop to grow. The stem should not be tight against the stake, just anchored and supported. If you use cages, each one should be two to three feet in diameter around each plant and securely anchored to the ground.

Over-fertilizing can harm plants. To encourage larger fruit, you can pinch off the side shoots from the “v” branches, and pinch back the top of the branch when it reaches the top of its support.