It’s summer time, and home gardeners are growing that all-time
favorite veggie of home gardens: tomatoes.
Several readers have asked questions regarding tomatoes, so I’d
like to devote this month’s question and answer session to tomato
problems.
It’s summer time, and home gardeners are growing that all-time favorite veggie of home gardens: tomatoes.
Several readers have asked questions regarding tomatoes, so I’d like to devote this month’s question and answer session to tomato problems. Remember, you may e-mail me questions at: ga********@*ps.net. Or you can mail me questions in care of this newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Q: I have a very small garden, so I had to plant tomatoes in the same spot as last year. I’ve been told that you can’t put the same vegetable in the same spot two years in a row, but I’m stuck. What can I do? – S.C., Gilroy, via e-mail.
A: It’s always recommended that you rotate vegetable crops each year in order to help avoid disease problems. If you removed the plants and all the plant debris at the end of last season, and if your plants were disease-free last year, you can probably tempt fate and plant tomatoes in the same spot again.
Be very careful to remove the spent plants at the end of the season so no insect eggs or disease pathogens remain to infect next year’s crop.
The other problem with planting the same veggie in the same spot is that eventually you’ll deplete the soil. Avoid soil depletion by adding plenty of organic matter to your garden. This may include aged manure or mushroom compost during the winter, and compost, peat moss or leaf mold in the spring.
Q: My tomato plants are looking sickly with yellow leaves that are folding inwards. What’s happening? – M.U., Morgan Hill, via e-mail.
A: Yellowing leaves on tomato plants is quite common and can be caused by a variety of things, including overwatering, lack of nitrogen and transplant shock. Tomatoes like rich, well-draining soil with lots of organic matter. Tomatoes also need nitrogen at the start of their growing for green healthy leaves. Try fish emulsion for an organic source of nitrogen, or use a balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10. Tomatoes are also moisture sensitive, and need a regular supply of water to thrive and produce fruit.
Q: How about curling leaves on my tomato plants? – R. T., Gilroy, via e-mail.
A: The exact cause of tomato leaf roll is not known. It appears about the time of fruit setting, and gives the leaves a cupped appearance. The good news is that your plants should produce fruit with or without curled leaves. The condition usually gets worse if the soil is kept too wet, or intensive sunlight causes carbohydrates to accumulate in the leaves.
Q: I have several tomato plants with odd-shaped fruit. They are segmented into many multiple parts. What’s going on? — R.S., Hollister, via e-mail.
A: Odd-shaped tomatoes are usually associated with pollination problems. Dry conditions and very hot weather contribute to pollination problems. In my experience, though, “ugly” tomatoes taste a lot better than they look.
Keith Muraoka lives and works in Gilroy. His award-winning column has been in this newspaper since 1984. E-mail him at ga********@*ps.net, or write him in c/o The Dispatch, P.O. Box 22365, Gilroy, CA 95021.
