Posted by admin | Posted in How to grow tomatoes from seeds | Posted on 05-01-2010
Tags: Amount Of Time, Classification Purposes, Crista, Different Times, Extreme Heat, Extremes, Gardener, Growing Tomatoes, Hot Weather, Indeterminate Tomatoes, Length Of Time, Planting Tomatoes, Purchase Plants, Rule Of Thumb, Solar Fire, Surefire, Tomato Plants, Top Gun, Varieties Of Tomatoes, Vegetable Garden
Gardening season begins at different times in different parts of the country. No vegetable garden is ever complete without the presence of tomato plants. Whether you start your tomatoes from seed or purchase plants, there will always be challenges involved in having a successful harvest.
The first consideration for any gardener who wishes to grow tomatoes involves the choice of variety. Tomato plants are separated into two groups for classification purposes. Determinate varieties produce a lot of tomatoes in a short amount of time whereas Indeterminate tomatoes produce a steadier harvest throughout the growing season.
When you are deciding what varieties of tomatoes to plant, look at the length of time it takes for the tomatoes to bear fruit. If you live in the south where you can put your plants out much earlier than people in the north can, you will want to plant some varieties that mature faster. Determinate varieties may be a better choice for you because once the weather gets extremely hot, it may be too hot for the flowers to set fruit.
CONSIDER YOUR CLIMATE:
Not all varieties of tomatoes are well suited to all areas of the country. If you live in an area that gets extremely hot, you want to look for varieties that have proved to be able to tolerate extremes of heat. If you are planting tomatoes from seed, the time you start the seeds will vary depending on where in the country you live. The general rule of thumb for starting seeds is that you want to plant your seeds ten weeks before you want to plant your tomatoes outdoors.
Some varieties that are very well suited to hot conditions and that did well in the growing trials designed to test suitability are Top Gun, Solar Fire, BHN 444, Crista and Surefire. The varieties producing the best results in those trials were Surefire and BHN 444. The biggest problems associated with hot weather are that the plants may not flower, the flowers may not set fruit, and that because of the extreme heat, it’s difficult, if not impossible to keep the plants evenly moist.
TOMATO DISEASES:
Tomatoes are susceptible to a host of problems ranging from Fusarium Wilt, and Verticillium Wilt, both of which fungal disease that appears to affect the leaves and the branches to root knot nematodes. Fusarium Wilt and Verticillium Wilt generally enter the plant through the roots, as do other fungal diseases affecting tomatoes. The main difference between Fusarium Wilt and Verticillium Wilt is that Verticillium Wilt doesn’t
