Grow Organic Tomatoes
Welcome to our gardening secret website. Many folks search the internet looking for this sort of information, like this article about the subject of grow organic tomatoes, every month. We have put all the information here on the one site.
You will find these posts highly informative, easy to understand and to put to use. While you are here, you can leave your comments in the box below, or share it with others using the buttons provided. We like to keep this site regularly updated with articles similar to the one below on the subject of growing organic tomatoes, so don't forget to bookmark us and visit again.
How to Grow Organic Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a very rewarding crop, and growing organic tomatoes is as easy as non-organic if you follow these simple steps.
1. Choose your site carefully
Tomatoes need a sunny, well-drained site. This could be in a garden bed, a hanging tomato planter, or in a large patio pot, but be sure to keep them close to the house where you will see them every day so they are never forgotten.
They will need to grow upward. If left to trail on the ground they are likely to become diseased. So think ahead to provide them with a trellis or something similar for tying to when they need it. They can grow up to 6 ft tall.
2. Choose your variety
Try to choose a variety that you know grows well in your area and soil type. Ask around other gardeners, especially other organic gardeners who may even be prepared to give you some seeds. Look for reliable, disease resistant varieties, either hybrids or heirlooms. Most varieties prefer slightly acidic soil.
3. Feeding and watering
Tomatoes will flourish best if fed with a good organic fertilizer at least twice in the season. For best results the fertilizer should be steadily accessible to the plants, so choose a slow release fertilizer that you work into the soil, rather than an intensive liquid feed. Occasional spraying with fish emulsion and kelp will also help them to thrive.
Water them frequently if the weather is dry. They should never be left to wilt between waterings. Even though they may not die, they will have to divert much of their growing energy away from producing fruit in order to stay alive in irregular watering conditions.
They are also likely to suffer blossom end rot if the water supply is not regular. Mulching under the plants will help to prevent the soil from drying out.
4. Pest control
Hornworms (Manduca quinquemaculata)
This pest is a large and fearsome-looking green caterpillar with a black horn on the rear. Native to the USA, it feeds on tomato plants and others in the nightshade family (eggplant, tobacco, potato, bell pepper). It will happily eat your whole tomato plant – leaves, stems and fruit.
The simplest way to deal with hornworms is simply to squish them when found. They are very well camouflaged on the underside of leaves but you can often see their black excrement fallen onto the top of the leaf below. If squishing is not for you, either remove them very far from your plants or purchase parasitic wasps.
These braconid wasps are harmless to humans and their young will feed on the hornworms. Do not kill any caterpillars that carry the white wasp eggs on their backs, so that the wasp larvae will hatch, feed and stay in your garden. The adult wasps feed on dill and cilantro (coriander) flowers.
If you have an extremely strong stomach, tomato hornworms are even said to be edible, containing lots of healthy chlorophyll from their rich plant diet. Fry them and eat with fried green tomatoes or salad.
Eelworms (Nematode)
Eelworms are found worldwide. They live in the soil and attack the roots of plants including potatoes, tomatoes and some trees. If you have them in the soil, you may not find out in time to save your first plants but you can use the organic fungicide Methyl bromide to spray your next young plants.
You can also prevent eelworm infestation by rotating your tomatoes with other plants that will discourage this pest.
Blight
There are two forms of tomato blight: early and late. Both are caused by fungi and can be prevented or controlled by rotating your plants and avoiding overcrowding so that the air can circulate around even full-grown plants.
Late blight is common in a wet summer and may affect your whole crop. Removing and destroying affected plants (do not put them in the compost – burn them) immediately can help to keep the blight under control and save some of your growing organic tomatoes.
*
How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes
*
*
Books About Home Grown Tomatoes
*
We hope that you found the article on the subject of how to grow organic tomatoes useful. If you feel that we have missed any important points, you could leave us with some feedback using the comments box, we appreciate all input.
Although only brief, this article on the subject of growing tomatoes organically will still have filled a gap in someone's knowledge. We cannot all know everything. If you think the article has helped you, please pass the article on using the sharing buttons provided. Thank you for visiting.
