Caring for My Growing Tomato Plants
If you’ve ever grown a vining plant, you know how important it is to provide strong structures to which the vines can cling and climb. Using tall, natural bamboo stakes and strong jute twine is a great way to support the growing tomato plants in my garden bed.
I am always interested in trying new ways to improve productivity in the gardens. This season, I decided to use eight foot vertical stakes secured to horizontal ones to create our tomato supports. Bamboo is attractive, easy to find, and can be reused year after year. So far, they've been working excellently. And yesterday, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, tied some of the long vines to the bamboo to keep them all the fast-growing fruits off the ground.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- After three weeks of hot, humid, and dry weather, we finally got some much needed rain. Tomatoes grow best when the daytime temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. They stop growing above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Tomatoes also need full sun and warm, well-drained soil. Our tomatoes are thriving and it’s time to support their growing vines.
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- In late May, the season’s designated tomato beds are covered in black weed cloth to cut down on some of the laborious weeding in the garden. We planted our tomatoes in the back of the garden this year – always as part of our crop rotation practice.
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- Our tomato plants are always started from seed over the winter and then transplanted in the ground as soon as daytime temperatures are consistently above 65-degrees Fahrenheit. Two-thirds of the plant should be underground, meaning all but the two top most leaf sets should be buried. Planting deeply helps the plant to develop more roots, and more roots mean more ability to take up water and nutrients. If the seedling is already too tall and wobbly, dig a trench instead of a hole and lay the plant on its side. The stronger root system also helps the plant better survive the hot weather. This applies to tomatoes planted in the ground, in a raised bed or in a container.
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- These are the tomato plants in early June. With nutrient rich soil and warm days they’ve grown pretty quickly. Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, have long been one of America’s favorite garden vegetables. Those bold red, sun-ripened tomatoes deliver the taste of summer with every bite. And, they’re filled with excellent antioxidants and vitamins. We plant many, many tomatoes, but just a handful of healthy plants can produce a bounty of delicious fruits within eight weeks.
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- I am always trying new methods for staking our tomato plants. Every year we try something new and better. I like using bamboo canes. They are easy to buy in bulk, and can be found in a variety of sizes. These canes are about eight to nine feet tall.
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- This year, I came up with the idea to make straight supports down each aisle – with no netting, just bamboo. The first step is to pound the stakes into the ground, so all are the same height along the bed.
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- Chhiring places one eight-foot stake every couple of feet along the center of the tomato beds. And each one is about eight to 10-inches deep. The important thing is to place them deep enough, so they remain secure for the duration of the season.
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- Next, Chhiring secures horizontal bamboo pieces across all the bamboo stakes. He makes four rows about a foot apart going up the bamboo.
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- And then secures them with jute twine. Chhiring secures twine at each joint, so it is tight and strong enough to hold the fruit laden vines. Securing the tomato plants is a time consuming process, but very crucial to good plant growth and performance.
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- Here is one aisle. Look closely, the plants are still quite small, but it won’t take long before they cover the base of the stakes.
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- Two weeks later, the plants are already several inches taller.
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- And yesterday, many were more than two feet tall, with their vines drooping onto the ground.
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- Here’s Chhiring measuring and cutting strands of jute twine to the same length.
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- Then he drapes them around his neck as he works to carefully tie up the long tomato vines.
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- First he loops it gently around the vine…
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- And then he secures it to the bamboo crossbar. He ties a simple knot tightly to the bamboo.
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- And this lifts the vine off the ground. There is plenty of space to tie and support every tomato vine. This is the best method we have used yet.
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- Tomato leaves have serrated, or wavy and pointed, edging along the entire perimeter. Tomato leaves are compound with multiple leaflets growing along a common stem, called a rachis. These leaves are also slightly fuzzy to the touch, which is caused by the trichomes, or multi-cellular hairs, on the plant. Never use chemically treated wood or other material for staking climbers, as the chemicals would likely run off and go into the soil.
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- Remember, it’s the yellow flowers produced by tomato plants that must be fertilized before fruit can form. Once fertilized, the flowers develop into tomatoes – small green globes that become visible at the base of the blossoms and then eventually become mature fruits.
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- Here are some of the green fruits already growing on the vines. It’s a good idea to grow several varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. There are several types of tomatoes available, including globe tomatoes used in processing, and for fresh eating. Beefsteak are large, often used for sandwiches. Oxheart tomatoes vary in size and are shaped like large strawberries. Plum tomatoes are usually oblong, and used in tomato sauces. Cherry tomatoes are small round, often sweet and eaten whole. Campari tomatoes are sweet and juicy and of small to medium size. Many of our tomatoes are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds – a source I’ve been using for many years for both seeds and supplies.
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- It takes about 50 to 90 days for tomato varieties to reach maturity. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests.
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- Here are some cherry tomatoes already changing color. I can’t wait to try the fruits of our labor.
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- These plants look so much better when kept upright and neat. The tomato plants have a lot of room to climb, keeping delicious fruits looking their best. Very soon, we will have many, many tomatoes to enjoy. I am looking forward to a wonderful harvest this season. I can almost taste them already!
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