During the second week of July, some lucky home farmers may taste their first ripe tomatoes. Most Western Washington gardeners, however, will still be struggling to keep tomato plants alive after the cool and rainy weather of early summer.
Here are the most-asked tomato growing questions:
Q. Why did the leaves of my tomato plant turn purple? I have successfully grown tomatoes for years and this is the first time this has happened. — R.P., Buckley
A. Blame it on the cold, the wind and the wet weather. Anytime the temperature drops below 65 degrees tomato plants shiver and suffer in silence. Next spring invest in a blanket of agricultural fleece sold at garden centers and home stores. Cover your young plants at night until the weather warms up in mid-summer. Purple leaves are also a sign of a phosphorus deficiency because our acid soils do not release phosphorous well. Spread wood ashes around the tomato plants or use a complete fertilizer such as Osmocote or Miracle Grow that contains potassium.
Q. My neighbor and I bought Early Girl tomatoes from the same nursery and he planted his in a container while I planted mine in the ground. His tomato plants look much better than mine. Is this because tomatoes love potting soil? Love growing in pots? He just has a green thumb? He claims he does nothing special and we use the same plant food. — J., email.
A. It’s all about the night temperature. Tomatoes grown in pots, especially black plastic pots that absorb the heat, will be happier in cool climates like ours. Container-grown tomatoes can also be moved close to the house and under the eaves during rain storms. I like to place metal tomato cages around my young plants, then wrap this support system with plastic bubble wrap leaving the top open. This creates a mini-greenhouse to raise the night temperature. By mid-summer I remove the plastic walls so the growing plants can expand.
Q. How often should one fertilize tomatoes? — K. email
A. Tomatoes are hungry plants — but too much nitrogen plant food can encourage foliage over fruit. Organic gardeners use a liquid seaweed extract two or three times during the growing season according to the package instructions. You can also use a slow-release plant food like Osmocote once at planting time so the nutrients will be released all summer. A flower and vegetable plant food like Miracle Grow, Bonnie’s Herb and Vegetable food or Peter’s Professional plant food will get the nutrients to hungry tomato plants quickly because they can absorb the nutrition from their leaves when these water-soluble plant foods are used. With so many options for feeding tomatoes, the most important advice is to read and follow label directions. Remember that the first number on the fertilizer label is nitrogen — and for tomatoes, that first number should not be higher than the other two numbers (potassium and phosphorous) listed on the label. The most important time to feed your tomatoes is two to three weeks after transplanting and again once the fruit is set but before it has ripened.
Q. Help! All my tomato plants have dark spots on the older leaves and the stems are now turning brown. I do know this is probably a blight caused by wet weather but my question is there anything I can do to save the plants? — P.L., Longview
A. My sympathies for the blight upon you. You can take heroic measures and spray your plants with a copper fungicide every 7 to 10 days following label instructions and this may save the plants. Option two is to buy some potted cherry tomatoes from the garden center and enjoy fresh tomatoes grown in pots inside a greenhouse that have been protected from the cold and rain. A good tomato for our area that is resistant to leaf blight is Early Cascade.
Q. What is the best tasting tomato that will grow in our area? I do grow the dependable Early Girl but the flavor seems a bit flat. — Anonymous
A. The best- tasting tomatoes for cool climates are the small cherry or patio tomatoes; in blind taste tests the yellow baby tomatoes do best. Sun Gold, Husky Gold or yellow pear tomatoes all have high sugar contents and great tomato flavor with a bonus of ripening early and growing on compact plants that do well in containers. It is not too late to invest this summer in these flavor-packed winners. A ripe tomato warm from the sun and popped directly into your mouth is one of the joys of summer gardening.
Send your gardening questions to Marianne Binetti at P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw WA 98022, enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a personal reply. Or see her Web site: www.binettigarden.com
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