Growing tomatoes in a climate where summer temperatures barely get above 20 degrees Celsius can make for heartbreaking gardening. But it seems so ingrained in all vegetable gardeners that it's not really a summer vege patch without them, that people like me keep attempting to grow them with often pitiful results.
This spring will be my fourth attempt to grow tomatoes and have a supply throughout the summer months and into autumn. The first time, all the seedlings I bought died from damping off, a fungal disease that leaves seedlings lying flat as though they're taking a nap. The second time, I scorched all my seedlings in a plastic greenhouse. The third time, I got most of my seedling tomatoes, both cherry and Grosse Lisse, to fruiting through careful sowing, hardening off and cloching, but blight swept through and claimed half my cherry crop, and all my Grosse Lisse. I was devastated.
But you learn from these things. This year I'm sticking to cherry tomatoes. My dreams of making buckets of tomato sauce aren't going to happen unless I a) Get a glasshouse, which isn't practical on my section; b) change the angle of the planet; or 3) Genetically engineer a tomato that can grow in cooler climes.
I have four varieties to sow; Gardeners Delight from Kings seeds, Sweet 100s and two varieties from friends who have given me seeds - a "yellow cherry" and a semi-famous variety (among my friends anyway) that was still putting out a tonne of sweet cherries at Sandy Bay in Northland from a vine that was growing unnurtured in a field near the beach. It grows practically wild in my friend's Whangarei garden, but how well it does here, where conditions are the exact opposite, we'll find out.
I sow tomatoes inside - they need temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees to germinate. I sow them into a punnet in my windowsill propagator, then transplant them into a bigger pot once they outgrow the punnet. I keep them inside on the windowsill keeping the soil moist and turning them around so they don't grow like the Leaning Tower of Pisa seeking out the sun. It's traditional to plant them out in New Zealand on Labour Weekend, but last year, as I found out the hard way by losing several plants, it was far too cold for them. I remember coming home from work one evening in early November to find my Sandy Bay friend sitting in my living room with a hat and scarf on. My tomatoes out in the garden were shivering as well. This year, I will wait till at least mid-November before putting my tomatoes outside. Let's hope that's long enough.
Tomatoes need a sunny, sheltered spot with good drainage and a slightly acid soil. To prepare the soil, I'll be digging it over, adding gypsum to help break up the clay and add calcium, add compost, and perhaps even some leaf mould to further add structure to the soil. But there's another formulation I'm trialling this year - a fertiliser that will go in the soil under each plant.
It's made of compost, crushed egg shells, coffee grounds, wood ash and hair. Yes, hair. All these things have nutrients the tomatoes will lap up, or rather suck up, from the soil. Egg shells have calcium, coffee grounds have nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (make friends with your local café - I get a bag every two weeks that I put in my lasagne beds from the café in my building), wood ash has potassium that helps fruiting plants fruit, and hair, it has keratin. It stops the tomatoes getting split ends. No, really, it's a protein that tomatoes need. I haven't tried this combo before, but I'm willing to give it a go.
After three years of tomato flop crops, I'm optimistic that with four varieties to try, a well-prepared bed for them to go in, I should be off to a good start. Still, I wonder if I am doing something wrong, something I'm missing. My neighbour had cherry tomatoes aplenty with minimal effort, so I'm wondering if tomatoes and I aren't destined to grow harmoniously.
Help me grow tomatoes this year! Share your tips and tricks! Save me from tomato heartbreak!
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I have just bought a packet each of baby tomato and heirloom mixed variety seeds. When do you suggest sowing them Kimberley? (they'll be started inside). I live in Wellington and I am hoping with different lots SOME might work! Last year had 2 grosse lisses and a punnet of heirlooms. The grosse lisses did better than the heirlooms, but were also planted in the sunnier spot. I have less sunny more sheltered, and more sunny less sheltered - any suggestions about which in which location? Or shall I mix em up? All advice welcome!
Our tomatoes last year went bonkers. Unfortunately we went away over Christmas and left our sprinkler on a timer. It was gorgeously sunny weather so they were getting regular watering and lots of sun, and we weren't around to pick off the laterals so we got back to this massive mess. When they started fruiting (really late, probably due to the massive mess of laterals) we missed too many of them which rotted due to being hidden in the mess and then most of them didn't ripen because it was so late, and lots split because we got too much rain at the wrong time. This year we're planting in pots/planters with those cone shaped support things to try and tidy things up a bit.
We'll be sticking to the varieties we planted last year, being sweet 100s and Early Girl. We're in Central Otago so we do get hot enough but also get late frosts so they won't be going outside until November here either. Might also stick with the companion planting that worked so well last year and chuck some basil in the pot with each tomato plant. It's been the only time I've kept basil alive long enough to use!
Try Blood and bone liquid
How do you counter the wind? That is what gets my tomato plants, even if I stake them, although I am planning to try a 'pyramid' style of staking this year. @Mike#1 - thanks for the tip!
Four plants self-set under my citrus trees last year. They grew up through the branches, and so needed no support. Think I might actually plant some there this year.
Blood & Bone as per # $ :)
Tomatoes do like it warm and they like the sun. If your after that dream of a bucket full of toms do this.... wait till its warmer, put your soil mixture in, and add these few important steps. Tomatoes need to be out of the wind. A fast growing tom cant handle a wind with much weight behind it. Put them up against a bright fence or shed. Put down two layers of cardboard and cover with a good 10cm of gass clippings. Put you support in before you plant.... Now to grow large toms you need a very consistantly moist soil. They dont like to be to wet or dry. The cardboard and grass will do this and create a place for worms to live. The worms will create food for your plant. The worms will make your mixture work too. there will also be no weeds. Once the plants are in take out all the laterals. Just have one stem and make no exceptions. After five sets of flowers have developed cut the top off and continue to pull off any trusses that form. make sure its some Beef Steak variety. This is how I grow tomatoes the size of dinner plates.
My best success was growing cherry tomatoes in a sheltered spot that caught the sun, with the plants trained over an old clothes air drying rack. It gave the plants the chance to wind around the rack and have better air flow and support than if they were staked on a pole or on fence netting. But they were still adequately protected from heavier wind. Oh, they and our pepper plants really responded well to regular Bokashi feeds too.
Plant a possum under each row!
try Sub-arctic Plenty tomatoes, from Kings Seeds - they do indeed grow at cooler temperatures and are extremely reliable