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The Perfect Tomato


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The Perfect Tomato

Cheryl J. Shenkle

6-10-20

That first perfect tomato for canning, lunch, sauce or just eaten right in the garden with a salt shaker, begins with the seed.  From the time it is selected to be planted, its final quality is determined by its genetics, care and the soil it is grown in.  While it is used as a vegetable by most people, it is technically a fruit/berry.

Genetics determine whether a tomato is Determinate, Semi-determinate or Indeterminate.  If you want a large crop of fruit for preserving then you want a Determinate such as Roma which will ripen its fruits almost all at the same time so you have plenty to work with. It is an annual.

An Indeterminate tomato is just the opposite, tomatoes ripen in stages over weeks so you can get some every few days for salads and sandwiches. It is a perennial.

Semi-determinate are somewhere in between with a moderate crop to begin with and stragglers coming along later. 

The size of the tomato is also determined by genetics.  The first tomato, from South America, was relatively tiny but has been selectively bred over the decades for flavor, size, shape, color, meatiness, juiciness, firmness and disease resistance.

Flavor is generally developed from genetics but can be influenced slightly by the soil in which it is raised, pollination numbers, sunshine and the moisture available.  Whether you like the smooth taste of a very sweet tomato, the balance of a sweet/tart tomato or the tanginess of a Green Zebra, there’s a taste for everyone.

Meatiness (thick walls, little juice, few seeds) is mainly genetic, and while it sometimes goes hand in hand with mealiness, (dryness and toughness) there is a fine balance for the perfectly silky or robust thickly textured sauce.  Once you find that perfect paste tomato for your Mother’s Spaghetti Sauce, then remember it and order that plant for the next year.

Some tomatoes have lots of seeds and moisture.  Those again are part of the plants genetics.  Too seedy and it can make processing difficult.  If you want juice, then you want a large tomato with thin walls and lots of space inside.

Color rarely influences the flavor of the tomato although it can be an indicator of higher Lycopene levels.  Some tomatoes have been bred to be almost iridescent, black, brilliant red, white and yellow which is usually indicative of a lower amount of acid.

Size!  Yes! That’s the first consideration for most people when looking for the perfect tomato plant.  Do you want teeny Currant tomatoes, regular Cherry tomatoes in all colors, plum tomatoes for sauces, medium sized tomatoes for general use, sandwich slicers or the behemoths we all want to get bragging rights for growing!  The larger the tomato, usually the longer the time it takes to get the first ripe tomato.  Cherry tomatoes can sometimes be had by the 4th of July.

When you’ve finally found a tomato with all of the qualities that you are seeking, pick up the plant.  It should feel heavy for its size.  Put the palm of your hand on top of the soil with the stem of the tomato between your fingers.  Turn the pot upside down and gently lift off the pot.  Do you see all soil, all roots, or a beautiful netting of both.  Are the roots white and is the soil in the bottom as moist as the top?  If so, you have a keeper.

When you get it home, keep it in a bright dappled light area till you are sure it’s been hardened off, or has been exposed to the wind and sun long enough that it won’t get burned when you set it out in the garden.  Increase the amount of light and air movement daily.  Keep plants moist and give them a very light feeding with Organic Tomato Food, not the blue stuff!  Check with your feed store to find the best quality plant food that they sell.  It won’t be the cheapest for a reason, its top quality.  It must contain Micronutrients and Mycorrhiza, or beneficial microorganisms.  Forget the all-season fertilizers because they usually peter out quickly in very hot or rainy seasons, and who determines when your season ends?

To prevent diseases and pests, plant your tomatoes in a different part of the garden every year.  Plant them at least 3 feet apart for good air circulation to keep them dry and healthy. Make a trench deep enough to cover the stem, remove all of the leaves on that part and bury it with about 8 inches of the tip showing where you want to plant to grow. It will quickly start growing straight up and the buried stem will provide tons of roots to feed it.

Put dry 10-10-10 fertilizer into the soil before planting, and give water soluble tomato fertilizer at half strength about once a week for a couple of weeks, then make it full strength.  If you had a Penn State soil test done and followed their directions, you’re all set to go!

Keep all parts of your plant well up off of the ground.  Soil contains fungus and molds that will not be kind to your tomatoes.  One of the first you will encounter is Early Blight, the most common of the tomato diseases.  The bottom leaves start yellowing and getting spotty, then fall off, and the disease moves right up the plant through the summer till fall.  You will still get tomatoes but they will not be very good or plentiful.

Mulch so that none of the garden soil splashes up onto your plants to cause an infection.  Heavy black and white newspaper, old wood chips, strewn straw and cardboard all make good mulch material.  If materials blow around, lay dead branches through the garden to weigh them down.  Mulch should be approximately 2-3 inches deep, no more.

When watering, do not get the leaves wet. Water droplets will both burn your plants in the sun and cause diseases on cool shady days or at night.

Slugs?  Lay thin boards in the garden and turn them over early in the morning to put the same holes in the hiding slugs that they do in your plant leaves.  A good sprinkling of salt works also.

Trellis, stake or string your tomatoes!  Make them heavy because with good care, the plants will get bigger than you expect.  The best support is a circle of 6 inch welded wire about 5 feet tall. Not much beats that or can go wrong.  If the tomato plant still gets too heavy, simply pound a T Post into the ground on one side and tie it fast.

Prune off all branches up to 1 foot off of the ground, and remove every other sucker from the stem.  At the end of August pinch off the top of the plant and very small fruit spurs so it will focus its hormones on ripening the tomatoes it has already developed rather than spending energy on new ones that won’t get large enough to be of any size or ripen properly.

Pick tomatoes when they are just barely ripe, Don’t wait for a perfectly ripened tomato.  Every varmint in the world loves a ripe tomato’s sugars and rich liquids just as much as you do.

Walk through your garden morning and night to learn the normal “look” of your plants.  If you see even the smallest change then keep a close eye on it.  If it gets worse, then get help.  Don’t wait till it spreads.

If you’ve done all of this, then your plants’ immune systems will be very high and they should be able to resist some disease.  However, pests and disease can still overcome them in the right circumstances.  In that case, check the back of your hand where you will have written the number of your local Penn State Extension Office.  In Jefferson or Clearfield County you may call 849-7361 Extension 508, and leave a message with your problem, phone number(s) and e-mail address, and a Certified Master Gardener will get back to you to answer your questions as soon as possible.  County offices remain closed, but the messages still go through to a Master Gardener who is waiting to assist you on your way to a great harvest!

 

Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Jefferson County

Cheryl J. Shenkle, Coordinator

186 Main Street

Brookville, PA 15825

814-849-7361  Extension 508

cjs5618@psu.edu

http://extension.psu.edu/jefferson

JeffersonMG@psu.edu

https://extension.psu.edu/trees-lawns-and-landscaping/home-gardening(Newsletter)

https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SVd6w3IB2Qd4t55T7 (Survey)

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