Improving Your Tomato Harvest Just close this page to return to Garden Page
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For those gardeners who expect the most from their tomato
plants, there's an array of accessories to help improve yields,
encourage earlier fruiting, and improve overall growth. Here's
how you can make use of some of these products in your garden.

* Tomato Supports: Indeterminate tomato varieties (ones that
keep growing and setting fruit all summer) benefit from being
supported and trained to improve fruit quality and keep the plants
from gobbling up too much garden space. Tomato cages and
stakes are two common types of support.

Wire cages are placed around young plants to keep them in
bounds as they grow. Wayward stems can be routinely slipped
back inside the cages. The tomato cages have the advantage
of being stackable, so two cages can be placed one on top of the
other to provide support for the most vigorous plants.

Tomato stakes, such as Tomato Towers, conserve even
more space because the plants' main stems are tied or guided along
vertical stakes, and most side shoots and branches are pruned off.
This allows the plant to concentrate its energy on ripening fruit. You
get an earlier harvest of larger fruits, although the total yield is often
reduced.

* Wall O'Waters: Many gardeners enjoy seeing how quickly they can
get the first ripe tomato. These protective plastic shields can help by
giving your plants an earlier start on the growing season. You can set
plants out earlier because the Wall O'Waters shield the plants from
cold temperatures. It's still helpful to warm the soil before planting by
spreading clear plastic Reflective Red Mulch over the
bed.
* Automator: Consistent moisture is critical to growing good tomatoes.
Fruit cracking and blossom end rot can result when the soil dramatically
alternates between wet and dry. Mulch helps, and so do these black
plastic collars that are placed around young seedlings. They also warm
the soil and create a barrier around the stems to foil cutworms that like
to chew seedlings off at the soil level.

Question
Q. Last year many of my tomatoes ripened unevenly, with one half red,
the other green. Inside they were hard and green. Any idea why?

A. During the ripening process, chlorophyll breaks down, and the fruit
softens and turns red. However, in some varieties, during periods of
high temperatures and/or direct sun exposure, the chlorophyll doesn't
break down normally, and the side exposed to the sun stays hard and
green. Maintaining a good foliage cover can help. You might want to
avoid pruning those varieties that tend to ripen unevenly.

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