PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

How to Choose The Right Tomato Stakes For Your Garden

In this posting, I cover the pros and cons of various tomato staking systems so you can choose what's best for you.

Wooden or Bamboo Stakes 

These are made of a single piece of bamboo or wood that the gardener drives into the ground with a mallet or sledge hammer.  They can be purchased in 6 to 8 foot lengths. Gardeners also have the option to make their own stakes from aluminum electrical conduit that can be cut to the appropriate height.  As the tomato vine grows, it is attached to the stake using nursery tape, clips or other binding materials.

• Pros -  Cheap (About $1 each for a 7 foot stake). Very easy to store at the end of season.
• Cons - Yields from tomato plants grown on stakes are lower; tomato plants produce numerous vines from that are each capable of producing flowers and fruit.  Stakes can only support one or two vines.  So tomatoes grown using stakes need to be constantly pruned of any additional vines that the plant produces.  With fewer vines, the plant will also produce fewer tomatoes.  In addition to the labor involved with pruning, gardeners need to be vigilant about securing the vine to the stake with nursery tape and clips.  In other words, there's lower labor upfront with cages, but you pay for it later on.

Metal Spiral Stakes

These are metal rods that have been twisted into a spiral.  The spiral allows the gardener to wrap the tomato vine around the stake as the plant grows, following the spiral pattern of the stake. While the "spiral" does provide additional support, these stakes still require nursery tape or other material to securely support the tomato vine as it grows.

• Pros - Similar to straight stakes, spiral stakes are relatively cheap ($5 each) and easy to store at end of season.
• Cons - Difficult to use a mallet to drive these stakes into the ground because of their spiral shape, so they must be pushed in by hand. Generally, only available in short lengths so they are only good for determinate tomato varieties. Require use of nursery tape to hold vines to stake. Some spiral stakes are coated in plastic to prevent the metal from rusting.  Over time the sun light can cause this plastic to crack and then the stake rusts.  This doesn't really effect their usefulness but they are less attractive when rusty.

Store Purchased Tomato Cages

These come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Some are cylindrical, some square and some cone shaped.  More expensive models can be folded. Cages of this type have wire tines at the bottom.  To set them up, you push the tines into the ground.

• Pros - Easy to set up. Can accommodate multiple vines from each tomato plant. Require less use of nursery tape or clips than stakes. Non-folding models are relatively inexpensive ($3-$10). Folding models are easy to store at the end of the season. 
• Cons - Wire tines can easily be damaged when pushed into the ground.  As a result, most cages are not very durable. Can be difficult to pick fruit on the inside of the cage.  Generally come in small sizes (3 feet tall) so they are only suitable for determinate tomato varieties. Non-folding models are more difficult to store at end of season. Folding models are more convenient but also very expensive (+$20 each). 

Do-It-Yourself Cages

These are cages you make using 6 inch wire mesh designed to reinforce concrete construction projects. You can buy the mesh in rolls or sometimes in panels from stores such as Home Depot or Lowes.  To create the cages, you roll the mesh into a cylinder and then hold the cage together using wire ties. Depending on the material you use, these cages can be either 5 or 7 feet in height.  You can build large cage that will last for years and they will cost only $10 each. (For more information about how to build these cages, see my posting How to Build Tomato Cages: Big, Sturdy & Cheap).  

• Pros - large enough to accommodate indeterminate tomato varieties. Relatively cheap compared to store purchased cages.  Much more durable than store purchased cages because of the mesh is made from stronger material. Can accommodate multiple vines from each tomato plant so yields are good.
• Cons - You need to buy, cut and assemble them.  Don't fold, so they are harder to store at end of season. Will rust (Doesn't impact usefulness but does impact appearance) Can be difficult to harvest fruit on the inside of the cage. Need to anchor cages with an additional metal stake to support the height of the cage.

Electrical Conduit Trellis

This is also a do it yourself project.  You build a long metal frame out of aluminum electrical conduit and then hang wire mesh panels from the conduit. You can make these by cutting either 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch conduit to the height that you want (remember to add 6 inches for the section that will get hammered into the ground).  Then cut a piece of the same material to the length that you want for your trellis. Place a 90 degree elbow fitting on the top of both ends of the conduit that is hammered into the ground.  Now attach the top bar by sliding each end into one of the elbow fittings and tighten the screws on those fittings. Once this is done, you can hang mesh panels from the horizontal section of conduit using zip strips, metal ties or string. In the photo below, you'll see that I constructed mine a little differently because I plan to cover this structure with plastic and use it as a greenhouse during the Winter. In my case, I built a hoop houses and then hung mesh panels from the central beam. Whatever design you choose, tomatoes are then attached to the mesh panels using nursery tape or plastic clips.

• Pros - Tall enough for indeterminate varieties. Panels can be removed at end of season and stored flat. Can accommodate multiple vines from each tomato plant. Easy to harvest tomatoes. Relatively inexpensive when compared to folding tomato cages.
• Cons - Most labor intensive of the options. Makes most sense for gardens that are growing lots of tomatoes in long rows. While mesh trellises can be moved, they are clearly less portable than cages or stakes.

  

Photo: Image of the elbow fitting and connection between a vertical and horizontal piece of conduit used to make a tomato trellis.

Photo: My tunnel house with panels hanging from the central beam.

Choosing Tomatoes: Heirloom, Hybrid and Open Pollinated Explained

There are thousands of known tomato varieties so it's not surprising that gardeners can be confused by the options that are open to them.  In this posting, I explain the the terminology used in catalogs and seed packs to describe tomatoes so that it's easy for folks to sort through the various choices.

Determinate versus Indeterminate -- All tomatoes are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes grow to a specific height - usually about 4 feet tall - and then stop and they produce their entire crop of tomatoes in a short period of time.  Determinate tomatoes are often good choices for container gardeners because the plants are small and require minimal staking.  Gardeners who want to harvest determinate tomatoes over the course of the summer should plant determinate seeds every two weeks to create a continuous crop.

In contrast, indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow over the course of the entire summer.  As the tomato plant vines, it produces flowers on the new growth and these eventually turn into tomatoes.  That means that an indeterminate tomato will produce as long as the vine is growing. Unlike determinate varieites, there's no need to stagger the planting of indeterminate varieties.  One potential downside is that indeterminate tomatoes will grow much taller than determinate varieties (8 feet or more) so they do require staking.  

The choice between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes really boils down to this.....If you want to plant tomatoes in containers and/or want to harvest all the tomatoes at the same time because you intend to can them, purchase determinate tomato varieties such as: Grushovka, Principe Borghese, Rutgers, San Marzano, or Taxi.  If not, then purchase an indeterminate variety such as: Jetsetter, Brandywine, Amish Paste, Risentraube, or Green Zebra.  You can also plant a mix of both determinate and indeterminate varieties to suit your needs.

Open Pollinated versus Hybrid:  Open pollinated tomatoes are ones where the seeds planted in this generation will produce plants and fruits that are identical to those produced by the preceding generation (the plant's parents). 

Hybrids tomatoes are ones that are created by crossing two different tomato varieties together.  In other words, they are mutts. Seed companies create hybrid varieties because each of the parents has a particular characteristic that is desirable and that they wish to combine into a single plant.  For example, two varieties might be crossed in order to capture the color of one parent and the disease resistance of the other.  While the "child plant" inherits these qualities, the child will not consistently pass these qualities on to the next generation.  And there's the rub.... hybrid varieties may have very desirable qualities, but you can't save the seeds and plant them the following year and get the same results.  You have to buy new hybrid seeds (cross between the original parents) each year. 

If you don't mind buying seeds each year, the distinction between hybrid and open pollinated doesn't matter when choosing varieties for your garden.  If, on the other hand, you want to save seeds, you must choose an open pollinated variety. 

Heirloom versus Non-Heirloom - Heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated varieties that have been grown for a long time.  (For example, the Brandywine tomato was developed in the 1880's.) The exact time frame required to acheive "heirloom status" is debated, with some claiming 100 years old, others 50 years old, and others still setting a date prior to World War II as the cut off point. 

In the last few years, heirloom tomatoes have become the rage among gardeners.  The reasons for this are rather complex and have a much to do with concerns about modern commercial agriculture, genetically modified organisms and big agribusiness companies like Monsanto. Heirloom tomatoes have the reputation for tasting better than hybrids but there really is no reason that this must be true. 

What is more generally true is that hybrid varieties developed for commercial growers were bred for characteristics that made them less perishable and easier to ship.  These characteristics are important to farmers who are interested in transporting crops over long distances.  Unfortunately, commercial hybrid varieties traded off flavor and texture in order to be less perishable and easier to ship.  That's one of the reasons that tomatoes from the supermarket taste so lousy. 

In contrast, hybrid tomatoes sold to backyard gardeners from companies such as Burpee, Tomato Growers Supply, Renee's Seeds and others are not bred for their ability to withstand shipment.  These hybrid varieties can be just as tasty as an heirloom varieties.

Here's my recommendation --  make heirlooms varieties your first choice because it gives you the option to save the seeds and because there really are plenty of good varieties from which to choose.  However, don't be so inflexible that you wont ever consider buying a hybrid variety when there's a good reason to do so.  Such reasons might include disease resistance, suitability for your particular climate, or simply because you want to try a variety that sounds interesting to you.  If you decide you want, or need to grow, only hybrid varieties, go ahead.  The tomato police aren't going to show up at your door.

Season - Tomatoes seed and plant providers often group varieties by when they will start producing tomatoes.  This characteristic cuts across other distinctions such as determinate/indeterminate and hybrid/heirloom. 

• Early Season - start producing tomatoes in about 65 days. Examples include: Stupice, Grushovka, Alaska, and Jetsetter.
• Mid-Season -  start producing in about 75-85 days.  Examples include: Abraham Lincoln, Brandywine, Boxcar Willie, Big Boy, Heinz 1439, Costoluto Genovese, and Rutgers.
  
• Late Season - These tomatoes mature in 85 days or more.  Examples include: Druzba, Amish Paste, and Beefsteak.
  

Intended Use - While any tomato variety can be used in salads, cooking and sandwiches, certain varieties function better than others for specific applications.  When you shop for tomato plants or seeds, varieties with similar culinary characteristics are sometimes grouped together.  This type of classification occurs regardless of whether the variety is determinate or indeterminate, hybrid or open pollinated, heirloom or not.  Some common groupings include:

• Saladette - these are medium sized tomatoes.  When they are quartered they make good sized bites for salads and hence the name.  Typical varieties include: Cosmonaut Volkov, Japanese Black Trifele, Green Zebra, Costuluto Genovese, Stupice, Olivade, and Marianna.
  
• Slicers/Sandwich Tomatoes - these are large tomatoes that are used particularly for sandwiches and hamburgers. They are also sometimes used to make tomato and onion salads by cutting both the tomato and the onion into thin slices and interleaving them to make a pretty salad plate.  Typical slicing varieties include: Beefstake, Brandywine, Kellogg's Breakfast, Cherokee Purple, Big Beef and Porterhouse.
• Tomato Paste/Salsa/Sauce - These tomatoes are meatier and contain less water than other tomato varieties so they work well for salsa, tomato sauce, canning etc.  While not always the case, they are often plum or pear-shaped.  Typical varieties include: San Marzano, Amish Paste, Heinz 1439, Roma, Heidi and Opalka.

Shape - Tomatoes come in a very wide array of shapes and colors.  As with the "Intended Use" category, shape and color groupings cut across distinctions such as determinate/indeterminate, hybrid/open pollinated. 

• Cherry Tomato - small tomatoes 1 inch or less in diameter.  Examples: Black Cherry, Sungold, Supersweet 100.
  
• Grape Tomato - about the same size as a cherry tomato but with an oblong shape.  Examples: Riesentraube, Red Pearl and Sakura.
  
•  Pear Tomato -as small as a cherry tomato but with a pear-shape. Examples: Red Pear, Yellow Pear, and Purple Pear.
  
• Plum Tomato - Oblong shaped tomatoes. Examples: Roma and San Marzano.
• Oxheart Tomato - oblong tomato with a tapered bottom that looks like a heart. Examples: Amish Paste, Bull's Heart, and Shilling Giant.

Colors - Most of us think "red" when we hear the word tomato mentioned.  However, tomatoes come in an amazing array of colors.  If you want to serve tomatoes to guests this summer, you might consider choosing varieties that produce a mix of fruit colors since they make a dazzling salad plate.

• Green Tomato: Green Zebra, Green Doctors, Kiwi.
• Orange Tomato: Orange Icicle, Dr. Wyche's, and Moonglow.
• Pink Tomato: Arkansas Traveler, Caspian Pink, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Oxheart.
• Purple/Black Tomato: Japanese Black Trifele, Black Cherry, Cherokee Purple, and Paul Robeson.
• Red Tomato: Amish Paste, Cosmonaut Volkov, Principe Borghese, Riesentraube, Rutgers, Defiant, Oregon Spring and Thessaloniki.
• Striped Tomato: Green Zebra, Hawaiian Pineapple, and striped Roman.
• White/Pale Yellow Tomato: Snowberry, White Zebra, and Snow White.
• Yellow Tomatoes: Roman Candle, Wapsipinicon Peach, Yellow Riesentraube, Taxi, and Dr. Carolyn.

For those interested, below is a list of tomatoes that I'm growing in my garden this year.

How to Can Tomatoes

In this posting, I'll show you how to can tomatoes using both the hot water bath method and with a pressure canner.  By canning your tomatoes,  you'll be able to enjoy produce from your garden all Winter long.

Two Roads to the Same Destination

The hot water bath and pressure canning method of preserving tomatoes preserve food based on the same preservation principles.  Specifically, the tomatoes are preserved using a combination of heat and acid to kill any bacteria that might cause them to spoil.  The difference between the two methods is really one of equipment and timing.  

From an equipment perspective, the hot water bath method is probably the least fussy since it only requires a large pot and an inexpensive wire rack for the pot that keeps the canning jars from making direct contact with the bottom of the pot.  But canning using hot water bath method takes 40 minutes while using a pressure canner takes only 10.  If you have lots of tomatoes to can, you may want to make the investment in a pressure canner.  For more information about pressure canners, see my post "Preserving Your Harvest By Canning."

Regardless of which method you use, the basic preparation steps are the same.

How To Can Tomatoes (Basic Preparation)

1. Make sure your canning jars are clean and there are no cracks or uneven rims that would prevent them from sealing properly.
2. Wash and rinse the jars and lids in warm soapy water to make they are clean.
3. Place the jars into a stock pot and the lids into a saucepan of simmering water to sanitize them. (Don't boil.  Allow the lids and jars to remain in the simmering water until you are ready to use them)
4. Wash and stem all the tomatoes so they are ready to go.
5. Remove the skin from this batch of tomatoes by blanching --Cut a small "X" into the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife.  Then drop the tomatoes in boiling water for 1.5 minutes to loosen the skin. Remove the tomatoes from the hot water and cool them to stop the cooking process and make them easier to handle. (Traditionally, blanching is done by placing the tomatoes in an ice water bath but I find that putting them in a colander and running cool tap water over them works just as well.)  Remove the skin.
6. Using your hands, squeeze out some of the juice and seeds from each tomato so that you are left with large chunks.  (I do this over the sink to make clean-up easier)
7. Put the tomato chunks into pint canning jars and add either 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid (you can buy citric acid powder from a canning specialty store or on-line merchant)  The jar should be filled to within 1/2" of the top of the jar.
8. Wipe the lip of the jar with a paper towel so it is free of any tomato juice and cap with a clean lid.
9. Repeat the above procedure until all your tomatoes are in cans and ready to go into the pot or canner.

Using The Pressure Canner

1. Place the jars in your pressure caner and fill so that the water level is about an inch and one-half above the bottom of the canner. (Please note that the amount of water you use for pressure canning is different than that used for the hot water bath method. For pressure canning only a portion of the jar is covered by water)  
2. Place the lid on the canner and clamp down the lid by screwing down the wing nuts that surround the edges of the pot.
3. Turn up your stove to high.  When the water comes to a boil, you'll notice steam coming from the vent on the pressure canner.  Allow the stem to vent for 10 minutes before placing the weight on top of the canner.
4. Cook for 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  (Note: As the steam vents from the canner it will cause the weight to make a chattering noise.  If the stove is too hot, it will cause the weight to chatter constantly.  If it's too low, the weight won't chatter at all.  The proper stove temperature is one where the weight chatters briefly about once every minute. )
   
5. Cook for 10 minutes.
6. Now turn off the heat and let the canner to cool down.  You can speed the process along by removing the weight from the top of the canner.  However, the minute you do this, steam will shoot out of the vent.  To prevent burning yourself, let the canner cool for at least 5 minutes before attempting to remove the weight and then do so with a pair of kitchen tongs so that your hand is not near the vent opening.
7. Allow the canner to continue to cool.  You want the pressure gauge to return to zero before removing the lid.
8. Open the lid and remove the jars from the canner.  Allow them to continue cooling on a dry towel on your counter.
9. After the jars have cooled completely, test the seal by pressing down on the center of each lid.  If the center of the lid is pulled down and does not flex, the cans are properly sealed.

Using the Hot Water Bath Method

1.  Fill your canning pot with water and bring to a simmer.
2. As each jar is filled, place onto the elevated canning rack.
3. After all the jars are on the rack, lower them into the simmering water.  The water level should be about 1 to two inches above the top of the lids. (Please note that the amount of water you use for the hot water bath method is different than that used for pressure canning. For the hot water bath method the cans should be completely under water)  
4. Cover and bring the water to a rolling boil.  For pint sized jars cook for 40 minutes.  (Because boiling temperatures vary by altitude, you should adjust your processing time based on the below chart.  I've provided altitudes for some major U.S. cities but you can check the altitude of your town by doing a Google search.)
5.  Once your tomatoes are processed, turn off the heat and uncover your pot.  Let the cans sit in the water for 5 minutes before removing jars.
6. Remove the jars from your canning pot and allow them to continue cooling on a dry towel on your counter. After the jars have cooled completely, test the seal by pressing down on the center of each lid.  If the center of the lid is pulled down and does not flex, the cans are properly sealed.

 
Chart: Adjustment times for canning tomatoes using the hot water bath method.

A Bad Year For Tomatoes

In early July, I harvested my first tomato of the season.  While I've been harvesting continuously since that time, the crop this year is pretty meager.  This year, I've been hit by a triple whammy:

• Weather - This has got to be one of the coldest summers on record here in Northern California and tomatoes like heat.  Last week the high temperature one day was 69 degrees Fahrenheit and not a single day during the week crossed beyond 74.  In fact, high temperatures for most of the month have been in the low to mid 70's and at night the temperature has dipped into the 40's. 
• Aphids - These are typically a problem for me, but this year its been worse then ever.  I attempted to kill them with diatomaceous earth.  Frankly, I found this to be totally ineffective.  By the time I decided to switch back to insecticidal soap, the damage was done.  (In case your wondering, diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring rock that is ground into an abrasive powder. When dusted on plants, the sharp, abrassive edges of the particles are supposed to kill soft bodies insects.)
• Fusarium Wilt - caused by several types of fungi, this disease causes the leaves to wilt and eventually kills the plant.  I typically grow many of my tomatoes hydroponically, so once the fungi got into the system it effected every plant.  There's no cure and I'll have to try to sterilize my Autopots to get rid of the fungi. 
  

I expect to get enough fresh tomatoes for the season but there will not be much surplus to can.  This is sad since our family looks forward to using our canned tomatoes in recipes in the dead of Winter when we all need to be reminded of Summer.

Photo: Tomato Wilt

Well, there's always next year.

Stupice: Early Seaon Tomato Review

Last week, we got our first tomato of the season.  A new variety for me this year, Stupice (pronounced stew-peach-ka) is an early season, heirloom, variety from Czechoslovakia.

Stupice grows relatively small (2-3 inch) red tomatoes on compact plants with potato leaf style foliage.  I'm growing my Stupice plants in containers in my greenhouse;  the extra protection and warmth of the greenhouse really was a benefit this year as cold and rainy weather have slowed growth of my other tomatoes planted outside.  The protection of the greenhouse allowed me to harvest the first Stupice tomato in just 60 days.

Stupice replaces another early season tomato that I grew last year called Oregon Spring.  The latter variety produced very good yields and also produced the first tomato in about 60 days.  However, I found the taste of Oregon Spring rather disappointing.  Truthfully, I didn't think it was much better than a tomato from the supermarket.  Stupice's flavor was better but, to be totally truthful, it was not an awesome tomato.

I'll provide an update later in the season when I have more information about the yield of this variety.  But based on the first tomato, Stupice is probably going to be on my list next year as an acceptable early season tomato.

How To Build Tomato Cages

If you have a few tomato plants in the ground already, you should probably start thinking about how to support all the lovely tomatoes you are expecting to harvest in a few months.  Sadly, good quality tomato cages purchased from a garden center tend to be pricey - as much as $30 per unit.  However, you can build an excellent tomato cage for about $10 and it's not hard to do. 

To learn how to build a great tomato cage, check out my prior post - How To Build Tomato Cages:  Big, Sturdy & Cheap.

Or you can listen to the Podcast version of  the same posting: How To Build Tomato Cages Podcast.

New Grafted Tomatoes Promise Increased Harvests

Last weekend I attended the San Francisco Garden Show and saw a vendor selling grafted tomatoes.  In this posting, I'll describe this new type of tomato and its proposed benefits.

Grafting is the process by which two different plant varieties are fused together.  One variety is chosen for the "root stock" and the other for its fruit, flowers or leaves.  By combining two varieties in this way, it's possible to garner the desired benefits of both varieties in one plant; more specifically, the benefits of a strong root stock (disease and pest resistance, hardiness, growth habit etc.) with the benefits of offered by the second variety (usually type of fruit). 

Grafting is used extensively by fruit growers.  Most dwarf varieties of apples, plums and other fruit are created by grafting the fruiting variety on to a root stock that encourages compact growth.  If you've seen "fruit salad" trees that grow several types of fruit on one tree, these are also created by grafting. 

Below is an illustration of a grafting technique called cleft grafting.  This type of graft is accomplished by cutting off the top of the root stock plant and then creating a vertical slit in the stem. (steps 1-2)  Then the grafted top is cut from the fruiting variety and trimmed so that it is shaped like a wedge.  The wedge is inserted into the vertical slit in the root stock and the two plants are held together with a clip until they have fused together. (Steps 3-4)

Grafted Tomatoes

While at the San Francisco Garden show a few weeks ago, I found a vendor selling the Mighty 'Mato, a grafted tomato.  The root stock is a variety used by commercial growers of hydroponic varieties and is reputed to offer increased vigor, higher yields and resistance to early and late blight and blossom end rot.  Onto this root stock is grafted an indeterminate tomato variety.  Mighty 'Mato grafts include: Green Zebra, Costoluto Genovese, Jetsetter, Sunsugar, Yellow Mortgage Lifter, Momotaro, Big Beef, Brandywine and Pineapple.  Mighty 'Mato can also be double grafted so that two varieties exist on the same root stock. Mighty 'Mato plants can be purchased from Garden Life.com.

Another source for grafted tomatoes is Territorial Seed Company.  They offer grafted Brandywine, Big Beef, San Marzano, Japanese Trifele, and double grafted Sungold/Sweet Million, Koralik/Legend, San Marzano/Viva Italia, and Brandywine Super Marzano.

Neither of these suppliers specifically states which root stocks are being used for their plants.  However, there are a number of common root stocks that are being used commercially for hydroponic tomatoes and it is likely that the root stocks for home gardeners are the same.  Below is a table of common root stocks and their disease resistance properties.

I grow tomatoes in containers and hydroponically.  I will do a non-scientific test of these grafts to determine if they produce better results than non-grafted plants.

If you have grown grafted tomatoes, please leave a comment so we can all learn from your experience.

How To Grow Tomatoes If You Have No Space, No Time, and A Black Thumb

The most frequent questions I get about tomatoes, are from people interested in growing them but who have very limited space.  In addition, the same folks often express concern about their own gardening skills.  In this posting, I'll show you an almost fail-proof way to grow delicious tomatoes, even if you have almost no space and lack a green thumb. 

The Best Container for Tomatoes

If all you have is a balcony or a small patio, the best approach is to grow tomatoes in containers.   I've been testing a type of self watering plastic container called an Earth Box for two seasons and believe it to be the best system for gardeners who have limited space and who don't want any of the hassles associated with traditional gardening.

The Earth Box has many advantages over other container systems and is particularly well suited for new gardeners and those who tend to over-water their plants.  Here are some of the advantages of the Earth Box:

• Self-Watering - The Earth Box is a "self watering" container.   You "water" your plants by filling a reservoir that sits at the bottom of the container.  When the reservoir is filled, excess water spills out from a drain on the side of the container.  When you see water coming from this drain, it's time to stop watering.  Once filled, the reservoir provides a steady source of water for your plants.  The water is drawn upward towards the roots by capillary action.  All you need to do is keep the reservoir filled.  At the beginning of the season, this means once per week, but during the heat of summer, you will need to fill the reservoir more frequently, perhaps even once per day.  That said, it's very easy to do and no bother.
  
• No Worries About Soil Preparation -The Earth Box kit contains all the fertilizer you need for a single season.  Just fill the container with potting soil you purchase at the garden store and the fertilizer that comes with the Earth Box kit.  That's all there is to it.  You can buy additional packs of fertilizer each year to replenish the nutrients in the soil.  Earth Box even sells organic fertilizer re-fills for those interested in organic gardening.
  
• No Weeding - After filling the Earth Box with soil, you cover it with a black plastic cover that comes with the kit.  The cover has elastic around the edges so it easily fits right over the top of the Earth Box.  You then slit two holes in the plastic and plant your tomato seedlings in these two holes.  The plastic keeps weeds from growing in the Earth Box and it also helps retain moisture.
• Easy To Move - The Earth Box is built with four wheels on its base.  This makes it easy to move if you need to do so.
  
• Tomato Cages - While not part of the standard kit, you can buy an accessory cage that fits right over the Earth Box.  I recommend this since it keeps your tomato plants properly trellised.
  
• For more detailed information about how the Earth Box compares to other container systems, check out my prior posting on Vegetable Containers Compared. The Earth Box costs about $45 and can be purchased from your local garden store or via Amazon.com.  If you have Amazon Prime (free shipping) it won't even cost you anyting to have them deliver the Earth Box to your door.  A very similar product, The Tomato Success Kit, can also be ordered for $65 including the trellis from Gardener's Supply.
  

Tomato Seeds and Plants

Tomatoes plants can be either determinate or indeterminate in their growth habit.  For container gardening you should select a determinate tomato variety because this type of tomato only grows 3-4 feet high. By contrast, an indeterminate variety will grow over 7 feet tall, making it impractical for container gardening. 

Fortunately, there are many good varieties of determinate tomato available on the market today.  If you are willing to start tomatoes from seeds, there is a very wide selection available from companies like Baker Creek, Tomato Fest, Parks Seed, and others.  When you shop on line search for "Determinate" and you should get a list of determinate varieties from which to choose.  Tomato varieties such as Burbank Slicing, Carnival, Grushovka, Bison, and Manitoba are all reputed to be good, but there are so many varieties in various shapes, colors, sizes, and for various climate conditions that I'm hesitant to make a specific recommendation.

If you really want to make it really easy for yourself, go to your local garden store and buy tomato seedlings instead of seeds.  Seedlings are several weeks old by this point, so you don't need to fuss with germinating seeds in trays or run the risk that the delicate young seedlings will die.

Buying seedlings at the store also gives you a jump on the growing season because by the time you buy them at the garden store, the seedlings are already several weeks old.  If your garden store doesn't offer determinate tomatoes that appeal to you, some catalog merchants sell plants as well as seeds.  Check out Burpee and Territorial Seed Company.  Both sell live plants through the mail.

Seedlings at the garden store are generally labeled with information about the variety and and a picture.  The description should say whether the variety is determinate or not.  If you are not sure, just ask the garden store staff for help.

Extending Your Growing Season

When growing determinate tomatoes, you may want to stagger the timing of your plantings since determinate varieties produces all the fruits at once.  If you have one Earth Box, buy and plant one seedling early in the season, and then purchase and plant a second tomato seedling a few weeks later.  If you have multiple Earth Boxes, you can stagger both the timing and include more varieties of determinate tomatoes in the mix of things you grow.

Sunlight Is the Only Requirement

If you use the Earth Box and a determinate variety, I'm very sure you will be successful.  However, sunlight is a requirement for success. Tomatoes can't be grown in the shade.  During the summer months, tomatoes need a minimum of 8 hours direct sunlight to bear fruit and will do even better if they get 12 hours sunlight.  As long as you have a location that gets sunlight, it really won't matter if the space you have is a balcony, small patio, fire escape, parking lot or roof top.

If you have questions about growing tomatoes, just leave a comment.

New Tomatoes For 2011 Part III

In my two prior postings, I covered the new tomatoes offered this year by Johnny's Selected Seed & Baker Creek.  In this third and final posting on the topic, I'll point out some of the more interesting new tomatoes from Territorial Seed, Burpee, Seeds of Change and Tomato Growers Supply Company.  I also provide you with a complete list of new tomatoes from each of the catalogs covered in these three postings.

Here's what caught my eye in each of the aforementioned catalogs:

Cosmonaut Volkov (Territorial Seed) - This determinate heirloom tomato plant set 2-3 sized red fruit with a balanced sweet/tangy taste.  This heirloom from the Ukraine will produce tomatoes in 72 days.

Cherry Buzz (Territorial Seed) - This open pollinated cherry tomato produces the first fruit in just 55 days, making it a super early tomato.  And it continues to produce throughout the season.  If you are looking for a very early variety, this may be worth a try.  But Cherry Buzz isn't likely to be as good as other varieties that mature in +70 days, so I recommend growing it only in addition to other varieties in your garden.

Blush (Seeds of Change) - A hybrid 2" tomato that are reported to have a tropical flavor that may  remind you of pineapple.  This indeterminate variety produces in 75-80 days.    Not too bad when you consider the fact that it takes 2 years for a real pineapple to mature.

Brandywine Liam's (Tomato Growers Supply) - The Brandywine is one of my favorite tomatoes for taste but I have to say that I have found them to be a bit stingy as producers.  The Liam's Brandywine is reported to have higer production.  Definitely worth considering if you are a Brandywine fan.  This heirloom indeterminate tomato produces in 80 days.

Dagma's Perfection (Tomato Growers Supply) - A yellow/red bi-color tomato that has a slightly flattened shape to its 12 ounce fruits.  Dagma's perfection is reported to have a nuanced tropical flavor and matures in 72 days.

Mountain Magic (Burpee) - A hybrid tomato that produces small red fruits in 70-80 days.  This tomato's claim to fame is resistance to all three tomato nasties including early blight, late blight and cracking.  If you suffer from these challenges, then you might want to try this variety from Burpee.

Tumbling Tom Yellow (Burpee) - This is a determinate tomato with a very compact growth habit.  You can plant Tumbling Tom in a hanging basket or container since it only grows 6" wide.  If you grow tomatoes on an apartment terrace or in window boxes, this might be worth adding to your container garden.  This hybrid tomato produces fruit in 70-80 days.

Here is a complete list the new tomatoes offered by each of the catalog companies reviewed in these postings:

Burpee:

• Heritage Hybrid
• Orange Slice
• Pink Pounder
• Mountain Magic
• Tumbling Tom Yellow
• Sunny Boy
• Enchantment

Johnny's Selected Seeds

• Defiant
• Mountain Magic
• Five Star
• Granadero
• BHN-1021
• Massada
• BHN-968
• Montesino
• Sakura Honey
• Plum Regal

Seeds of Change

• Blush
• Cappriccio
• Coralina
• Borsalina

Territorial Seed Company

• Marbella
• Cosmonaut Volkov
• Valley Girl
• Cherry Buzz

Tomato Growers Supply

• Dagma's Perfection
• Sweet Treats FFT
• Brandywine Liam's
• Mountain Magic

Baker Creek Seeds

• Red Zebra
• Black Oxheart
• A Groppoli D'inverno
• Vorlon
  
• Black Early
• San Marzano Lungo #2
• Green Doctors
• Bonnys Best
• Japanese Plum
• Snow White
• Creme Brulee
• Hawaiian Pineapple
• Roman Candle
• North Dakota Earliana
• Rutgers Tomato
• Caspian Pink
• Blau Kazakhstan
• Fantome Du Laos
• Raspberry Lyanna
• Creme Sausage
• Csikos Botermo
• Bison
• Yellow Icicle
• Black Mammoth
• President Garfield
• Orange & Green Zebra
• Giraffe
• Copia
  
• Pearsons
• Basrawya
• Yazon
• Bali
• Black Elephant
• Ananas Noir
• Green Velvet
• Dr. Walters
• Black Giant
• Golova Negra
• Weissbehaarte
• Red House Freestanding
• Grandma Oliver's Green
• Tsar's Royal Gift
• Buckbee's New Fifty Day
• Grandfather Ashlock
• Chocolate Stripes
• Shah
• White Oxheart
• Poma Minoris Minora Lutea
• Costuluto Genevese
• Orange Icicle
• Amerikansky Sladsky
• Black Mauri
• Peppermint
  
• Rel Dos Tempores
• Belarusian Heart
• Hssiao Hiss Hung Shih
• Green Bell Pepper
• Black Icicle
• Cassidy's Folly
• Red Zebra
• White Zebra
  

New Tomatoes For 2011 - Part II

In my last posting, I let you know about some of the new tomatoes being offered by Baker Creek Seeds.  In this posting, I cover those sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds.

Johnny's offers a very large selection of tomatoes and excellent growing information.  For 2011, they are selling 10 new varieties in their catalog - all are hybrids and most are sold based on resistance to particular diseases.  Here are three that may be of interest to you.

Defiant - This is a red mid-season tomato that is a Johnny's exclusive.  It's claim to fame is resistance to late blight in particular and some resistance to early blight.  Defiant is a mid-sized determinate tomato that takes 70 days to mature.

Massada - This may be of interest to you if you grow your tomatoes in a greenhouse.  Massada is a medium sized red tomato that is broadly resistant to diseases.  This indeterminate variety was developed for use in greenhouses and tunnels and Johnny's claims it taste better than other greenhouse varieties.  72 days to maturity.

Five Star Grape - a fast maturing red grape tomato that Johnny's claims has a firm texture and excellent sweet flavor.  This determinate takes just 60 days to mature. Last year, I grew an early variety called Oregon Spring.  The variety produced a large quantity of tomatoes of undistinguished flavor.  I'm looking for an early variety to replace Oregon Spring in 2011 and may give Five Star Grape a shot.

New Tomatoes For 2011- Part I

As we close the year, the new seed catalogs are rolling in.  In this and the next several postings, I'll cover the new tomato offerings for 2011.  In this first of the series, I'll cover the new tomato varieties offered by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Last year, I did an extensive review of the top seed catalogs in a series of posting entitled, "Seed Catalogs: Weapons of Mass Distraction."  Baker Creek was a top performer in the 2010 ratings and was the hands down winner for the largest selection of tomatoes and other vegetables as well.

This year the company is selling over 200 varieties of tomatoes and 72 of them are new.  I won't cover all 72 in this posting, but I will highlight five new varieties that caught my interest.  Some of these may make it into my garden in the Spring. 

Green Doctors - named after two Ph.D's (Amy Goldman & Carolyn Male) who have both published books on tomatoes, Green Doctors is a kiwi-green colored cherry tomato.  Green Doctors is a determinate variety that takes 85 days to mature.

Chocolate Stripes - An unusually colored and beautiful looking tomato that Baker Creek claims placed very high in their internal tastings.  Orange and green on the outside, this tomato is reddish brown on the inside.  An indeterminate variety that takes 80 days to mature.

Orange Icicle - A bright oranage tomato from the Ukraine.  Baker Creek raves about this paste tomato that is good for salsa, ketchup and also to eat fresh.  It is reported to have a sweet, rich flavor with citrus overtones.  Baker Creek is also selling Yellow, Pink and Black Icicle tomatoes, each of which is new this year.  Indeterminate and 75 days to maturity.

Weissbehaarte -  Last year I tried a variety of white cherry tomato called Snoberry.  It was my first time growing a white tomato  and it turned out to be my favorite new variety of 2010.  I liked snowberry so much, that when I saw this white tomato in Baker Creeks catalog, I decided to add it to my list of things to try in 2011.  Weissbehaarte is a rare German heirloom variety that produces 2 oz white tomatoes that are juicy and sweet.  Indeterminate 75 days to maturity. 

Black Elephant - A purple black tomato that's so darn ugly that I couldn't resist sharing it with you.  Baker Creek claims it has taste going for it.  I suppose it would need to have good flavor because its mishapped, cracked and, in general, a nasty looking tomato.  Black Elephant comes to us by way of Russia. (Chernobyl from the looks of it)  This tomato is not on my personal list, but if you decide to give it a try, let me know what you think.  Indeterminate and 80 days to maturity.

 

Last Call: How To Save Tomato Seeds

Many gardeners are harvesting the last tomatoes of the year.  In this post, I explain which tomato seeds to save and how to properly condition and store them.

Before we get into the details of how to collect and save your seeds, I want to cover which vegetable seeds are good candidates for seed saving.  Let's begin by discussing what I mean by "good candidates."

Open Pollinated Versus Hybrid Seeds

When you buy seeds from a catalog supplier or garden store, those seeds are either open pollinated or hybrid.  Open pollinated seeds are ones that come from a single parent and will produce the same variety when planted in subsequent years.  For example, if you plant a Brandywine tomato seed, the tomatoes you get from that plant will be Brandywines -- the shape, size, texture, flavor etc. will be the same, year after year.

On the other hand, hybrid vegetable varieties are created by cross-pollinating two different varieties.  The reason people do this is to produce a new variety that has favorable characteristics derived from each of the parent plants. 

However, unlike open pollinated seeds, if you then plant seeds taken from a hybrid plant, the next generation will not necessarily produce fruit which is similar to it's parents.  For example, "Big Beef" is a hybrid variety sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds.  The parent tomatoes used to create this hybrid (and other hybrids) are considered trade secrets, so I can't tell you what is used to create the Big Beef.  What I can tell you is that you'll need to buy new "Big Beef" seeds each year in order to faithfully reproduce this tomato.

Can you harvest hybrid seeds, plant them and grow vegetables?  Yes, but remember they will not produce vegetables that are exactly like the ones you want.  So the first requirement for seed savers is that the seeds come from an open pollinated plant.

Self Pollinated Versus Non-Self Pollinated Seeds

Some plants like tomatoes, peppers, lima beans, and okra are self pollinated.  This means that the male and female parts of of the plant are contained in the same flower.  These vegetables do not require an insect pollinator or the wind to create fruit.  They do it on their own.

Self pollinated plants are great candidates for seed saving because with self pollination, you can pretty much be sure that the seeds you save will produce vegetables in the next generation that are the same as the parents.

At this point, I hear you saying that you're confused because I just told you that if you selected open pollinated seeds you would be able to save seeds which will produce plants that are the same as the prior generation.  Well, here's the rub....

If you buy open pollinated seeds that are not self pollinating and plant them in your garden, insects will carry pollen to the flowers that are not necessarily from the same variety.  In effect, the insects may create a hybrid variety and, as I mentioned, the hybrid will not exhibit the same characteristics as the parent. 

Squash are a classic example of a non-self pollinating variety.  Below are photos of a female Boston Marrow squash flower where you can see the beginnings of a fruit.  To fully mature, it needs to be pollinated by a male flower which is also shown.

 
 

If this Boston Marrow is pollinated by a flower from the same variety, you will get true Boston Marrow seeds.  But more likely than not, it will be pollinated by some other variety of squash growing in your garden or in that of your neighbor. 

Commercial seed growers eliminate the possibility of hybridization by growing just one variety in a given area, making sure that there are no others in the near vicinity.  This is impractical for home growers, so hobbyists save seeds by covering the female flowers with a plastic bag and then hand pollinating them with a male flower of the same specie.

Since hand pollinating is a bit of a chore, I generally opt to buy most of my seeds from a reputable supplier like Baker Creek, Territorial Seed Company or Burpee.  However, I do save tomato seeds because the ones I buy are open pollinated and tomato seeds are self-pollinating -- no hand pollination required.  This makes saving tomato seeds much easier than other vegetable types like squash or cucumbers. 

How To Save Tomato Seeds

Saving tomato seeds is really quite easy.  Here's all you need to do:

• Pick a ripe or overly ripe tomato from which to take your seeds (no green tomatoes as the seeds are not fully mature)
• Squeeze out the seeds and some of the juice into a container like a plastic cup or glass jar.
• Add an equal amount of water so that you double the total quantity of seeds and water in your container.
• Allow this mixture to sit in a warm, dark place such as your garage .  (Below, I explain why you do this) Add water as needed to prevent your seeds from drying out.

• After 5-7 days days, the juice and water mixture will have fermented and there may be some mold on the top of the liquid.
• Skim off the mold and put the seeds into a colander.  Wash thoroughly with tap water.
• Place your seeds onto a dish towel and let dry for several days.
• Store your seeds in a cool dark place till you sow them in the spring.
  

Fermenting the tomato seeds may seem strange, but there's a reason for this madness.  You may have noticed that when first harvested tomato seeds are surrounded by a clear gelatinous substance.  This substance actually prevents germination while the seeds are inside the fresh tomato.  In nature, this substance is removed when the tomato falls to the ground and and rots away.  So the cup and water used in the above procedure is a way of replicating this same natural process.

So, if you still have some ripe fruit on your tomato plants, now is the time to save the seeds.  Remember, you only want to save tomato seeds from open pollinated (non-hybridized) tomato varieties.  If you have any doubt as to whether a variety is open pollinated or hybrid, just do a Google search on your variety and I'm sure you'll find the answer.  By the way, open pollinated seeds are also sometimes referred to as "Heirloom" seeds.

Once dried, I store my seeds in 2 inch x 3 inch coin envelopes.  You can purchase these from any office supply store.

Canning Tomatoes & A Quick Pasta Sauce Recipe

In this posting, I describe how to can tomatoes using a pressure caner and provide my wife's recipe for a quick, light pasta sauce you can make in about 25 minutes.

I consider this week to be the close of our 2010 tomato growing season.  This week we canned our last batch of tomatoes, bringing the total amount squirreled away for winter to 45 pints; that's enough to make a meal a week from now until the beginning of next year's season in late June.

While some gardeners prefer to make and can tomato sauce, we prefer to can the tomatoes themselves and use them as an ingredient in recipes.  This gives us the flexibility to use the tomatoes in a variety of dishes such as ratatouille, pasta sauce, lasagna, chili, etc.

Some tomato varieties such as Amish Paste and San Marzano are considered specifically as canning tomatoes.  They are meatier with less juice and therefore produce canned tomatoes that that yield a thicker sauce.

While we did grow some canning paste tomatoes (San Marzano), most of the tomatoes we preserved (Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Black Krim etc.) are considered slicing tomatoes.  When used in canning, they produce a thinner sauce but one with a very wonderful sweet flavor.

How To Can Tomatoes

• Wash and stem all the tomatoes so they are ready to go.
• Measure out the amount of tomatoes you need for the jar you plan to fill.  I can the tomatoes in pint sized jars and find that starting with 1 quart of whole tomatoes yields just the right amount of tomatoes for each pint.
  
• Remove the skin from this batch of tomatoes by blanching --Cut a small "X" into the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife.  Then drop the tomatoes in boiling water for 1.5 minutes to loosen the skin. Remove the tomatoes from the hot water and cool them to stop the cooking process and make them easier to handle. (Traditionally, blanching is done by placing the tomatoes in an ice water bath but I find that putting them in a colander and running cool tap water over them works just as well.)  Remove the skin.
• Using your hands, squeeze out some of the juice and seeds from each tomato so that you are left with large chunks.  (I do this over the sink to make clean-up easier)
• Put the tomato chunks into canning jars and add either 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid (you can buy citric acid powder from a canning specialty store or online merchant)  The jar should be filled to within 1/4" of the top of the jar.
• Wipe the lip of the jar with a paper towel so it is free of any tomato juice and cap with a clean lid.
  
• Repeat the above procedure until all your tomatoes are in cans and ready to go into the pressure caner.
• Place the jars in your pressure caner and fill so that the water level is about 1.5 inches above the bottom of the caner. Cook for 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  Remember that you start your timer only after the pressure in the caner reaches 10 pounds of pressure.  For more detailed information about the using a pressure caner, see my posting on Preserving Your Harvest By Caning.
  
• Remove from the caner and let cool.
  

Sharon's Pasta Sauce

My wife Sharon created this recipe specifically for our canned tomatoes.   The recipe creates a lighter, thinner sauce that we prefer.   The quantities listed below are approximations; feel free to adjust the seasoning to your own tastes and the ingredients you have on hand.

• Mince 4 slices of pancetta (Italian Bacon)
  
• Add some olive oil to a pan and cook the pancetta until lightly brown over a medium heat.
• Chop one small onion and add it to the pan.  Cook til translucent, stirring so that the pancetta and onions do not burn.
  
• Mince 3 cloves of garlic and add it to the pan.  Cook about a minute.
• Add 1 pint of caned tomatoes to the pan along with 1/2 cup red or white wine.
  
• If you are using dry oregano, add a few pinches to the pan now.  If using fresh oregano, add it about 2 minutes before removing the sauce from the stove.
• Cook on a low to medium heat for about 15 minutes.  This allows the flavors to mix and some of the water in the to evaporate to thicken the sauce.

Bon Appetit.

Snowberry Cherry Tomato Review

Review of an unusual yellow-white cherry tomato.

Snowberry is a European cherry tomato that is ranges in color from pale yellow to almost white.  The plant yields good quantities of 3/4 inch diameter tomatoes in about 75 days.

I decided to try this tomato because I thought it would add a little color variety to this years tomato crop since my selections this year leaned so heavily towards dark colored tomatoes (Black Krim, Japanese Trifele, Black Cherry, Cherokee Purple). 

Wow!  What a lucky choice; Snowberry is one of my favorite tomatoes of the season and the best cherry tomato I've grown to date.  What makes snowberry a treat is that it has intense sweetness but this is balanced by a good amount of acid.  This results in a more complex flavor than is offered by other cherry varieties such as Black Cherry (This too is a very lovely cherry but its flavor is sweet but otherwise bland)  I'm so happy with Snowberry, that I intend to grow more of it next year. 

Snowbery is an indeterminate variety and is open pollinated if you want to save the seeds.  I highly recommend this variety and give it the following ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 with five being the highest score.    

• Taste - 5
  
• Appearance - 5
  
• Yield - 4
  
• Hardiness - 4
  
• Disease & Pest Resistance - 4
  
• Overall Rating- 4

Snowberry is a wonderful tomato and I encourage you to consider adding it to your garden.

One more thing...If you have a favorite cherry tomato, consider reviewing it using the online tomato survey I created at the below link. 

                            Tomato Reviews

Top Ten Ways To Use Tomatoes

Ten great ways to use your tomato harvest.

Hopefully by now, you are beginning to harvest tomatoes or perhaps you are lucky enough to be rolling in them.

Homegrown tomatoes are so good, you wouldn't want them to go to waste.  And while you could preserve them by drying or canning, its more fun to eat them fresh at their peak of ripeness.

To that end, here are ten great ways to use those tomatoes.  In no particular order.....

Tomato Top Ten:

1. BLT - this is a classic sandwich.  Try kicking you sandwich up a notch by using the best ingredients.  Here's my wife's way of jazzing up a BLT while staying true to the traditional recipe -- The Ultimate BLT.
2. Pizza - The hardest thing about making pizza at home is making the dough.  After that, it couldn't be easier.  However, to get a really good crust, you'll need a baking stone for your oven.  If you try homemade pizza, I guarantee you'll never look at Dominoes, Pizza Hut or any of the other chain store pizzas in the same way.  Most recipes call for tomato sauce in the list of ingredients.  We ditch the canned stuff and use fresh cherry tomatoes which we slice and de-seed (this reduces the water in them).  Then just lay the tomato pieces on top of the crust just like you do with the cheese and other ingredients and bake.  Homemade Pizza.
3. Tomato & Mozzarella Salad - The fastest salad you could ever make.  On summer nights when we don't want to cook, this is a great light meal.  Just slice both ingredients and plate by alternating slices of tomato and cheese.  Drizzle with olive oil and add salt a pepper to taste. The Italians call this dish Insalata Caprese, an elegant sounding name for an elegant dish.
4. Salsa - I'm sure that you may have heard that American's now use more salsa than ketchup.  I checked on this and found that this is only sort-of true.  According to the Wall Street Journal (Sept 20, 2007), Americans eat more pounds of ketchup per year than salsa -- 330 million pounds of ketchup vs 185 million pounds of salsa .  But salsa is more expensive on a per pound basis, so from a spending perspective, Americans spend $460 million on salsa and only $299 million on ketchup.  I'll leave it to you to decide whether the salsa versus ketchup story is true or urban legend.  What I can say definitively is that salsa is great on chips, eggs and burgers.  Here's a salsa recipe from Alton Brown of Food TV Network.
5. Ketchup - speaking of ketchup..... here's a recipe to make your own at home.  In a spirit of full disclosure, I have not tried this recipe so I can't tell you how close this tastes Heinz 57.  Ketchup.
6. Gazpacho - this is a Spanish vegetable soup that is served cold.  Like the recipe tomato & mozzarella salad, this dish is particularly nice on hot summer nights. This particular recipe for Gazpacho calls for fresh tomatoes and canned tomato juice.  If you have lots of tomatoes and a juicer, you can use fresh juice and make this even better.
7. Ratatouille - A few years ago, Disney Studios produced an animated comedy about a rat that cooked gourmet food including this dish.   Pronounced "rat-eh-TOO-ee", this side dish from southern France features tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and thankfully, not a bit of rat.  Give ratatouille a try.
8. Fried Green Tomatoes - For those that have not tried this, this dish tastes a lot better than it sounds. Here's a recipe for fried green tomatoes from Paula Dean.
9. Tomato Soup - Perfect for summer soup and sandwiches.  Tomato soup is pure comfort food. Here's a recipe from Martha Stewart.
10. Homemade Tomato Sauce -  There are so many recipes for tomato sauce that I won't even point you to a specific recipe.  Try your grandmother's favorite recipe, or cruise the internet and get one from Grandma Google.

By the way, I'm gathering consumer ratings on the best varieties of homegrown tomatoes.  If you have a just a few minutes, please rate your favorite tomato varieties by clicking here.

Tomato Ratings: Which Are The Best & The Worst Tomatoes

Rate your favorite (and least favorite) tomatoes and help create a shared resource for tomato lovers everywhere.

I believe we gardeners need an objective source of information on tomato varieties that reflects our actual experience and opinions - not those of the seed companies or the growers who both have a vested interest in selling a particular type of tomato.

To that end, I've developed a survey and will be collecting gardener's tomato reviews on an ongoing basis.  I believe this will result in a comprehensive and objective picture of the best, and worst, tomato varieties on the market.

My plan is to publish the ratings to this web site on an ongoing basis as a resource for everyone.

Below, I've explained why I choose the criteria I did for the reviews, but if you want to skip that and just rate some tomatoes, click on the below link to get started. 

Review Tomatoes Now

You can rate up to 25 varieties at a time.  If you want to rate more, just take the survey a second or more times.  You can take the survey as many times as you'd like. 

The success of this project depends on getting enough gardeners to contribute reviews to make the sample sizes large enough to be representative.  I would ask that you send this link to any gardener friends and ask them to contribute their opinions as well.  You can cut and paste the below link into e-mail or just direct them to my blog site where a link is also posted.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TomatoReview

Why I'm Doing This

Earlier this year, I reviewed the catalogs of the five largest seed companies and noted that these companies sell over 200 unique varieties of tomatoes.  A large number to be sure, but only a fraction of the tomato varieties which are available to gardeners.  I've seen other internet sources peg the number of known tomato varieties in the thousands. 

While having lots of choices can be good, it also creates plenty of problems for gardeners trying to decide on which varieties to buy.  And the seed companies aren't much help in this regard; if you believe them, every tomato variety listed in their catalogs produces abundant quantities of delicious sweet tomatoes.  Yeah right.

While some of these seed companies provide consumer review on their web sites, they only do so for the tomato varieties that they sell.  This provides an incomplete picture, and If you buy tomato seeds or plants from several sources, you have no way to compare between them.

What's needed is a better source of information based on objective reviews.

Rating Criteria

The rating system I'm using asks gardeners to rate each tomato variety on a scale of 1 to 5 on the following criteria:

• Taste
• Appearance
• Yield
• Hardiness (Tolerance of hot/cold, wet/dry conditions)
• Disease & Pest Resistance
  
• Overall Rating
• Other Comments (Place to add text comments)
  

I choose just six criteria for these ratings in order to encourage as many people as possible to rate their tomatoes.   I understand that some gardeners will have wanted other criteria included in these ratings, but I consciously kept the the criteria spare so that folks don't get fatigued and abandon the review. 

The criteria reflect the assumption that what matters most to gardeners is growing great tasting tomatoes and having plenty of them.  So the criteria are focused on appetite appeal and yield.    There's a catch-all "Overall Rating" criteria to track other factors not specifically called out for a numerical rating.

In addition, I've included an area for comments.  This is the place where gardeners can enter information like: "Best as a paste tomato." or "Tomatoes are very watery.  Not good for sandwiches." etc. etc.

If I see patterns in the comments for any given tomato, I'll add that information to the published numerical rating data to provide a more detailed picture of the tomato variety.

When Will The Data Be Available?

Most folks are currently harvesting, or are just about to harvest, their tomatoes, so now is the right time to begin asking for reviews.  If I get a large response, I'll publish the first set of data in 4-6 weeks. 

I plan to update the data on a quarterly basis, but it will depend on how many people decide to contribute ratings.  The more that contribute a rating for a particular tomato, the more reliable that rating will be.  Again, I encourage you to let your gardener friends know about this survey and ask them to contribute a review.

Thanks in advance for your help.

A Review of the Paul Robeson Tomato

A tomato with a cult following.  But is it deserved? Find out in this review.

Paul Robeson is a purple/black slicing tomato that was developed in Russia.  In recent years, purple/black tomatoes have become increasingly popular with chefs and home gardeners and the Paul Robeson has been one of the most praised of these varieties.  For example, it recently won best of show at the Carmel Tomato Festival. 

This year I grew the Paul Robeson, or "PR" as it is called by some, and several other purple/black tomatoes including Black Krim, Black Cherry and Japanese Trifele.  From what has set on the plant, the Paul Robeson appears to produce a good quantity of tomatoes with a squat body, purple/black skin and green shoulders. 

This weekend, I had the opportunity to taste this variety for the first time.  I harvested a very nice sized, 14 ounce tomato and sliced it so that me, my wife and the kids could all try it. 

Here's my impression...  The Paul Robeson is a very good tomato.  You would certainly be happy to serve one to a guest.  However,  I didn't "feel the earth move" when I tried it and think that Brandywine is still a better tasting tomato.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 the best rating, here's how I'd rank Paul Robeson:

Flavor                7

Texture              7

Appearance      7

Yield                 7

Tomatoes can vary quite a bit season to season, and this year we are having a rather cool spring and summer.  I'd be willing to try PR again next year, but if I get similar results, I would probably drop it in favor of trying another variety.  As I said, it's a very good tomato, but maybe a tad over-hyped.

Review: Oregon Spring Tomato

Review of this early-maturing, red, slicing tomato.

Oregon Spring is an extra early tomato variety developed at Oregon State University.  The plant yields good quantities of 4-5 oz (4 inch diameter) red tomatoes in about 65 days, versus maturities of 75 to 100 days for most other tomato varieties. 

This year, I'm growing several containers of this variety and found it to be a reliable, early producer and I was grateful to have some tomatoes in June that we could use for tacos, burger toppings and other uses.  It's a pretty tomato, well formed with classic red tomato looks.  But what this variety provides in terms of early maturity and aesthetics, it takes away in taste.  In my opinion, Oregon Spring tastes only marginally better than a tomato that you can buy at the grocery store. 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 the best rating, here's how I'd rank Oregon Spring:

Flavor                5

Texture              7

Appearance      9

Yield                 7

If you're growing lots of tomatoes, I think having an Oregon Spring plant in the mix is a good idea.  But I could never recommend that someone growing just one or two plants devote that precious space to this variety.  The reason to grow tomatoes at home is that you can get results that are far superior to ones you buy at the grocery store or even the farmers market.  If you can only grow a few plants, I strongly encourage you to be patient and grow ones that provide intense tomato flavor and sweetness.

In the coming weeks, I'll tell you about some varieties that I'm growing this year that beat the pants of Oregon Spring from the perspective of flavor. 

If you have a favorite tomato variety, please let me know about it by commenting to this posting and please rate your favorite on flavor, texture, appearance and yield using the same the same 1-10 scale.

Growing Tomatoes In Containers: Four Systems Compared Part II

A review of four container systems used to grow tomatoes.

In April, I posted about four container systems for growing tomatoes.  These included the EarthBox, SmartPot, AutoPot and the highly advertised TopsyTurvy. (Click here for part 1 of this review)

In that first posting, I covered the methodology I would use to conduct the test, so I won't go into detail about that or the claims made by the various manufacturers.  However, I will just mention, that I tried to make the comparison as fair as possible by planting the same variety of tomato in each container, using seeds planted on the same day, and putting the containers in close proximity to each other so that they would receive the same sunlight.

After 3 months testing, here are the number of tomatoes that have set on each of the plants in the test:

Autopot - 39 tomatoes

TopsyTurvy - 16 tomatoes

SmartPot - 21 tomatoes

EarthBox - 30 tomatoes

Autopots:

I've used these before and found them to be very effective in growing tomatoes.  Autopots are a hydroponic container where the plant is given water and nutrients via an external reservoir.  My test pot was placed inside a greenhouse, so it was the first to both set tomatoes and also to produce harvestable fruit.  To date, the tomato plant grown in the Autopot has set 39 fruit, the most of any of the containers systems tested. 

While effective, the AutoPot system also requires more maintenance;  the valves in the AutoPot can be finicky and you need to check that they are functioning and clear any clogs that might occur.  Additionally, the watering schedule can be time consuming.  With other containers, watering is straight forward -- just use your garden hose.  But with Autopots, you water and feed simultaneously.  This means that you need to fill the systems reservoir with water, measure out the proper amount of nutrient solution, and mix it.  The frequency with which you need to do this depends on the number of plants you are growing and the size of your reservoir.  I have 6 plants hooked up to a 15 gallon reservoir and need to fill this every day or two.

The AutoPot does seem to yield more tomatoes, but it is also more expensive to maintain because you need to continuously buy nutrient solution.  I'm tracking the cost of nutrient solution and tomato production to determine the true cost of running this system and will report about this in a future posting.  But I strongly suspect that it will be more expensive on a per tomato basis than other systems, but possibly considerably less expensive than buying tomatoes at the store or farmers market.

Bottom Line:  I like and do recommend AutoPots.  But given the cost and maintenance requirements, Autopots will work best for gardeners with limited space or those in a city environment where their access to soil, compost etc. is limited. 

TopsyTurvy:

I've seen forum postings where people complain that they could not get their tomatoes to set fruit using this container.  I did not experienced this problem.  However, the TopsyTurvy has set the least amount of fruit of any of the container systems tested, about 16 fruit so far. 

Prior to testing this product, I was under the impression that plants would grow like traditional tomatoes, just upside down.  In point in fact, tomatoes, like all other plants, want to grow upward towards the sun.  The plant in my TopsyTurvy has sections growing upward and downward depending on the weight of the branch. 

After testing the TopsyTurvy for over 3 months, I just don't see any advantage to this system versus other types of containers.  It takes work to hang the TopsyTurvey and wet soil in the TopsyTurvy make the container very heavy, raising the possibility that one day it might come crashing down.  It is not self watering or self-fertilizing so there's no labor savings on that front.  And while you don't need to weed when using the TopsyTurvy, the same is true of all other container systems.  Worse yet, the TopsyTurvy does a pretty lackluster job producing tomatoes -- in my test, the TopsyTurvy set 25-50% less fruit than the other containers in this test. 

The Bottom Line: Not recommended. 

SmartPot:

The SmartPot is a simple fabric pot.  It's closest to traditional plastic or ceramic containers.  The manufacturer claims that more air circulates to the roots and that the pots stay cooler.  So far, 21 fruit have set on the test plant.  The smart pot is very easy to maintain; water once a day and fertilize periodically based on the plant food manufacturers instructions. 

Easy to set up, light and cheap, this seems to be a reasonable substitute for traditional clay or plastic pots.  I did not have a traditional clay pot in this test, so I can verify the manufacturers claims that plants do better because the SmartPot drains better and keeps roots cool.  That said, I don't have any reason to believe that this would do worse than a clay or plastic pot. 

The Bottom Line: The SmartPot is probably best for gardeners who want the option to move pots around or store them easily in the winter (fabric is light and folds when not in use).  I would feel comfortable recommending these to a friend.  Recommended.

EarhBox:

This is a self watering container.  All the fertilizer the plant needs for the year is added at the beginning of the season.  To water the plant, you fill an internal reservoir via a tube on the top of the planter.  When the reservoir is full, additional water spills out through a exit valve.  This lets you know the planter is full and prevents over-watering.  In practice, I've found that I need to fill the reservoir every day.  So far,  30 fruit have set on the plant in the EarthBox.

The EarthBox was more expensive than both the TopsyTurvy and the SmartPot.  It required a little bit more effort to set up than a traditional clay pot, but not that much more.  Watering is easy, but not less frequent than traditional containers.  The EarthBox does seem to produce more fruit, probably owing to the nature of the system which provides a consistent supply of water and fertilizer.  In my opinion, it's also an attractive container. 

The Bottom Line: The EarthBox provides a good balance of easy-of-use, cost and performance. Highly recommended.

The Ultimate BLT - Perfect For Independence Day Lunch

With gardening season in full swing, it's time to use those wonderful homegrown tomatoes and greens to make BLT's.

Any good cook will tell you that the secret to making delicious food is to use the best and freshest ingredients and a BLT is no exception.  In our house, we convert the "Classic BLT" to the "Ultimate BLT" by kicking the ingredients up a notch:

• Tomatoes - Let's face it, most tomatoes from the supermarket are hard and tasteless; they don't add much to a BLT.  But if you use a homegrown tomato, you have an entirely different experience because the sweet of the tomato compliments and balances the salty-fatty taste of the bacon.  If you are like me, you are beginning to harvest the first tomatoes from your garden, so now is a great time to make a BLT.  If you're tomatoes are not ripe yet, you may be able to get the next best thing from your local farmer's market.
• Lettuce - you can use any variety in your garden, but my wife and I actually prefer changing out the green component of the sandwich entirely.  We use either arugula or watercress to make our sandwiches.  Both of these greens add a spiciness not found in traditional BLT's.  Although, I suppose a Bacon, Arugula and Tomato sandwich should probably be called a "BAT" and one made with watercress a "BWT" .
• Bacon - If you follow my posts, you know we cure our own bacon using mesquite, alder, hickory and other woods.  I have to say, this bacon is sublime.  We use this for our BLT's, but if you don't have the time to mess with making your own bacon, just buy a good grade of bacon from the store or your local butcher.  One more thing.... fry your bacon on a medium heat so you don't overcook it.  (Burnt bacon tastes wretched and you and your sandwich deserve better)
  
• The Staff of Life - You can use white bread to make BLT's, but a tastier approach is to use a fresh baked bread like a ciabatta, batard or boule.  Don't worry if you don't recognize these names;  they are just different styles of bread with crusty tops similar to French bread.  We buy our bread at our from the store because we've found that commercial bakers do a better job than what we can at baking these loaves.  High quality, fresh bread is becoming more widely available these days and many of the better supermarkets now bake it on the premises or source it from a local artisinal. baker.  If you have the option, use a nice crusty top bread to make your BLT's.
• Mayo - Slather it on.  Yes I know it high in fat.  For Pete's sake, live a little.

Tomato & Fruit Tree Labels: Keeping Things Organized

Tips for Keeping Your Tomatoes And Fruit Trees Labeled So You Can Remember What's What.

When I start my tomato seeds each year, I label the starter trays with plastic tabs on which I write the name of each tomato variety using a Sharpie brand marker. 

For many veggie varieties, I tend to use this same label when I plant the seedling in its final container, transferring the plant and its label at the same time. 

However, tomato plants tend to create dense branch structures which eventually cover these little plastic labels and I'm left to trying to remember what variety is in each pot.  Not a good idea with my memory.

Labeling Tomato Cages

Here's a tip for creating a label that gets mounted on the top of the tomato cage where it will be above the plant and easily seen.

• Buy some wooden garden labels (generally about $.10 each)
• Drill a small hole into the top
• Label with a Sharpie brand marker
• Affix the label to the top of the cage using a twist tie (see below photo)

   

Labeling Fruit Trees

The wooden labels used above are fine for annuals like tomatoes, but fruit trees are going to be around for many seasons and the elements would destroy these wooden labels over time. 

For more permanent labels, I use metal plant identification stakes.  These are widely available in garden centers and cost about $1 each.  They work by scratching the name of the plant into a metal plate on the stake using a sharp tool or a Dremel tool and an engraving tip.

These metal labels hold up very well under the elements, but I don't like writing the name onto the plate free hand because my handwriting just isn't that good.  This is my approach to making these labels neater:

• I first print the name of the fruit tree variety onto an adhesive backed file folder label using my computer.  (You can buy these labels for ink jet and laser jet printers at office supply stores.  In my case, I have a dedicated Dymo label printer which does the job extremely well.) 
• I then stick the label onto the metal plant stake.
• Using the Dremel tool and the engraving tip, I engrave the name onto the metal stake by tracing over the letters on the label.  The engraving tool cuts through the label and into the metal. This results in a label that is better than what I could do freehand.
• I then remove the label, and clean off any label residue with Goo Gone or WD40 (See below photo of an adhesive label affixed to a metal stake for a Sweetheart Cherry and the final product, a label for a Cox's Orange Pippin Apple)

Grow More Tomatoes: A Product That Increases Yield

Bonide sells a product that offers the prospect of growing more tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other veggies.  Find out if it really works in this posting.

I recently found a product at our local garden store that claimed that its application would result in a higher percentage of flowers setting, more fruit and fewer seeds.  It is also claimed the product helps gardeners with less than perfect weather conditions get improved yields. 

The product, Bonide Tomato & Blossom Set Spray is a foliar.  It comes in a pump-type spray bottle and the instructions are to spray the flowers and adjacent leaves.  Bonide claims this will increase the yield of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, beans, okra and strawberries.  However, the package did specify the active ingredient or provide any information on why the product works.

Not Much Information on the Internet

Eager to learn more, I went to the company's web site but found no additional information regarding the product or evidence to suggest that it really works. 

However, Gardener's Supply, a retailer that sells Tomato & Blossom Set on its web site, listed about 50 customer reviews where the average rating for the product was 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Furthermore, those customers who gave Bonide Tomato & Blossom Set Spray a poor rating generally complained about defects in the spray bottle, not the actual product itself.  So overall, customers were very happy with the product.  The Gardeners supply web site also provided the insight that Tomato and Blossom Set Spray contained Kinetin, a naturally occurring plant hormone.  

While customer reviews were a strong indication that the Tomato & Blossom set works, I was still hoping to find something a little more scientific to  support the claim this product would produce bigger yields of tomatoes. 

Digging on the internet, I found alot of extraneous information about Kinetin and a family of plant hormones called Cytokinins.  But not information on whether application of this to tomatoes would result in higher yields as the product claimed.

Evidence from The University of California

The closest I could find was a research proposal by Dr. Carol J. Lovatt, Professor of Plant Physiology at The University of California, Riverside, who did  study on avocados.  So I wrote Dr. Lovatt and asked her about Kinetin.  Her full response is listed at the end of this posting, but the bottom line is that she has conducted tests and believes that use of Kinetin will result in higher tomato yields. 

"We have done research on the effects of cytokinins on tomato plants (an indeterminate cherry tomato type was used in our research) and cytokinins increased the number of flowers per plant, number of fruit per plant and the size of individual fruit. Thus, total yield was increased. There were no negative effects on fruit quality." - Dr. Carol J. Lovatt

Based on this scientific evidence and favorable customer reviews, I'm going to try Bonide's product.  You may decide to give it a try as well.  A 6 ounce spray bottle of Bonide Tomato & Blossom Set Spray costs $6.95.  It's available at garden centers and online retailers.

Dr. Lovatt's Detailed Response:

Kinetin was the first cytokinin hormone recognized for its growth promoting effects on plants. It was discovered as breakdown product of herring sperm DNA applied to plants. Other naturally occurring cytokinins in plants have been discovered since: isopentenyladenine and isopentenyladenosine, zeatin and zeatin riboside and dihydrozeatin and dihyrdozeatin riboside.

Just recently kinentin was found in plants. Cytokinins are essential for cell division and growth. They are important for sink strength --- the capacity of an organ, e.g., flowers, fruit, leaves to import the materials (building blocks) necessary for growth.

Cyokinins also prevent senescence and keep tissues young. Because senescence is increased in plant tissues and organs in response to stress (lack of water, high temperature, low temperature, salinity), cytokinins can help to mitigate the effects of stress on plants to improve productivity under stressful conditions and to improve recovery from stress.

We have done research on the effects of cytokinins on tomato plants (an indeterminate cherry tomato type was used in our research) and cytokinins increased the number of flowers per plant, number of fruit per plant and the size of individual fruit. Thus, total yield was increased. There were no negative effects on fruit quality.

With avocados, the application time we use results in a greater yield of commercially valuable larger size fruit.

How To Make Tomato Cages: Big, Sturdy & Cheap

Learn how to make awesome tomato cages for 30% of the cost of those sold at the garden store.

If you've been to a garden store recently, you may have noticed that good grade tomato cages are selling for between $20-$30 each.  If you plan to grow ten tomato plants, that a $200-$300 investment. 

But there's some good news for DIY enthusiasts;  if you are willing to do 10 minutes worth of work, you can build a high quality cage for about $10.  Here's the materials list and the instructions:

Materials:

• 7 foot x 3.5 foot Mesh Mini-Panels - these are used to reinforce concrete in construction work and are available from home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot.  The wire is very sturdy and the openings between the mesh measure 6 inches by 6 inches, making it easy to get your hand into the cage when you prune or pick tomatoes.  Buy 1 panel for every cage you want to make.  Each panel should cost about $7.
• Double Loop Bar Ties - these are like the twistees that you use in the grocery store to tie off plastic bags, except for the fact that they are industrial strength.  You'll use these to fasten the two ends of the mesh mini-panels into a tube to form your cage.  You'll need 5 bar ties for each cage.  I think they are a few dollars for a package of 100.
• 3 foot long metal stake - one for every cage.  About $3.
• Plastic zip ties - two for every cage you want to make.
  

Tools:

• Bolt Cutter - This is a heavy duty wire cutter.  You'll need one to trim the mini-panels. (see photo)  It costs $20-$30 if you need to buy one.
• Bar Tie Twister Tool - a hand tool that makes it easy to twist the bar ties closed.  It will probably be sold in the same section of the store where the mini-panels and bar ties are sold.  Cost is about $7.
• Pair of work gloves.
• Hammer or sledge hammer

Directions:

To make the tomato cages, you will pull the long-ends of the mini-panels together to form a tube and connect them using the bar ties.  The detailed instructions are as follows:

1. Place a mini panel on the grass or driveway.  Step into the center of the panel and stand toward the top end of the panel.  Grab the edge of the panel along one of the long sides.   Using your feet and body weight to hold down the panel, bend the edge of the mini panel towards yourself.  Step to the side, grab the next section of the panel and bend towards you.  Continue until one of the long sides of the panel are bent towards the center. 
2. On the same long side, grab the panel 6 inches below the edge and repeat the same procedure as in step 1.  This one side should now be bent inward and be rounded.
3. Now move to the other long side of the panel and repeat steps #1 and #2 for this side. 
4. Pick up one of the long sides of the panel and bend it toward the other long side using the ground to hold the opposite side down.  At this point the panel will look like a tube.  You should do this at the top, middle and bottom of the panel.  When you are finished the panel should look like the letter "U." (see below photo)
5. Starting at the top of the mini-panel, grab both long ends and hold them together to form a tube.  Using your other hand, grab a bar tie and wrap it around the end of the mini-panel so that the loop of the bar ties are aligned.  Use the bar tie tool to twist the bar tie so that it fastens both ends of the mini-panel together. You do this by putting the pointed end of the tool through the loops of the bar tie and twisting.
6. Move down the mini-panel about 1.5 feet and repeat step #5. Do this until the entire mini-panel has been fastened into a tube. You now have a 7 foot high cage with a diameter of about 14 inches.
7. Using the bolt cutter, trim off the bottom edge of the cage so that you are "spikes" at the bottom to hold your cage into the soil. (see photo)
8. If you would like your cage to be less than 7 feet high, use the bolt cutters to trim the top of the cage to whatever height you desire.
9. Use a hammer to put a metal stake into the ground about 7 inches away from your tomato plant.
10. Place the cage over the tomato so that one edge of the cage touches the edge of the metal stake.
11. Use two zip ties to fasten the cage to the metal stake.  You now have secured the cage so that it can withstand the wind and the weight of all the tomatoes your going to grow this season!

If you decide to make your own tomato cages, let me know if you like them by leaving a comment.  If you have questions, also feel free to ask by commenting.

Growing Tomatoes In Containers: Four Systems Compared (Part 1)

If you grow vegetables in containers, here's a description of four very different systems you may want to consider.  This season, I'll track the effectiveness and report back periodically on how each is producing tomatoes. 

This year, I'm testing the performance of four container systems;  specifically, their effectiveness in  growing tomatoes, the most popular garden vegetable.  In this first posting, I'll describe each of the four systems in the test, the methodology used to conduct the test, and the preparation required to plant a tomato seedling using each of the systems.

Later in the season, I will assess the performance of each system, identify the pros and the cons, and provide ratings and recommendations.

Methodology

Test Plants: To make comparison between the systems as fair as possible, I used the same variety of tomato in each of the four systems, an early bearing determinate variety called Oregon Spring. 

The seedlings were all planted in trays on the same day and then transplanted to their respective containers on the same day. 

Location: All plants are being grown outside, with the exception of the AutoPot hydroponic system which is placed inside my greenhouse, as is normal with a hydroponic system.  All the containers in the test are placed within a few feet of each other (including the AutoPot hydroponic system)  to ensure that each plant gets a similar amount of sunshine.

Fertilizer Schedule: Each system is designed to deliver fertilizer or nutrient solution in a different manner.  For this test, fertilizer is going to be applied based on the manufacturers instructions.  In the case of the SmartPot, the manufacturer does not make a recommendation, so the tomatoes planted in the SmartPot got the same fertilizer schedule as the TopsyTurvy.  

Watering Schedule:  The AutoPot and EarthBox use a reservoir to supply water to plants.  These reservoirs will be filled up periodically as needed to keep water in the system.  That probably means once a week or less.  Neither the SmartPot nor the TopsyTurvy use a reservoir.  Plants in these containers will be watered in the morning and evening if required to keep the soil moist.

The Four Systems

EarthBox -- This is a self watering container box.  It is designed to minimize effort on the part of the gardener.  The EarthBox works by wicking moisture out of a reservoir in the bottom of the planter.

With the EarthBox, you add fertilizer to the soil just once at the beginning of the growing season.  The fertilizer, which is supplied with the EarthBox, is placed into a trench you dig in the center of the planter when you set up the Earthbox.  You then cover the soil with a black cloth which is supplied with the kit and cut slits into the cloth to plant your seedlings.  The black cloth minimizes evaporation and prevents weeds from growing around your plants.

You water your planter with a garden hose by filling the reservoir through a black tube that sticks up through the top of the planter.  You can't over water with an EarthBox; once the reservoir is filled, any additional water spills out through and overflow hole in the planter. 

The Earthbox will support a variety of vegetables in quantities based on the size of the plants: two artichokes, or 16 beans, or 16 corn plants, or in my case, 2 tomato plants. 

Cost: about $45 with all the fertilizer you need for one season.  Can accommodate two tomato plants.  I also purchased a tomato cage which is sold as an accessory. 

TopsyTurvy -- We've all seen this on TV and I couldn't resist trying it out.  Like the EarthBox, the TopsyTurvy is supposed to make gardening easier.  It does this by eliminating the need to weed, and making it easier to prune and collect tomatoes.  This is accomplished by growing the tomato upside down -- roots to the sky and plant facing towards the earth. 

At its core, the TopsyTurvy is a plastic bag hung from three wires.  Perhaps the most interesting technical feature of this planter is that the tomato plant is held in place by a foam disk.  You slide the plant to the center of the disk through a pre-cut slit and place the disk into the center of the planter.  You then fill the rest of the container with garden soil.  The growing instructions tell you to add fertilizer when first planting the TopsyTurvy and to fertilize on a periodic basis.  You add water and water soluble fertilizer through the top of the planter. 

The company supplies a strong eye hook that you can use to anchor your planter into a beam or other structure.  In my case, I used a hanging planter crane.  However, the TopsyTurvy is so heavy when soil and water are added, that I needed to reinforce the planter crane with metal garden stakes and also a rope tied from the top of the fence to an adjacent fence. 

Cost: about $12 (without fertilizer, planter crane or stakes).  Can accommodate one tomato plants.

SmartPot -- This is closest of the systems to a traditional clay pot, but the SmartPot is made out of fabric.  The main advantages to the system are that they are lighter, will not crack like ceramic pots, and the company claims that a fabric pot offers the advantages of being cooler and providing more air to your plants roots than traditional pots. Ostensibly, this results in healthier plants.

Smart pots come in a variety of sizes from 1 to 400 gallons.  I'm using a 5 gallon size for one tomato plant.  Planting is the same as with traditional clay or plastic pots; you add garden soil and then plant your tomato in the center of the container.

To compare as accurately as possible to the other container systems, I'm going to fertilize the the plant in the SmartPot on the same schedule as the TopsyTurvy. 

Cost: about $6 (without fertilizer).  Can accommodate one tomato plant.

Autopot -- The AutoPot is a hydroponic system that requires no pumps or electricity to function.  The heart of the system is the  3" x 4" plastic valve that regulates the amount of water and nutrients supplied to your plants.  The valve sits in a saucer and the pot containing the plant is placed in the same saucer.  Water and nutrients stored in an external tank flow to the valve via plastic tubing and the valve feeds water into the saucer as needed.  Water and nutrients are then pulled into the pots via capillary action where the roots of your plants can absorb them. 

Hydroponic systems don't require soil, but they do require some type of media in which the plants will grow their roots.  In my case, I'm using a mixture of 90% pearlite and 10% vermiculite.  The plants will be fed Cutting Edge Solutions brand nutrient according to manufacturers instructions. 

I did a complete review of the AutoPot system in a prior blog posting if you are interested in learning more about AutoPots. 

Cost: about $65 without nutrient solution or external nutrient reservoir.  Can accommodate two tomato plants.

First Impressions & Next Steps

• The easiest and least complicated system to set up was the SmartPot; just add soil to the pot and you're done.  That said, none of the container systems in this evaluation were particularly difficult or time consuming to assemble and plant.
• I would caution anyone using the TopsyTurvy to make sure that whatever you use to hang your plant is secured well.  I didn't take an actual measurement, but I wouldn't be surprised if it weighed 50 pounds when loaded with wet garden soil.  You don't want this to fall on your head.
• Over the course of the growing season, I'll provide updates on how well the tomatoes are doing in their respective pots.  I'll be commenting on the advantages and disadvantages of each system.  And of course, where the rubber meets the road, is how well they produce tomatoes - quantity and quality. Stay tuned for more details on this as we get deeper into tomato season.
  

A Tip for Pollinating Peas & Tomatoes

The last  few days, we've seen temperatures in mid to upper 70's Fahrenheit and things are really heating up in the garden!

The sugar snap peas that I planted in the greenhouse on New Year's day, are now about 4 feet tall and have flowered.  It won't be long before we start harvesting.

A Tip For Ensuring Good Pollination

Peas and tomatoes are self-pollinating, meaning you don't need a bee or other insect to pollinate the flowers.  Wind or just natural pollination of the plant takes care of this. 

But if you're growing these vegetables in a greenhouse, there is little to no wind to either move the pollen or directly or agitate the plant which would cause pollen to spread within the flower.

So to be on the safe side, I give the plants a little extra help.  I use an electric toothbrush to agitate the plants and spread the pollen.  Just turn on the toothbrush and run the back of the brush head along the flower and stem. 

So brush your self-pollinating plants, but pass on flossing.

 

Heirloom Tomato Ratings From Ohio State University

Ohio State University tested 10 heirloom tomatoes in a variety of sites in the Midwest in 2009.

The tomatoes evaluated included: Amish Paste, Brandywine (Sudduth/Quisenberry), Burbank, Cherokee Purple, Jaune Flamme, Opalka, Oxheart, (Livingston’s), Peron, Rutgers, and Tainan

The study collected data on germination rate, total yield per plant, yield judged to be marketable and taste.

On a scale of one to ten, none of the tomatoes scored above a six on taste, so I would be hesitant to regard that measure as a true indication. (taste tends to be very personal)  However, the other data in the study may be useful to those looking at objectively measurable information about each varieties performance.  Key findings:

• Amish paste showed poor germination rates.
• Peron, Juane Flamme, and Oxheart all produced more than 16 lbs per plant.
• Tainan, Rutgers, and Brandywine produced the fewest pounds of marketable fruit per plant.

A PDF of the report can be downloaded below.

Download Ohio State Tomato Ratings

Martha's Mess Up?

Yesterday, my wife came into the house with the mail.  She was carrying the March 2010 issue of the magazine, Martha Stewart Living.

"There's an article in here about the best tasting tomatoes.  Have a look," she said as she pushed the magazine into my hands.

The article described a tomato tasting party hosed by Martha Stewart and attended by five other knowledgeable individuals including Barbara Damrosh, vegetable grower and co-owner of the Four Seasons Farm in Maine, and Michael Anthony, Executive Chef at the Gramercy Tavern in New York City.

The group tasted 30 tomato varieties and rated 13 as the best.

The magazine article included some beautiful photos of the tomatoes but was short on details of the voting.  For example, the full list of the 30 tomatoes sampled was not included, nor were the actual scores each tomato received.

The top 13 tomatoes were shown in a photo and included: Speckled Roman, Alberto Shatters, Big Rainbow, Reisetomate, Green Doctors, Black Cherry, Sapho, Green Zebra, Yellow Peach, Jaune Flamme, German's Italian American, Sara's Galapagos, and Casady's Folly.

What surprised me about the list, was the notable absence of the Brandywine, perhaps the most famous heirloom and the variety widely believed to be the best tasting tomato -- full stop.

I can think of only two explanations....

1. Either the Brandywine is not what's it's cracked up to be, and didn't make the top 13.
2. The Brandywine was not one of the 30 included in the tasting; a very odd omission that would be like rating the best auto companies in the world and not including BMW in the competition.

OK tomato lovers, what do you think?  Is the Brandywine overrated? 

What's your favorite tomato?

Feel free to post your comments on this blog.

In the mean time, I'll e-mail the Martha Stewart Living and see if I can find out more.

New Tomato Outlasts the Twinkie

I suppose everyone knows the urban legend that Twinkies have a shelf-life that spans years, or even decades.  Well according to Snopes.com, a web site that investigates such things, the Twinkies' shelf life is actually 25 days. 

Now here's the really scary news.... Scientists in India have developed a tomato with a reported shelf life of 45 days.  The new tomato accomplishes this feat by "suppressing enzymes that promote ripening."

Call me crazy, but I like tomatoes that are well schooled in the art of ripening and tasting good.  In my opinion, supermarket tomatoes generally taste worse than the packages in which they are shipped; this new tomato is a giant leap backward for anyone that likes to eat.

Vote with your wallet -- shop at a farmers market, grow your own vegetables in containers, join the Slow Food movement, do anything but buy tomatoes that last for 45 days.