![]() Colder and picking too green will sacrifice end-quality.Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. Store longer with proper variety selection, picking less-ripe, and keeping at cooler temperatures 45–60☏ (7–16☌). Store blemish-free, near-ripe fruit 4–7 days at room temperature in darkness. Any fruit breaking color will still ripen post-harvest. Use fully ripe fruit only for home or local retail use. Manage plant debris and implement crop rotations.įruits ripen gradually from the blossom end to shoulders and from the base of clusters to the tips. Avoid wet leaves and handling when wet or using tobacco products. Learn your common pests and options for control, including resistant cultivars and organic pest control methods. If needed later in season, consider thinning out leaves to increase airflow or topping plants in the fall to help finish ripening last fruits. The lower bottom suckers often miss trellis supports, set fruit closer to soil, take energy from upper parts, and encourage spread of disease from soil. Indeterminates likely benefit by removing all suckers under the first strong branch directly below the first flower cluster. Or alternatively, use 'single-stem and stake' growing technique, or cordon tomato vine support method. Firmly secure canes or stakes into the ground so they will be able to support the considerable weight of fruit-laden plants and withstand sudden gusts of wind. Basket-weave by pounding 6–8' stakes every 2–3 plants, using heavier t-posts intermittently and at ends of beds. Tomatoes are vines that have a weak stem that sprawls and typically needs support. Water seedlings with a high-phosphate fertilizer solution at planting to help boost early yields. Plant deeply to encourage adventitious rooting. In rows 4–6' apart, space indeterminates 24–36". Avoid exposing unprotected plants to consecutive nightly temperatures below 45☏ (7☌). For earliest crop, plant under row cover around last frost date. Supplemental lights and lower night temps control stretching. Grow at constant 60–70☏ (16–21☌) temp and use complete fertilizer until hardened-off. At first true leaf, pot-up to 50-cell trays or 4" pots, depending on expected transplant timing. ![]() Keep mix at 75–85☏ (24–29☌) with moderate moisture. About 5–6 weeks before transplanting, sow 1/4" deep in 20-row flats with 20 seeds/row, or in 200-cell trays with 1 seed/cell lightly cover.
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