TOMATO Black Cherry 4″sq
$5.50
Sweet and robust.
Bred in Florida by the late Vince Sapp, the round, 15–20 gm. fruits are almost black in color. The flavor is dynamic — much like an heirloom. High yielding.
64 days. Indeterminate
$5.50
$5.50
Tomato Growing Tips
Tomatoes are an absolute staple of the summer vegetable garden and there are what seems like an endless number of types available. At Matt’s, we are thrilled to offer almost 100 different varieties of open pollinated and hybrid tomatoes. These include flavorful heirlooms, large beefsteaks for slicing, paste tomatoes for delicious sauce, and of course an abundance of cherry tomatoes, which make for a nice quick snack while working in the garden on a hot summer’s day. We have both indeterminate and determinate varieties available. Please make sure to see our maintenance and trellising growing tips for detailed information on how to best care for your plants so you can enjoy a bountiful harvest this season.
Planting
- Tomatoes are a warm season crop and are sensitive to cold air and soil temperatures, so make sure to wait to plant until the night time temperatures are above 55 and 60 degrees, usually after Memorial Day.
- Tomatoes grow best in a soil with good drainage and a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. Prior to planting, prepare the soil by incorporating a good quality compost and a balanced fertilizer.
- Make sure to install trellises, cages or other supports at the time of planting. See more detailed information below in the Mulching and Trellising section.
- Spacing for tomato plants is generally at least 24” between plants with wider spacing between rows for air circulation and to provide access for maintenance and harvesting.
- Patio (12”) Tomatoes:
- We sell Patio Tomatoes in 12” containers that can be grown on your deck or patio. There is no need to transplant them into the ground unless you would like to. If keeping them in the container, make sure to water and fertilize regularly.
- Watering too much or too little can affect the overall health of the plant. To check if your container plant needs water, you can poke a finger deep into the soil to see if it is dry or you can check the weight of the container. Don’t decide to water just because the soil surface looks dry because plenty of water may still be present lower down in the pot. If the container feels very light, it’s time to water. It is far better to water deeply and less often than to water frequently and shallowly. Roots need access to oxygen in the soil in order for the plant to grow well. If water is filling up all the pore space then there will be no space left for oxygen.
- If you are using Pro-Grow 5-4-3, apply 1 tbsp of fertilizer (for the 12” pot) every 5 weeks during the growing season.
Watering
- Tomatoes need regular, consistent water to produce the best fruit and to avoid common problems like blossom end-rot. Drip irrigation is an effective and efficient way to irrigate vegetable crops because the water is delivered directly to the soil where it will be taken up by the roots. Drip irrigation also keeps water off of the foliage which will reduce the risk of disease development. This is especially important for tomatoes which are prone to a number of foliar diseases that can develop and spread easily if the leaves stay wet for a long period of time.
- Tomatoes are “heavy feeders,” putting on a lot of growth in a short period of time and producing lots of fruit (hopefully!) Adding fertilizer both at planting time and again as a sidedress mid-season is recommended to keep the plants growing strong and healthy. Nutrient-deficient plants are more prone to disease and pest problems.
Mulching & Trellising
- Mulching: Keep the planting well weeded. Using mulch, such as cocoa mulch, straw, untreated dry grass clippings or shredded leaves will suppress weed growth and help retain soil moisture. Mulching around tomato plants will also help prevent soil particles from splashing up onto the plants when it rains. Soil may contain pathogens that could cause foliar diseases.
- Trellising:
- Indeterminate:
- Most tomato varieties are indeterminate, meaning that they have a vining growth habit. The terminal buds (top growing point) continues to grow, producing new leaves and side branches where flowers and fruit will develop. Growth will continue until the weather turns cold in the fall.
- Indeterminate tomato plants can grow quite large and need some sort of strong support throughout the growing season.
- Cages: Growing indeterminate tomatoes in a cage-like structure can work well as long as the cage is large enough and strong enough. The traditional circular tomato cages sold in stores are not enough to support a vigorous indeterminate tomato plant through the whole season. Larger cages can be constructed from various materials such as cattle panels, cement reinforcing panels or wood.
- A fantastic way to trellis indeterminate tomato plants is by supporting them with a stake & wire trellis.
- Create a frame work with tall wood or metal posts – one at each end of the row of tomatoes.
- Stretch a strong, heavy gauge wire over the top of the posts and secure to the ground or sides of a raised bed. This needs to be as taut as possible because it will eventually be supporting the weight of the tomatoes.
- After planting the tomatoes, loosely tie one end of twine around the base of the plant. Don’t tie too tightly or make the loop too small because it could cut into the plant as it grows.
- Stretch the twine up to the top wire and secure to the top wire. Pull the twine so that it is fairly taut.
- As the tomato grows you can gently wind the stem around the twine or secure it using tomato clips.
- Determinate:
- Some varieties of tomatoes are determinate, which means that they grow with a bush-type form and won’t get as large and tall as indeterminate types. These shorter plants still benefit from some staking, but it doesn’t need to be as big and strong as those required for indeterminate plants.
- Basketweave: This method is easy and works well for determinate tomatoes.
- Install a 5 or 6ft post at the end of each row, sinking a couple of feet into the ground if possible to hold the post upright. The total post height sticking out of the ground should be at least 4 ft.
- Install additional posts in the row, one between every two plants (install the posts before planting!).
- Once the plants have grown to about 12” tall, tie one end of twine to the post and move along the row of plants looping the string in front of one plant or post then behind the next. When you get to the other end, loop around the end post a couple of times to help hold it secure then head back the other direction, looping in front of or behind the plants and posts on the opposite side you did before. Cut the twine and tie it off when you reach the other end.
- Add a new string every 8 to 12” as the plants grow higher.
- Cages can also be used for supporting determinate tomato plants.
Pruning
- Never prune a ‘determinate’ type tomato. You want all the fruit you can get from those shorter plants.
- Indeterminate varieties vary in their response to pruning, some reportedly have increased yields when the young plant is pruned back to three or four vines. We prefer to let the plant produce stems for better fruit production and better leaf canopy to protect the fruit from sunscald. However, we like to remove most of the suckers at the bottom 10″ of the plant to invite greater air flow at the base of the plants, and reduce the risk that fruit will touch the ground where insects and disease might be encouraged.
- If you would like to remove suckers, try to do so while they are small when they are easily snapped off by hand.
- Removing new flowers near the end of the growing season can help speed up the ripening of mature fruit.
Harvesting
- Harvest tomatoes when they are ripe and have nice color. If you have trouble with critters getting to them before you do, you can harvest a little early and allow them to finish ripening somewhere warm.
