THE NORTHERN MICHIGAN TOAMATO GARDEN

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile and at the same time, healthiest foods that occurs naturally on our planet. More and more health benefits of eating tomatoes are being found with nearly every scientific study done on this great red fruit. Cuisines around the world require some form of tomatoes be it raw, paste, sauce, soup etc. Prices in stores for tomatoes and tomato products reflect the popularity of this vitamin and mineral rich wonder fruit. That is why if you have any use for this fruit at all, you should find a place to raise some fresh tomatoes in a small garden spot or even in pots on a deck or patio.

Personally, I have a passion for tomatoes. I was a manager of several garden centers but, beyond that history I remember weeding around this pleasant plant in my father’s garden before I entered school. My father was a passionate gardener and he was most passionate about growing tomatoes. My father was an engineer and enjoyed trying new ways of raising tomatoes as well as new varieties. I have also a passion for the tomato and I have tried new ways to raise this fruit but, I have had the added experiences of literally thousands of passionate tomato growers and their reported experiments in raising tomatoes. Overall, by reading this blog, I cannot guarantee that you will win a prize at the local fair for your tomato crop this year however, I feel certain that I can help you increase the overall production of tomatoes if you are the average and, perhaps even the above average tomato gardener.

Before you buy your plants or even prepare your garden, you should ask yourself “what will I be doing with the tomatoes I raise?” Do you want tomatoes for sauces, canning, salads or a variety of uses. You should also ask yourself “when do you want the tomatoes to be harvested?” Tomatoes come in several verities therefore, you need to answer the above questions before you pick the variety(s) of tomato (s) you are going to plant. If you are going to use tomatoes for salads, you might want to choose smaller tomatoes like cherry, plum, Roma, early girl or pear. If you want tomatoes for canning you may want to choose larger tomatoes like big boy, better boy, beef steak, or super sonic. These produce larger, heavier yields. Tomatoes used in sauces are ones that have less water and are mealier. Plum and Roma tomatoes tend to be the preferred tomatoes for sauces.

In regard as to when tomatoes will ripen, cheery tomatoes will ripen first then, usually in order will come pear, early girl, Roma, Italian, super sonic, with lastly big boy, better boy and beef steak ripening at about the same time. The above varieties are the most popular varieties that I have sold in garden centers and raised myself. Another variety is Rutgers. These tomatoes seem to have few followers in Northern Michigan and produce crops that are good but, not outstanding in yield nor are these tomatoes very early. Another variety that are not real popular but, grow well in Northern Michigan are yellow tomatoes. Yellow tomatoes are similar to better boy tomatoes except they are a bright yellow in color and are often sold as having less acid than other varieties of red tomatoes.

Tomatoes are interchangeable. Depending on your taste buds and how picky your are, every tomato mentioned above can be used for soups, salads, sauces etc. A good cook knows how to modify flavors and textures with seasonings and even something as simple as adding water or boiling off excess water. In short, a tomato is like a painting. The beauty is created by the artist (you).

In Northern Michigan it is best to plant tomato plants outside and not start them outdoors from seed. Our season is just too short to raise tomatoes from seeds outdoors. Many people have greenhouses or window sills for seedlings which, should be started about 6-8 weeks before you wish to plant them outdoors. You can start them sooner however; you must make sure the seeds will have enough area in the pot so that the plant will not become root bound. Root bound means the roots of the tomato plant completely fill the container and cause the plant to start to become stunted in its growth. This situation can be reversed however; it should be avoided because this could cause your plant to loose at least two weeks of productivity over the summer. I recommend at least a 6-8 inch pot to start seeds indoors earlier than 6-8 weeks before planting. Otherwise, before planting you may have to re pot your plants to avoid the root bound problem.

Selecting the tomatoes at the garden center is the next real step and to many the most fun. When you know which type of plants you are going to buy depending on your desires as discussed above, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when purchasing tomato plants or any type of annual plant.

The first thing to keep in mind is when to buy your plants? You should not plant tomatoes plants before the end of May in Northern Michigan. Planting them early when temperatures are low overnight will result in either frost which will kill or severely injure your plant or root rot, a process where over time a healthy plant will simply rot away at the root because it is too cold and wet outside. Cold temperature will also stunt the growth of otherwise healthy plants. For example, plants planted on May 20Th may not produce as early or abundantly as plants planted on June 1st because the earlier plants were damaged (stunted) by cold, wet weather.

Overall, when it comes to buying plants, don’t buy them more than 3-4 days before you plant them. Let the garden centers deal with watering, feeding and pruning these plants.
It is also wise to buy only freshly delivered plants. Many older plants may have diseases, be root bound or have been frosted. Call your garden center ahead of time to find out when the next delivery of plants will be arriving. Then, you will at least get plants that are healthy and not mistreated by some high school kid working after school and put in charge of watering and heating the greenhouse at the back of a super center store.

Just before planting your tomatoes, you need to choose a location and prepare the soil. The location choice is simple. Give your plants full sun or as close to full sun as you can find on your tomato lot. You can produce a few green tomatoes in an area with about 60% sunlight however, in order to get at least a few ripe tomatoes of any variety you need at least 70-75% sunlight during the day. Sunlight, water and fertilizer are the three key ingredients in tomato production and, you will have little successes in boosting tomatoes pound and size quantities by substituting fertilizer for sunlight or water for fertilizer. The soil is less relevant however; richer soil will produce more poundage of tomatoes. By richer soil I mean the soil has more organic matter in it like manure, rotten wood, rotten

Leaves and decaying flesh etc. I like to add composted cow manure to my garden at the rate of one 40lb bag for every 16 square feet. I work this in a couple of weeks before I plant my tomatoes that way the higher nitrogen areas of the compost have time to dissolve and become less concentrated. You never want the roots of transplants to come into contact with even moderate nitrogen fertilizer. This will burn the roots and if the roots are burned you can kill the plant or greatly stunt its growth.

People who raise champion sized tomatoes swear by the pH levels in the soils as to how they achieved their monster tomatoes, pumpkins, squash etc. These people are right of course in their scientific methods of producing high yields of tomatoes and other vegetables. Their approach has a lot of merit in that if you are raising veggies that like sweet (low acid) soil then you should add lime/potash (alkaline) to boost your yields. I can tell you right now tomatoes like moderate acid based soils which are found throughout all of Michigan. I adjust the acid of my soil based upon the response of my plants and not on text book recommendations. When my plants tend to turn a bit yellow I know the plants have a problem therefore, I know what is in my garden soil so I automatically know if I should raise or decrease the pH levels. If you do not know you soil I recommend that you get a pH testing kit that has along with it recommendations for certain soil types based upon the acidic level of your soil

Finally, it is time to plant your plants. The garden is prepared and it can be pure sand or pure clay. I had pure sand soil to begin with but, I added a combination of peat, clay and yard droppings over the years so now I have a really nice soil that almost any crop will flourish in because my garden gets almost total sunlight and I water my garden at least once per day.

On average, your plants should cost about 30-35 cents each this year. Of course each plant should produce 20-30 dollars worth of fruit this year.

After I place a piece of paper an inch by inch across around the neck of the plant to prevent cutworm damage,I can then plant my tomato plant(s).I’d like to take each individual plant out of its root bound position in the flat and stretch out the roots and bury the plant in a hole about 2 inches above the current root system. I use about a cup of peat per plant. I spread the peat out amongst the roots of the young tomato plant. I then complete the process by filling in the rest of the area with soil dug up from the area. I wait 1-2 days before I fertilize the newly planted tomatoes plants. Fertilizer might burn off the formation of new roots. Fill the hole with water to stimulate the roots and to make sure no air pockets exist amongst the roots that might cause the root system to dry out.