Sara Pool

sara@growmeorganics.com
growmeorganics.com
503-442-3794

Tomato Fun Facts

More than 60 million tons of tomatoes are produced per year, 16 million tons more than the second most popular
fruit, the banana.

Apples are the third most popular (36 million tons), then oranges (34 million tons) and watermelons (22 million
tons).

Tomatoes were first cultivated in 700 AD by Aztecs and Incas. Explorers returning from Mexico introduced the
tomato into Europe, where it was first mentioned in 1556. The French called it "the apple of love," the Germans
"the apple of paradise."

Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and fiber, and are cholesterol free.

An average size tomato (148 gram, or 5 oz) boasts only 35 calories.

Furthermore, new medical research suggests that the consumption of lycopene - the stuff that makes tomatoes
red - may prevent cancer. Lycopene is part of the family of pigments called carotenoids, which are natural
compounds that create the colors of fruits and vegetables. For example, beta carotene is the orange pigment in
carrots. As with essential amino acids, they are not produced by the human body. Lycopene us the most powerful
antioxidant in the carotenoid family and, with vitamins C and E, protect us from the free radicals that degrade
many parts of the body.

The scientific term for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which mean "wolf peach." It is a
cousin of the eggplant, red pepper, ground cherry, potato, and the highly toxic belladonna, also known as the
nightshade or solanaccae. There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.

Cooked tomatoes have higher concentrations of lycopene than non-cooked tomatoes.

The largest tomato ever grown (to date) was seven pounds, twelve ounces.

If you suffer from a skin disease, a tomato a day may keep the doctor away. Tomatine, tomato's principle
alkaloid, heals certain fungous disorders (green tomatoes contain large amounts of this, but don't eat them raw.
Cook (including fried!) or pickle them first.
~info taken from http://www.didyouknow.org/tomatoes.htm

*Tomatoes can protect against rose leaf black spot. If you cannot inter-plant tomatoes in your rose bushes, put
the leaves in your juicer or blender, ad four or five pints of water and one tablespoon of cornstarch.
Strain and spray. Keep any unused spray refrigerated.
 Pruning Tomatoes
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx

Early pruning encourages strong stems. Remove all suckers and

leaves below the first flower cluster. Let a second stem arise
from the node just above the lowest flower cluster. Let a third
stem arise from the second node above the first flower cluster.

Keep tomatoes free of side stems below the first fruit cluster.
When trained to one vine and left free-standing, tomato
plants develop strong main stems. To encourage a strong
stem, trim all suckers and don't tie plants to their
supports until the first flowers appear.

Determinate tomatoes need no pruning other than removing all

suckers below the first flower cluster, because pruning won't affect their fruit size or plant vigor.
If you do any pruning at all above the first flower cluster on determinate tomatoes, you'll only
be throwing away potential fruit.

Indeterminate tomatoes can have from one to many stems, although four is the most I'd recommend.
The fewer the stems, the fewer but larger the fruits, and the less room the plant needs in the
garden. For a multi-stemmed plant, let a second stem grow from the first node above the first
fruit. Allow a third stem to develop from the second node above the first set fruit, and so forth.
Keeping the branching as close to the first fruit as possible means those side stems will be
vigorous but will not overpower the main stem.

In simple pruning, remove the entire sucker at the base. In

Missouri pruning, pinch out the tip of the sucker.

Missouri pruning is necessary when things have gotten out

of hand. When you're dealing with large suckers, it's
better to pinch off just the tip than to cut off the
whole thing close to the main stem. For one thing, if
disease hits, it's farther away from the main stem.
And for another, removing just the growing tip is
less of a shock to the plant than removing a foot or
so of side stem.

There are two reasons to tie tomatoes, and there's a different

tie for each one. Train the leader to grow upright with a loose, figure-eight tie. To support
burgeoning fruit, loop a long tie above a fruit cluster, and tie it to the stake 6 to 10 inches
 higher. Loop the tie twice around the stake and tie it tightly so the tomatoes don't pull it down
with their weight.

About 30 days before the first frost (so beginning to mid Oct), there is
one last pruning chore: The plants must be topped. The fruit
that has set must be given every opportunity to mature.
Removing all the growing tips directs all sugar produced by the
plant to the fruit. This can be hard to do, as every gardener is
reluctant to admit the season is coming to an end. However,
this final pruning can make all the difference between hard,
green fruits, hurriedly picked before frost, which later rot in a
paper bag, and ripe, home-grown tomatoes in your
Thanksgiving salad. Be tough, fight your nurturing instincts,
and top those plants.

Cages work well for tomatoes with 4-5 stems, while stakes work well
with tomatoes with 4 or fewer stems.

Companion Planting

companions: Avoid planting near: Notes:

Tomatoes Roses, peppers, Brassicaceae, potatoes, Tomatoes grow better with
asparagus, basil, fennel, peas, dill, beets, carrots, but may stunt carrot
growth. Basil is notorious for
oregano, parsley, black walnut, apricot, increasing sweetness. Plant
carrots, marigolds, and corn. garlic interspersed to protect
alliums, celery, against mites. If you smoke,
geraniums, petunias, be sure to wash your hands
and nasturtiums. as tomatoes are susceptible to
diseases transmitted through
tobacco.

Tomato Troubleshooting

Blossom End Rot Control:

Careful water management practices are a key. Irrigation and/or mulching are
important. Application of lime or calcium (bone
meal, ie.) prior to planting may help. Liquid
fertilization using calcium nitrate or bloom variety fish emulsion can be
used for small plots.

Catfacing:
The cause is thought to be cold weather during blossoming and perhaps high
levels of nitrogen. To manage it, avoid setting out transplants too early in the season, and increase
calcium in soil, with bone meal or oyster shell powder.

Fusarium wilt:
Fusarium wilt and Fusarium crown rot symptoms begin as yellowing of older leaves. With Fusarium
crown rot, the leaves often turn brown or black and eventually wilt. With Fusarium wilt, the yellow
leaves turn downward and droop. Fusarium oxysporum, the cause of both diseases, is a common
tomato fungus that lives in the plant's vascular system, which carries water from the roots to the leaves.
To see if either of these diseases is present:

* Check watering practices. Both over- and under watering can

mimic disease symptoms.
* Check the roots. Discolored roots indicate root rot.
• Cut the lower or main stem and look inside at the vascular
tissue. Fusarium wilt causes a dark brown discoloration
within the vascular tissue. Fusarium crown rot causes a rot
or canker at the base of the stem and possibly a root rot.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/02949.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/