HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 57, 31 October 1949, Page 7

HOME GARDENS

(By J. S. Yeates, Massey AgricuL tural College) TOMATOES Tomatoes are one of the favourite vegetables of the summer season and every effort should be made to grow them. There is a world of difference between fresh, crisp tomatoes ripened on the plant, and the sad, limp specimens which we often have to buy at second or third hand in the shops. Unfortunately the tomato plant is not the easiest to grow to perfection in our climate, and some care is often necessary to grow a successful crop. The two chief troubles are that the tomato demands a warm climate; and that it is subject to more than its fair share of pests and diseases.

The warm climate side of the matter we meet by keeping back our outdoor planting until the weather warms up. The nursery trade perhaps cannot be blamed for selling plants at the wrong season; but a large number of tomato plants must have been planted out in this district in the last month. These early-planted tomatoes may simply hang fire and be checked by the cool or cold weather; but like many other crops, a good many were no doubt killed by the frosts in early October. Where to Plant Tomatoes

If you have any choice of situation, give them a warm place which gets as much sun as possible but a minimum of wind. It is most unwise, as a rule, to grow tomatoes in the same soil for two seasons in succession, because diseases are likely to be very troublesome in the second year. The soil of course should be a good fertile one, with ample organic matter. It should preferably be heavy enough to hold the moisture required by the plants during the driest part of the year. Tomatoes use a great deal of water, and where watering is possible it generally gives good results. By watering I mean an occasional good soaking, not a daily sprinkling of the surface soil.

The common method of growing tomatoes is to drive in a good strong stake, three to four feet high, where each plant is to be set out. The stakes should be 18 inches to two feet apart in a row running north and south if possible, so that both sides get some of the sun. If more than one row is grown, they should be about three feet apart. When doing the actual planting, try to have each plant with its roots in a complete block of soil. The plants will recover and grow if dug out of a box of dry soil and carried home wrapped in paper; but they do get a check from such treatment. If you can, get your plants from someone who will give you each one complete with all the block of soil in which it was grown; and the soil should be wet to help it in holding together. The ideal is to buy your plants in the box and to soak the soil thoroughly before taking out each plant with its own ball around it. Always handle such plants by the ball of soil:. Holding them by the stem is. a strain on the plant, but much of the soil and roots are liable to be broken off. Dwarf Tomatoes

I have so far dealt with growing the ordinary type of tomato, which is trained up a pole and has the side shoots pinched out. In recent years the dwarf fc bush type of tomato plant has become very popular. These, of which “Tatura” is a common variety, are set out about thre'e feet apart and left to grow sprawlingly on the ground with little or no pinching out of branches. If you have a fair amount of room, too much wind, and not much time, these dwarf bush forms are well worth a try-out. The main disadvantages are the difficulty in getting a good cover of spray on the leaves, and the tendency of the fruit to be damaged by decay or pests on the ground. The latter difficulty should be overcome by putting a layer of sawdust or straw under the plants as you do with strawberries.