Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120550
SECTION: LAWN & GARDEN PAGE: LG-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NOTHING LIKE TOMATOES FOR EASY GROWING
No vegetable is more universally grown and liked than the tomato.If gardeners grow only one crop, it's usually this; there's no other vegetable like it. It's easy to grow and relatively free of pests and diseases. It will grow almost anywhere, in a full-fledged garden or container.
It can be eaten raw or cooked, converted into juice or paste. Any dish can be enhanced by the addition of tomatoes.
Sometimes a gardener with only small space will set out just a few tomato plants, in flower pots even. But this doesn't mean that tomatoes will grow like weeds without attention. They have likes and dislikes and need some attention.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service offers a primer for tomato growing. It says the tomato is a warm weather annual that needs plenty of sun and rich, well-drained soil and a good dose of fertilizer. It requires a minimum of space to grow. One tomato plant can be grown in a space no bigger than 18 inches square. Properly staked and cared for, each plant can produce 10 to 15 pounds of fruit for a good part of the summer.
On the downside, tomatoes are subject to various diseases and pests. But plant breeders have developed plants resistant to three of the worst afflictions.
These are fusarium, verticillum wilt and nematodes. Plants that are resistant to these are marked with tags showing the letters "VFN." Sometimes the letter "T" also is included. This indicates the plants are resistant to the tobacco mosaic.
The Extension Service recomments that gardeners in Western Virginia not buy tomato seedlings that are not resistant to these.
There are other problems that can develop, but they are not especially prevalent. These include early and late blight, leafspot and various insects including the flea beetle, hornworm, potato beetle, aphids, mites, whiteflies and cutworms.
However, the possibility of these should not prevent a gardener from growing tomatoes. Most can be avoided with good cultural practices.
Select resistant, healthy seedlings, plant in a sunny location with rich, well-drained soil. Keep the garden free of weeds and remove any plants and fruits that do become affected with diseases or pests. Make sure the tomato plants get sufficient water.
If problems do arise, check with the Extension Service office nearest you to get a definite identification of the trouble and the latest cure for it.
Through years of cultivating this versatile juicy red or yellow "love apple" - it's old name - growers have identified varieties that do best in certain locations.
In the Roanoke Valley, growers have found some of the best varieties of tomatoes are Supersonic, Jet Star, Better Boy, Burpee VF, Manapal, Big Early, Early Girl, Roma and Heinz. There are others, and any seedlings or seeds offered for sale in local stores probably will be suitable for this area.
Gardeners can grow their own seedlings if they wish.
Seeds need to be planted indoors in a warm place about six weeks before the time they are to be set outside. In Western Virginia, tomato plants can be put outside in the garden about May, or whenever the weather has warmed and the chilliness of early spring is gone.
Seeds should be planted in individual pots, squares or flats. When first planted, the containers should be covered with plastic and kept out of sunlight until the seeds sprout.
When growth has begun, remove the plastic and put the containers in full light; keep well-watered. Containers should be rotated every few days so plants won't become lopsided from growing toward the light of a window.
Young seedlings of any kind of plant should be introduced to the outside gradually. Don't remove them from the security of a greenhouse to the outside garden abruptly. The shock of such a sudden change could kill them.
Tender plants should be moved gradually - beside an open window in the greenhouse for a few days, then to an open porch for a week or so, then to a sunny spot outside the greenhouse door during the day and finally to the garden.
This process is called "hardening off." It gives young, tender plants time to adapt to the outside environment before being put into it full time.
Considering its popularity now, it is hard to believe that at one time the tomato was not eaten because it was thought to be poisonous. It was grown strictly as an ornamental plant and the red and yellow fruits were considered hazardous to the health.