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Requirements to Grow Tomatoes
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Tomatoes are a warm-weather crop. They
suit well-drained soil with plenty of organic material added, and at
least half sun, preferably more.
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Planting time for Growing Tomatoes
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In warm tropical and semi-tropical
districts, tomatoes may be grown all the year round. Elsewhere they can
be planted out in spring as soon as frosts are over; until about late
December in temperate districts, but only until early November in cold
areas.
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If raising your own seedlings start them
in a warm sunny indoor area, transfer them to peat pots or other small
individual containers as soon as large enough, then keep them in an
outdoor sheltered sunny position until they are ready to go out into
the garden or into large growing containers.
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Cultivation for Tomatoes
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Prepare the bed with well-rotted compost
or animal manure as early as possible prior to planting out. If fowl
manure has not been used in initial preparations mix in about one-third
cup of complete plant food per sq. m. Lime is not recommended unless
the soil is known to be very acidy.
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If grown in single rows, set plants 50 cm
apart. For larger areas allow a little more space and about 1.5 m
between the rows.
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Tall types such as Grosse Lisse need
stakes at least 2 m tall, preferably driven in prior to planting. Make
a wide hole extending out about a small span from the base of the
stake, and set the roots of the seedling at the farthest point 4-5 cm
deep and with the stem angled toward the stake. Cover the stem with
well-rotted compost or soil as growth progresses. Unlike other
seedlings, tomatoes will make extra roots from the stem and the plan
will gain extra vigor.
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As growth progresses carefully tie the
stem to the stake at intervals of about 25-30 cm. Make a separate firm
tie around the stem of the plant. The tall-growing varieties should be
pruned as growth progresses to prevent over-bushiness and to improve
fruit quality.
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Pruning consists of removing the small
shoot or lateral that develops in the junction of leaf and stem.
Sometimes the lowest one is left to provide an extra main stem which is
trained diagonally across the trellis or stake or to a separate stake.
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Give good soakings whenever the surface
dries out. When the first fruits are formed plants gain extra vigor if
one of the complete water-soluble plant foods is applied about once a
fortnight.
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Special problems in Growing Tomatoes
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Over-leafy plants with very little flower
or fruit sometimes occur. This is due to feeding either with complete
water-soluble plant food or other highly nitrogenous material which is
lacking in phosphorus.
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This can be counteracted by sprinkling a
handful of superphosphate per sq. m around the plants and watering
well.
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Blossom End rot, a collapsed sunken and
usually black area at the base of the fruit, is caused by there being
insufficient water to carry calcium to all parts of the plant. It can
be overcome by regular watering and a surface mulch of compost to
conserve soil moisture. Deep cultivation around the plants can have a
similar effect by destroying feeder roots and retarding the plant's
moisture intake.
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Tomatoes are subject to several leaf and
fruit spotting fungus diseases and attack by leaf- or fruit-borrowing
caterpillars. These can be controlled by regular use of tomato dust.
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Fruit fly is a serious pest of tomatoes
in some areas. Spray with Lebaycid or Rogor every 8-10 days from the
time the first fruits begin changing from deep to limey green. Do not
harvest any fruit for at least 7 days after spraying. Repeat the spray
program every 10 days after picking everything that looks like ripening
within that time.
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Fruit fly baits are effective if freshly
mixed and splashed on a 25 cm square area of the foliage once a week,
choosing a sheltered lower area of the plant They lure fruit flies from
a distance of about 15 m.
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Another fruit fly control is to cover the
fruit clusters with paper bags fairly securely tied when the first
fruits show their lighter color change.