One of the many perks of working from home full-time is that I have the luxury to go play in the yard on the days when I also have the luxury to take a lunch break. Earlier this week we purchased four tomato seedlings form BHN and I received another seedling as an early birthday present from my parents. After checking the weather forecast to make sure we were clear of freezing night I decided today would be a great day to plant them all. The four varieties we’ve chosen for this year are:
Sweet Million F1: exceptionally sweet taste, prolific yielder sets clusters of 20-30 deep red 1" fruit, easy to grow, large indeterminate vines need support, maturity: 70 days
Amish Gold: cross between Amish Paste and Sungold, thumb-sized golden fruit, very sweet and productive, indeterminate vines, maturity: 80 days
Kiwi: medium-sized, delicious green-when-ripe tomato, maturity: 75 days, my parents purchased this rare variety at the SF Flower and Garden Show last month
Sungold Cherry: heavy yielding English hybrid, clusters of golden cherry tomatoes, large vines, maturity: 50 days. We were so happy with this variety last year we decided to plant two plants!
Tip for keeping track of which plant is where: punch a hole in the marker that comes with the seedling and using a twist-tie secure it to the cage next to the plant. You can also put the marker in the ground, but I have a tendency to knock them around during weeding and harvesting.
All five plants went into the cages we put in last year, even though they are still occupied by my voracious Mammoth Melting peas that are now more than 7’ tall and continue to put on flowers and fruit. Since I planted the peas along the outside ring of the cages I can sneak in and plant the tomatoes in the centers of the cages to provide proper support for all their branches. The peas will help shelter the seedlings and once the peas are done for the season I can simply pull them out leaving plenty of room for the tomatoes. Both last year’s tomatoes and the peas have done so well in our yard that they grew 3-4’ taller than the existing cages. Once the peas are done I will also need to add some additional cage to the top of the existing cages to provide better support for all the tall things we’re planting year-round in this part of the yard.
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Those sound like some interesting varieties. What do you use for pest control? I've been looking online and found an organic spray from Safer Brand called Tomato and Vegetable Insect Killer. Have you heard of it? It targets a wide range of pests and is safe to use up to the day of harvest.
ReplyDeleteI have had success with Safer brand products, especially on aphids with their more general insert control products. I seem to have good luck with tomatoes and by keeping the soil well composted I've been able to avoid any pests in my tomatoes. My biggest problems in my area are aphids and slugs unfortunately, but neither seem to go for my tomatoes.
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