LOVELOCK - The tomato is the most popular of all home-grown foods in the United States. Nevada is no exception. A survey by the National Garden Association found 93 percent of the American gardeners surveyed grew tomatoes.
Unfortunately, there are more production problems growing tomatoes than growing many other garden vegetables.
Harsh climatic conditions, nutrient deficiencies, poor cultural practices and disease all bring on disorders that limit tomato production. Common problems include blossom drop, blossom end rot, curling leaves, sunscald, cracking and poor overall growth. Gardeners can minimize these problems by using good cultural practices and common sense.
The following are a few tips to help you produce a good crop of tomatoes this year:
Planting a few days or several weeks earlier is better because tomatoes need a number of days before they will bloom and produce fruit. It is best to get a head start planting tomatoes because temperatures may get hot earlier than usual. Once temperatures climb above 90 degrees during the day and fall less than 55 degrees at night, most varieties will not set fruit.
Selecting tomato varieties adapted to Nevada determines both the quality and quantity of tomatoes grown in the yard. Some varieties have the ability to set fruit early in the season before hot weather arrives. Some varieties are less prone to sun burning, cat facing, and other problems. Here are some varieties that grow well in Nevada:
Growing guidelines
Do not overdo watering. A deep soaking is better than several light waterings. Two or three deep irrigations during the first month after planting will help establish the plants. After that, you should irrigate least one deep irrigation per week (depending on the weather conditions) throughout the growing season. Container-grown tomatoes may need watering once or more per day, so long as the weather remains hot.
Tomatoes grow best if temperatures range between 70 degrees and 90 degrees but can tolerate temperatures lower than 55 degrees and higher than 100 degrees for short periods. Temperatures lower than 55 degrees for four or more consecutive nights cause blossoms to drop. Temperatures that are higher than 90 degrees during the day are the main cause of blossom drop. In fact, temperatures over 104 degrees for four hours or more cause the flowers to abort.
Night temperatures higher than 75 degrees will also cause blossom abortion. These sustained, hot temperatures at night burn up the food reserves the tomato produced during the day and the flowers abort. Utilization of a shade cloth may help protect the plant during extremely hot days.
Relative humidity plays a major role in pollen transfer. Tomatoes set best when humidity is between 40 and 70 percent. Nevada has long, dry periods with the humidity below 20 percent. As a result, pollen does not stick to the dry stigma. Calm, windless summer days also contribute to poor pollination. Directing a jet of water at the blossoms twice during the heat of the day will improve blossom set when daytime temperatures range between 90 degrees and 100 degrees and below 75 degrees at night. If daytime temperatures exceed 100 degrees and night temperatures stay above 75 degrees, this technique is not effective.
Apply a mulch one to two inches deep to smother weeds and conserve moisture. Heat's immediate threat to the plants themselves is severe stress. Mulch helps keep the soil from warming up and drying out quite so quickly.
Fertilize plants every month until the fruits are developing. Stop fertilizing when the tomatoes are mature size. Use fertilizer with a ratio of 2-1-1 early and 1-2-1 later. High or low application rates of fertilizer will cause blossom drop. Over-fertilization may cause water stress resulting in tissue damage inside the tomatoes. Under-fertilization leads to spindly vines with low food reserves that cannot support a crop.
To determine the tomatoes' nitrogen needs, stems should be examined 6 inches back from the end of the major branches. Ideally, the stems should be the thickness of your small finger. If smaller, nitrogen fertilizer should be applied. If stems are larger and growth is rank, fertilizer, especially nitrogen, should not be added.
The tomato is self-pollinating. However, it needs insects or wind to cause pollination to take place. Tapping the open flower clusters every few day's discharges the pollen to pollinate the flower. Use a fruit set hormone, available at most nurseries, to improve fruit set and increase production. The hormone is important when temperatures hover around 55 degrees at night and 90 degrees during the day.
Hopefully, these tips will help you produce a bountiful crop of tomatoes this year. Future articles will discuss diseases and pest associated with backyard tomato production.
Sources: Factsheet 88-60, Linn Mills, Horticulturist, Las Vegas Valley Water District Wayne Johnson, state horticulture specialist plant science department.
"Growing tomatoes in southern Nevada," Aggie Roberts, community based instructor.
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