8 Tips for growing tomatoes

(and basil, in Sydney)

 

1. The worm condo

If you want good tomatoes, you need a worm condominium! For an easy way to set one up, just go the ABC Gardening how to build a worm farm.  There are two reasons for the worm condo, firstly it will give you worm juice for weekly fertilizing, secondly the worm castings are perfect for soil preparation.

2. Soil recipe

I have only 3cm of soil then solid sandstone, so I had to import soil.  I got a mixture of soil, manure and  compost.  If your soil does not have much in the way of organic matter, just add compost and manure.   To this I add the following before I plant my tomatoes:

• Crushed egg shells that have been saved, put through the microwave to dry them out, then pulverized in the blender.  This adds calcium into the soil, and stops blossom rot.
• As much worm castings as I have available. 
• A handfull of lime.
• Any ground coffee I have saved and frozen in the freezer.
• Any compost I may have around.

And... I usually plant a winter crop of peas, as these will fix nitrogen into the soil for your tomatoes to use.

3. The seaweed dip

When you buy tomato seedlings, water them and sit them in the shade until the sun has gone down before you plant them out.  Fill a container - an old ice cream container is good - with a very weak solution of water and seaweed extract.  It should look like very weak tea.  As you plant out your seedlings, dip the roots into the solution first.  This seems to give them a better start than just watering in seaweed solution.  Once they are all planted out, water the seedlings with what is leftover.

Just another thing about planting - vary your tomato varieties each year and you will soon find out which ones suite your area better, and always plant basil as a companion.  A few seeds will soon come up once the sun hits them.

4. Prune for larger fruit

You must prune out the laterals if you would like good sized fruit!  This year I let one of the cherry tomatoes go on its own, with no pruning as an experiment.  Yes we had lots of fruit, but they were tiny, and mostly skin and seeds.  Not much use those!   For a good tutorial on laterals, just look here.

Another point about pruning- if the leaves look a bit old and dry, just cut them off.  I also cut off the first couple of leaf stems at the bottom of the bush as this helps stop viruses from the soil.

5. Weekly lunches

I feed my tomatoes with a week solution of worm juice and either seaweed solution or tomatoe food every week.  When I say feed, I mean not just the soil, mostly it goes on the leaves.  This seems to keep the pests away as well as keep the tomatoes happy.

6. Dust after rain

Sydney is a major fruit fly area, so after a good rain you must dust with tomatoe dust to keep them away.  There is no other way I have found unfortunately.  This means that tomatoes must be washed very well before eating.

7. Three square meals a day mulch

I use Lucerne to mulch my vegies, and on the tomatoes it goes on about 3 times during the season.  Lucerne mulch will break down and add to the soil, feeding the worms along the way.  Other mulches will tend to take nutrients out of the soil, so be very careful what you use.