015 Tomato Mistakes to Avoid. Tips for planting and watering new seedbeds.

Today, we take a look at your tomato garden. Are they in small containers? Are they sprawling along the ground? Does it resemble more of a tomato jungle than a tomato garden? Those are three of the most common mistakes new tomato growers commit. Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, California talks about how to correct those mistakes, and many others.
He points out that one of the biggest causes for tomato issues is irregular watering.
What about pruning tomatoes? "Only if you want fewer tomatoes", says Shor.
He gets into the topic of growing tomatoes in raised beds, and points out that new soil in raised beds drains too quickly and spreads too narrowly. But after a few years, and after mulching and amending, that soil moisture will last longer and spread out, too. One way he suggests to improve water flow: don't pull out the tomato plants. Just cut off the plant at the soil level. That will improve the soil. For blossom end rot, Tums are not the answer, says Shor. The alleged calcium deficiency that brings on blossom end rot is actually environmental issues, such as weather, the type of soil, irregular watering. Shor says stick with tomato varieties that are known performers in your area. You can try a few heirlooms or other recommendations, but generally, stick with the winners. Among his favorite easy to grow tomatoes are Sungold, Sweet 100, Sweet Million, Juliet, Champion, Park's Whopper and Early Girl.

Do you like to plant from seeds? Do you know the correct depth to plant them? Do you know how to water a new seedbed so those seeds don’t go flying all over the place? Professor Debbie Flower has planting and watering tips for the new garden bed. The correct depth, she says, is 2-3 times the diameter of the height of the seed, when it's laying on a table. If the seeds are very small, just cover them with a light coating of vermiculite. For watering, Flower recommends a Dramm red soft shower nozzle for a newly planted seedbed so as to not disturb the seeds. She attaches that to the end of a long watering wand, and then turns the nozzle to face the sky, and lets the water gently hit the seedbed.

Do you have a tree in your yard that looks like it might just take a tumble onto your garden beds? We have tips for finding an expert in your area to make an on-site evaluation.

It’s all in Episode 15 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, and we’ll save you time here, too. We will do it all in under 30 minutes. 

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Transcript

Farmer Fred : 0:03

Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information well you've come to the right spot.

Farmer Fred : 0:16

Today let's take a look at your tomato garden. Are those tomatoes in small containers? Are they sprawling along the ground? Does it resemble more of a tomato jungle than a tomato garden? Well, those are three of the most common mistakes new tomato growers commit and Don Shor of redwood barn Nursery in Davis, California talks about how to correct those mistakes as well as many others. Do you like to plant from seeds? Do you know the correct depth to plant them? Do you know how to water a new seed bed so those seeds don't go flying all over the place? Professor Debbie Flower has planting and watering tips for your garden. Do you have a tree in your yard that looks like a just might take a tumble onto your garden beds? Well, we have tips for finding an expert in your area to make an on site evaluation. It's all in Episode 15 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. We will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go.

Farmer Fred : 1:12

A lot of people like to grow tomatoes and usually it's a case of learning by doing well maybe if you just starting off in the world of tomato growing, we can help you out avoid some of those mistakes. We're talking with Don Shor, he owns Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, California, a real tomato head and he gets customers every year that come in with big smiles in April and May and then frowns come July, August and September and it usually turns out to be reasons of operator error or something along those lines. Don, what are the most common mistakes that gardeners make beginning gardeners especially make in growing tomatoes?

Don Shor : 1:48

First, we'll be planting them in containers that are too small. The plant's root system is big and needs room to explore and becomes hard to water when you get into mid summer if it's in a small container. You know, we go and go into a garden center and ask them how often they water the plants in the garden center in the summer, daily, sometimes twice daily. And don't make yourself a slave to your garden you might like to be able to travel for a weekend now and then the second is not being aware of how big bonafide well grown tomato plant will get 8, 10 12 feet and not planning for that. So failing to stake or cage them and failing to figure out how you're gonna get them up off the ground have the fruit accessible, and keep the plant more or less contained without having to cut it back all the time. So staking and caging is probably one of the biggest failings do that it's probably one of the biggest mistakes. People who move here from different climates often make the mistake of planting them too close together because they're not aware of how long a growing season we have and how big the plants are going to get. So gentleman came in has moved here from I think Ohio and then planted his 50 zero tomato plants. Two feet apart. And I want to know who time to start spraying homicides. And I said, Just for the record, I've never sprayed a tomato plant with a fungicide all my years of growing in California because we don't need to. But with that two foot spacing, if you get a problem, you might need to a little wider space and get better air circulation can make a big difference.

Farmer Fred : 3:21

You create a jungle, you're gonna attract jungle critters like white flies.

Don Shor : 3:26

Yeah, and or any disease that happens to get in there. If you do happen to get late blight, something is just gonna move right down the row. Whereas if you've got room and you have your plants now I know Fred, you're now a suburban gardener. So you probably have you probably have your tomatoes three feet apart or four feet apart. Exactly.

Farmer Fred : 3:41

Yeah.

Don Shor : 3:42

As opposed to two feet apart. I know I've never

Farmer Fred : 3:44

had them two feet apart because I like walking between my plants.

Don Shor : 3:48

I really wish you'd send me a picture about August employees 50 tomato plant jungle looks like but I can well imagine that yeah, if you get white flies in there, it's difficult to manage them, whereas on a plant that you can work around you can get in just wash them off with water, whatever you're going to do to manage them. It's just easier to do so the crowding, failing the stakes, I'm trying to put them in pots that are too small. And then the next step, the next issue typically is how people are watering them.

Farmer Fred : 4:15

Right let's talk a little bit about the diseases that causes many East Coast gardeners to resort to fungicides and that's high humidity levels and nighttime temperatures that are above 70 degrees whereas here on the west coast and nighttime temperatures usually fall into the 50s and 60s and very low humidity except we can make up for that and cause mistakes that require fungicides if we overhead water with sprinklers

Don Shor : 4:41

Yeah, we I mean we don't get rain in the summer rainfall in the summertime is a huge problem for folks who are battling late blight which is one of the most common leaf and stem diseases on tomatoes back east. We get it occasionally here and all you know I've had it every so often on a plant. I prune out that's that, because the nights get cool. The days are 10-15% humidity, the problem basically solves itself. For those listening in those climates. One of the big steps forward in tomato breeding over the last five to 10 years has been the introduction of varieties that are late blight resistant. You look in the catalog, burpee Seed Company Park, all the all the well known companies now have late blight resistant variety. Not a huge issue for most California gardeners, but definitely something to look for if you're listening in a rainy climate, because then a late blight can really devastate a plant. Here, it'll kill a whole branch sometimes. All we got to do, as I mentioned, is prune that out. And the problem is taken care of. But back there you start getting into which fungicide rotation are we going to do this summer? And as I say, I've never had to spray for fungus out here in California,

Farmer Fred : 5:43

I think. Well, you mentioned the word pruning and a lot of people make that mistake of pruning their tomato plants and then they wonder why their tomatoes get sun scald.

Don Shor : 5:51

Yeah, we You and I have gone around about this about why people prune there is no reason Pause to prune a tomato plant here in California or anywhere else that I'm aware of. And we do know from studies that pruning reduces yield. So that's the first of all first issue that overall you get bigger fruit but you're less of it. So if your goal is a market production tomatoes from hoop houses in Florida, you might be pruning and training. Here, if you prune, you may open up the plant to sun exposure on the fruit that's developing, we get 105 degrees spell temperatures, which does happen a few times each summer, and that fruit is going to scorch. So the denser the canopy, the better in some ways to protect the fruit from sun scald, which is way more of an issue in the Central Valley than it is perhaps in. In other climates. I always counsel against pruning and can't think of any particular reason to do it unless you're trying to train your plant on some specific kind of a structure or you just have time on your hands.

Farmer Fred : 6:51

And also tomato cracking can be the result of too much sun as well. Yeah. Now let's talk watering. If there's one more, most of them Common mistakes made when growing tomatoes. It's irregular watering and irregular watering can lead to a whole host of problems.

Don Shor : 7:08

Yeah, I've learned now that with as many people doing raised planters as planting out in the open ground I have to ask first when we're talking about watering, are you doing this in a raised bed, or you're doing it out just an open garden, I mean, I garden in a in a on a farm and I'm just planting in normal farm soil and most of my customers are just planting out in the garden in their backyard. But more and more people especially where soils are heavy, or you just don't have the you know, you don't have good drainage, build raised planters and then they purchase really nice quality potting soil or topsoil from the local rock yard to fill those containers as planters, they really are containers at that point. So they're watering or you're watering I probably shouldn't say is going to be very different than mine. You will probably have to water daily or every other day at least for the first while in the season because the wide the soil so Sandy and so fast draining. Whereas out in the garden, you probably have a silty loam that will hold water, you can get a few days between waterings or in my case as much as a full week if you apply enough water when you do so tomatoes do very very well with a deep soaking every few days to once a week in the open ground. But in a raised planter may need as often as daily at first perhaps every other day, you probably be a better judge of that, but I would since that's how you garden.

Farmer Fred : 8:26

I can tell you from experience that when people ask the question, okay, how long do I water my tomato plants? The answer is always Well, it depends.

Don Shor : 8:37

The answer they're looking for. Give me a formula uncle Fred. Yeah,

Farmer Fred : 8:41

well, I can't because I don't know how anything about your soil.

Don Shor : 8:47

That's really what it comes down to. It depends on your soil and the first year that you have a raised planter is actually different from as time goes by. Because the first year you put in this nice fast draining loose fluffy stuff, which is really potting soil, so you're probably gonna have to water daily and it's nothing wrong with that you don't have to water all that long. You just have to make sure that your irrigation system distributes the water correctly on your raised planter. I know this guy who lives in Folsom. Oh, he has raised planters. And he's a drip irrigation. And my recollection is that his four foot wide beds, he has five lines running in each one.

Farmer Fred : 9:21

Yes, because I know this guy too. And the footprint of that water as it descends into the into the ground is almost like an even cylinder. It doesn't spread out so much as go straight down because of the porosity of the soil used in the raised bed. So the narrower that cylinder is that footprint of water, the more water lines you need.

Don Shor : 9:41

So I have a picture that I show when I'm giving talks about this, which has three lines going down a four foot wide bed, and it very nicely has three stripes of water. In that four foot wide bed, you can tell that the water is not percolating not spreading out by capillary action as it would do in a denser soil. You can correct that over time by top dressing mulching those beds with compost, buying bags of good quality stuff. And it doesn't have to be super expensive. But just continuing to add that on the surface. Also, here's a little trick when the season is over, instead of pulling your plants out, cut them off and then take all this stuff away Let the roots decompose right in place, which has the effect of not only improving the organic content, but creating macro pores where ultimately water will penetrate out and down more readily. So you can do things to make that sort of fancy potting soil more into an actual soil over time, but not for the first couple of years. So it's not uncommon for someone with a new raised planter to have to water 30-35 minutes every day, which sounds like a lot but it isn't actually with a drip system that much. And those of us out in the garden can run our system for an hour or two every few days and get perfectly good results. So it really depends on your soil is what it comes down to.

Farmer Fred : 10:59

one of the biggest issues that people have with tomatoes especially as the summer approaches and ends the bottoms of their tomatoes turned black or brown. Blossom end rot. And yes even though you think of the blossom as being the part attached to the stem on a tomato on the blossom is the bottom of the tomato.

Don Shor : 11:20

Yeah gets mushy on the bottom some varieties are just notoriously susceptible to this, Roma tomato for example, it strongly correlates with irregular irrigation and fluctuating temperatures. All the stuff you read about blossom end rot being associated with calcium deficiency or this that or the other or your grade on who puts a Tums tablet underneath the plant or your friend who uses Epsom salts or God knows what else. None of those are actually evidence based approaches what we do know is it is strongly correlates with in this area for example, with cold temperatures and rain in late May when the when the blossom had said the fruit was developing. I can mark my calendar. Eight weeks later, when they their customer is going to come in and show me blossom end rot it deep watering, careful watering does seem to mitigate it. I mean, that's the one thing that we can recommend. sprays, fertilizers, all that stuff. None of that has any impact on blossom end rots, therefore even I love this. I should sell Tums. That particular one, I actually did the math at one point to do a proper application of calcium by me to Tums tablets would require 78 tablets per plant. So let's just say is not a very economical approach, even if that was the issue, and it's not. those mostly related to temperature and moisture issues. And the one thing you can control obviously, is the moisture, thorough watering when you do as infrequently as your soil allows, and that gets us back Of course it would depend on the soil but a deep soaking fairly infrequently, if you're out in the open ground, really even moisture based on your carefully constructed drip irrigation system in raised planters can be more appropriate.

Farmer Fred : 13:01

I have a message for all of those listening with just one ear. Don't put Tums in the soil.

Don Shor : 13:09

Let's reiterate that Epsom salts

Don Shor : 13:13

Epsom salts are suitable for soaking your feet or I believe they're also a purgative that I'm aware of.

Farmer Fred : 13:22

Well, you know, if we're for a nursery that want to try to sell you something, if you brought in a tomato with blossom end rot, they will say, well, it's a calcium imbalance. And I've got this spray here that will add calcium. Well, I got news for you, that spray that you spray on, the tomato doesn't get absorbed by the tomato, it just kind of drips to the ground. And that calcium imbalance it's due to the roots sort of corking over they can't absorb the calcium that's in the soil.

Don Shor : 13:48

We have so much calcium in our water that you can see deposits of containers in the Davis area. So it's clearly not a calcium deficiency. That appears to have just been a sort of a research direction that was mis directed. They would see what appeared to be a calcium deficiency in the plant. But it is not actually the cause of blossom end rot. I mean, they're not hurting the plant when they spray fol-i-cal on it, but it's certainly unnecessary. I'd rather just have you buy something else than buy a nice flower instead of a product that's not going to really do any good. We do know that they say some varieties seem to be a little more susceptible to it. So if you've grown one year after year, and it's just getting blossom end rot chronically, hey, there's 1000 tomato varieties out there try something else.

Farmer Fred : 14:27

It's the Henny Youngman theory Doctor Doctor. It hurts when I do that. Well don't do that.

Don Shor : 14:31

The other the other mistake people make and I think this is a key one is selecting the wrong variety because tomato varieties are regional. And if you're listening in San Francisco, you're probably gonna need to go out by San Francisco fog that's an actual variety. My dad in San Diego coastal San Diego always sought out a particular variety that did well there. And the mistake we see in the hot interior Valley is people walking in and saying I like to grow heirloom tomatoes. Do you have brandywine I grew up in Ohio and beefsteak was our favorite tomato. Do you have beef steak and I say I don't sell either of those because they don't produce well here they grow, fine but the blossoms fall off when it's 90 degrees and 90 degrees, most days from about mid June through mid September here. So those particular varieties and I'll go ahead and make the generalization that they're, in general, are not as heat tolerant and not as productive for us here for that reason. They're probably good in the Brandywine valley of Pennsylvania. I know beefsteak are really big in the upper Midwest, up in Seattle. If you're trying to grow tomatoes, you better ask What's the good variety for your area. So far, there really is regional.

Farmer Fred : 15:38

Well, that brings up the fact that it pays to shop at your local independent nursery to get the best varieties because they're not going to stock anything that doesn't sell or are poor performers.

Don Shor : 15:48

The issue with heirloom, you know, they're very popular. Most of them are from back east. We don't have heirlooms from California, because we haven't been here that long. So you're probably you're probably better off with a well adapted hybrid, you know, don't hesitate to try some heirlooms but I say this over and over let's if you're buying six tomato plants, spread them out get a hybrid and get a cherry tomato you know get get something with that disease resistance. Go ahead and try an heirloom and try that one that your brother in law said was the best tomato he ever grew back there in Pennsylvania.

Farmer Fred : 16:21

Well that let's end this on a positive note for those who are beginning to start growing tomatoes Let's mention a few training wheel tomato varieties that you'd be difficult to screw up

Don Shor : 16:33

Sungold .

Farmer Fred : 16:34

there you go a cherry tomato it's good to yellow in color sweet as all get out and you can't stop it.

Don Shor : 16:41

Yeah, that was when someone's coming in with a label and got a couple hours of sunlight I think well this is not tomato location. But yeah, cherry tomato will probably produce there almost no matter what anyway, so cherry tomatoes in general. And of course if you got kids, they're great sweet 100 sweet million, super sweet, whatever it is a whole bunch in that category as well. Even reg regular old red cherry but sungold far and away the best seller in the tomato in the cherry tomato category. Juliet another great one. It's a fairly compact plan. It's a small, pear shaped tomato but firm and meaty. So it's great for sauces and salsas and happens that you can just freeze it whole. I like to jokingly call it my empty nester tomato, you know they've grown 10 or 12 and they've done all the canning stuff and they've aged out of that but they want just one tomato, it's great for that you'll get a couple hundred fruit on a well grown Juliet tomato. That's another really good one.

Farmer Fred : 17:32

How about a full size tomato that's easy to grow.

Don Shor : 17:34

champion. Keep coming back to it and I think the name is easy to remember. It's a hybrid. It's been around for a couple decades now it's got a good size fruit, three quarters of a pound. It's got a fairly tough skin which is handy because that holds up against weather problems. So it's one of the ones is still hanging out there in my garden in November. And it continues to set I have observed even during higher temperatures. So champion of all the hybrid better boy champion Whopper you know that are out there champion does consistently produce well for me. I've also been very impressed by parks Whopper over the years. So it's another consistent one. And I don't think I'd be without early girl had because of its not because of its mid summer production but because of the early summer and the fall production that it gives

Farmer Fred : 18:17

exactly some good varieties right there. Don Shor, he's a no till tomato farmer and a nursery owner in Davis, California. Don, we learned a lot about tomatoes today. Thank you.

Don Shor : 18:28

All right. Great to be here. Thanks, Fred.

Farmer Fred : 18:30

There are several ways to reach us here at the garden basics podcast call or text us at 916-292-8964 that's 916-292-8964 email your questions and pictures to Fred at farmer fred.com or post your garden queries at the get growing with farmer Fred Facebook page or at farmer Fred on Twitter.

Farmer Fred : 18:58

Let's get to your emails. Gavin in Texas writes in he says neighbors are suggesting that our leaning palm tree is in danger of falling. What do you think? Well, Gavin does include a picture of the tree. Gavin, I think I'm in California and you're in Texas. I have no idea what the state of your tree is, it might be worth the investment in giving a call to a consulting arborist to get a professional opinion. They look at much more than pictures. They're gonna make that judgment by looking for signs of decay and possible soil upheaval. Whenever you have a question about the health of one of your trees. A consulting arborist is a good choice. Generally speaking, consulting arborist are independently employed. They're not working for an arborist to make lots of money. They just want to give you an honest opinion on the state of your trees. consulting arborist have lots of training. Many of them belong to the International Society of Arboriculture, and it's their website where you can find a consulting arborist near you They're website trees are good.org trees are good.org and then click on the link that says find an arborist. Look for those arborist that have the ISA tree risk assessment qualification. Those are your consulting arborist. But don't let your search stop there. Make sure they're insured, bonded and have a current business license.

Farmer Fred : 20:27

So you're gonna do a little vegetable planting from seed. That's a great idea. There are so many more excellent varieties available by seed than there are plant varieties at a nursery. I definitely recommend that you try planting at least some of your vegetables from seed but then the question arises how deep Do you plant them? And how do you water them? Good questions. Let's ask our in house college horticulture Professor Debbie Flower how to do it.

Debbie Flower : 20:52

Okay, thinking of planting some seeds. You probably need to know how deep to plant those seeds whether you're putting them in In a container, or in the ground, the depth of seed planting is important. If it's too deep, it doesn't have enough energy for the plant to come up above the soil. And if it's too shallow, it tends to dry out or get too hot and die and not germinate. So we need to plant those seeds at the right depth. The recommended depth, if you don't know is two to three times the diameter of the seed. So what the heck does that mean? Well imagine a bean seed laid on a table on the nice flat side. One Direction is what's called the long direction, maybe that's a half inch. diameter is the distance across that seed. So maybe it's a half inch one way, maybe it's a quarter of an inch the other way. So there's and there's a third diameter, and that's the distance from the table that the seed is sitting on to the top of the seed. So we might take a ruler put the end of the ruler on the table to have the very first mark right at the table height and measure up and let's say that's an eighth of an inch. That's the diameter that we want to count when we decide how deep to plant the seed, the narrowest diameter of the seed. So if this bean seed is an eighth of an inch in its narrowest dimension, and we're going to plant it two eighths or three eighths of an inch deep, that's how deep the hole will be. And the bean seed will sit in the bottom of that hole. There are exceptions, of course, corn is one exception. But when you are collecting seeds, or people are giving you seeds, or you're finding seeds out in your yard that you want to try again, use that rule of thumb two to three times the narrowest diameter of the seed. That's how deep you plant it.

Farmer Fred : 22:41

Professor Flower I have a question.

Debbie Flower : 22:43

Yes.

Farmer Fred : 22:45

What if the seed is so small, you can't even get a measurement on the ruler.

Debbie Flower : 22:49

Right then sometimes you can. If seeds are very small, and you can't really measure them at all. You put them on the surface. And then I like to use vermiculite to go on top of those seeds, vermiculite is you purchase it in a bag. It's a mica, the rock is called mica. And it has been processed mined cleaned and heated to be expanded, it'll hold moisture on top of that seed which is something seeds need in order to germinate they have to be remain damp. If they are damp and then they dry out, they die. So they have to remain damp and the vermiculite will do that. And often if the seed is very small, and we're putting it on the surface of the soil, there's a possibility it needs light to germinate. So you don't really need to know that because the vermiculite will allow that light to come through. So you'll have whatever that seed needs to germinate. So just lay it on the surface and cover it with just a coating of vermiculite or if you want to just a coating of soil.

Farmer Fred : 23:53

Should it be moist vermiculite

Debbie Flower : 23:56

Well, you always water after planting. That's another that's like a rule Rule rule doesn't matter what you're planting you always water after planting,

Farmer Fred : 24:06

What do you water with so that the seed won't be disturbed?

Debbie Flower : 24:12

I put a nozzle on the end of the hose DRAMM the company DRAMM makes a great nozzle. They have a website and they they make I don't use a mister. The misters are sometimes recommended for to put on seeds to spray the water over seeds, but they're so light that I get impatient and so I put a more of a spray. If I have one of those adjustable nozzles that has flat and spray and all those other adjustments I use the spray, I stand back and turn the water so it's going straight up in the air and coming down like like soft rain onto my seedlings. Not seedlings onto my planted seeds

Farmer Fred : 24:59

don't you get wet If you Do that?

Debbie Flower : 25:03

Not if that if I use a wand, a water wand, which has a stiff, they're about what two feet long and they have a stiff metal, two foot long handle and at the end is a nozzle Can you want a very fine nozzle? I think the DRAMM it's the red nozzle and it produces very small droplets. And I can stand back at least two feet from that and so no I don't get wet.

Farmer Fred : 25:32

There you go, how to plant a seed, how to measure it, how to water it, Debbie Flower Thanks for the tip.

Debbie Flower : 25:37

My pleasure.

Farmer Fred : 25:48

Thank you for listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. I appreciate your ears. How about a subscription you can get the podcast wherever podcasts are given away such as apple, spotify, Google, Iheart, stitcher and many more.

Farmer Fred : 26:09

I was just reading here that contrary to popular myth, and despite their ferocious appearance earwigs generally don't attack humans although they are capable of biting if trapped in clothing or sat upon. Okay, so if you're gardening on world naked gardening day, don't sit down.

Debbie Flower : 26:29

Or if you're testing your garden to see if it's warm enough to plant tomatoes, probably warm enough almost every well I don't know about some of those northern states. One technique for testing your garden is to go out and and sit on the ground in the garden for 10-20 minutes.

Farmer Fred : 26:49

Oh, yeah, if you're that long. How long do you to two minutes,

Debbie Flower : 26:55

two minutes, two minutes

Farmer Fred : 26:56

to two minutes. If the ground is cold, you'll be moving in a lot less than two. minutes.

Debbie Flower : 27:01

And if it's if you can sit there for just two minutes it's warm enough for tomato. Yeah. Okay, I was certain 10 or more and some people suggest we do it in shorts and T shirt and others suggest we do it naked. So if you were to sit on the earwig naked, you might have a problem.

Farmer Fred : 27:20

Yes, maybe more than one problem.

Debbie Flower : 27:23

That's right.