Upon learning of my intention to write an article on tomatoes, friends and neighbors offered information on their growing experiences.
Rob Call, Horticulture Agent, said if you pinch out the new growth which grows in the crotch of two stems (auxiliary growth), it will encourage an earlier crop with larger fruit. If quantity is desired, don't pinch the new growth. The varieties Rob recommended are Celebrity, Early Girl, Better Boy, and for cherry tomatoes, Sweet 100. LaRoma was selected for the pear-shaped tomatoes. It is my preference for its meaty quality.
Tommi Martin recommended the yellow pear variety since the plant she grew spread to a great size and produced more fruit than was ever anticipated.
Betty Biederman, who has a bountiful garden each year, said she practiced a theory found to have good results. When transplanting the tomato plant, remove the lower limbs and place the tomato plant deeper into the soil than it had been previously growing. Then, as the plant develops, mound up more earth around the stalk much as you would a potato plant. This procedure produces an anchored plant with stronger and fuller growth. Jim Brown reiterated the benefits of this system of growing tomatoes. Less of the root is near the top of the soil and subject to our drying winds.
Purchased plants have probably been grown under artificial lights and if they are in blossom, the same conditions need to be present for further development. These plants should be hardened off. That is, subjected to our growing conditions by placing them out of doors each day until they adapt. Tomato plants are not going to continue growing once they are transplanted until there is sufficient warmth and light available to produce blossoms and fruit.
When transplanting the tomato plants, be sure and place them in a prepared bed. A monitored watering system is recommended for a balanced moisture level. This will alleviate the cracking and blossom end rot which sometimes occurs. Put some kind of a collar around the new transplant. Newspaper in layers works well and keeps the cut worms from lopping off the new transplants. The best system is a combination of support and protection. Supporting the plants on a wire cage will keep them off of the ground and the fruit will be clean and also insect free. If you place black roofing material around the base of the wire frame, about one inch under the soil and three inches above, it will stop the cut worms. It will also create a microclimate for each individual plant, protecting it from the wind while also retaining the warmth of the sun and the moisture in the soil. Mulching around the tomatoes further conserves moisture and keeps the fruit from touching the soil.
If you follow these recommended procedures which other gardeners have implemented successfully, it will probably give you a cleaner, earlier, more abundant yield.