Red, ripe tomatoes are a summer's delight that most people, especially gardeners, look forward to eating. But all sorts of troubles can plague tomatoes: insects, diseases,
too little water, too much water and on it goes.
 
Here are ten ways Clemson Extension experts recommend to grow the tomatoes of your dreams:

1. Select disease-resistant varieties.

"When you go to buy tomato plants, look for VFN on the label," said David Bradshaw, Clemson Extension horticulturist. "These plants are bred to be resistant to Verticillium and Fusarium wilts and root-knot nematodes. VFN plants are not completely immune to these problems, but they are more resistant than others. Resistant varieties are the best practical way to manage these three diseases."

Nematodes - microscopic unsegmented worms -- drill into a tomato plant's feeder roots and cause it to weaken, so the crop is damaged. The wilt diseases also damage the roots, causing plants to wilt.

2. Rotate the location of the crops to avoid insects, nematodes and diseases.

Bradshaw cautions that tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and potatoes are all from the same family, so each has to be rotated to a different part of the garden.

3. As a part of the rotation, use nematode-resistant cover crops in winter and summer. Cover crops break the nematode and disease cycles. These crops also build nutrients and add organic matter.

"It's best if you can grow cover crops in winter and summer for a couple of years before you ever plant tomatoes, to break these cycles," Bradshaw said. "Velvet beans, a summer legume, can have a positive effect on crop responses for two to three years."

4. Place each tomato plant five feet apart, so insects can't spread in an epidemic. Space between plants also keeps foliage from holding high humidity and stimulating fungus life. Bradshaw puts his tomato plants 20 feet apart and plants other crops in
between.

"You want good wind and sun around your tomato plants," he said.

5. Use mulch to decrease soil spattering up on the plants: soil particles can bring fungus infections. In addition, mulch prevents drying out, drought stress, weed competition and the compaction of the soil by rain. It also keeps the soil temperature
cooler, which keeps the plants healthier.

"Even though they are a summer crop, tomatoes can still suffer from too much heat in their root zone," Bradshaw said.

First put down a good pad of newspapers, then pine straw or leaves. If the soil is warm when you plant, mulch that day. However, if the ground is cool when you plant, wait until it warms up to mulch.

6. "Once your crop is growing," Bradshaw said,  "protect it from birds or cutworms by wrapping a two-inch wide piece of aluminum foil about an inch above the ground level and an inch below."

7. If plants need watering, it is better to use trickle irrigation or a soaker hose rather than a sprinkler, so the leaves don't get wet. Trickle irrigation lets moisture penetrate more deeply, saves water and reduces the risk of fungus infections.

"If you do use sprinklers, water early in the morning so the sun and wind can dry the plants," Bradshaw said.

8. Watch the moisture level. If there's a dry spell, or if you go on vacation, tomato plants can really suffer.

Bradshaw said the best way to know how much to water is to pull back the mulch and see how moist the ground is below. If you can dig down two inches and find dry earth, there is not enough water. Ideally, you find uniform moisture six to eight inches deep.

9.  If lower leaves develop leaf spots, prune them off, according to Tony Keinath, Clemson Extension plant pathologist. Removing diseased leaves helps to slow the spread of the disease. The lower leaves are not very useful to the plant later in the
season, he said.

10. "If you have had problems with Southern stem blight in past years, side dress your plants with calcium nitrate fertilizer once a month," Keinath said. "Calcium makes the tomato stem stronger so the fungus can't attack it as easily."

Digital photo available from gsngltn@clemson.edu.
Article is also available at www.clemson.edu/psamedia .

CONTACTS:
Dr. David Bradshaw,  (864) 656-4949
Dr. Tony Keinath, (843) 766-3761