This is the story of an edible which evolved from a horticultural villain into a Italian sandwich , the star of the vegetable garden . It ’s hard to think but I ’m spill about the tomato , which was once know as the “ poisonous substance Malus pumila , ” Today the Lycopersicon esculentum is arguably the most democratic works in the vegetable garden , and often grown even by non- vegetable gardeners in the side cubic yard , beside the house , or even in commode on terrace , decks , and even in hanging planter .
I do n’t opine summertime would be utter without tasting the sun from a vine - ripened tomato , plucked fresh from the garden . Today we use up the versatile Lycopersicon esculentum raw , like an apple , on sandwiches , in salad , in soups , juiced , in sauces , grilled or stewed . It would be hard to reckon any home plate garden that did not have a few tomato plant . Today , tomatoes are consider by many to be the most prized veggie in the garden . But , thehistory of the tomatoreveals that this was not always the case , . This rattling taste of summer was for over 200 days thinking of as a poison apple and turn only as an ornamental plant !
Thetomato originatedhere in the Americas , and in the other 16thcentury , Spanish conquistadors retrovert from Mexico were thought to have first introduced the germ in southerly Europe . Some researcherscredit Cortez with bringing the seeds to Europe in 1519 . The perception that tomatoes were poisonous may have arisen because the plant belongs to the Nightshade industrial plant mob — of which some coinage are indeed poisonous . A second understanding that is often cite is that when aristocrats eat tomatoes , they become inauspicious and often become flat , but this was a example of mislaid blame because affluent Europeans often usedpewterplates that had a high subject of lead . tomato , being high in acid , would leach leading from the pewter home base , resulting in illness or even death by lead intoxication .
The legal professing then added its own twist to the saga of the tomato . Many gardeners remember of thetomato as a veggie but technically ( botanically ) it is a fruit . This confusion may have move up because tomatoes are often used in the kitchen as a vegetable . In 1893 , the United States Supreme Court , in the case ofNix vs Hedden , unanimously ruled that a Lycopersicon esculentum should be taxed as a vegetable rather than a yield ( crushed tax rate on yield ) , because it was used in the kitchen as a vegetable ; therefore , it should be task as a vegetable . Thus , in the mind of many , the tomato became a vegetable .
Mayis the month that the gardener carefullytransplants tomato plant into the gardenand lead off the long delay to savour that first homegrown tomato penchant .
But before we can transplant those tomato plant plants into the garden , we must wait until the peril of rime has pass , which in our orbit in Central Virginia isMay 15th . Many of my buttoned-down horticulture friend waitress a full week after the terminal frost escort ; they know that May 15th is only theaverage last hoarfrost engagement . Tomatoes are warm season plant that maturate best at temperatures of70 - 80 degreesF.
Choose asunny locationas Lycopersicon esculentum require at least 8 hr of sunlight each day .
Tomatoes prefersoil that is well drained and better to a great extent with organic subject . decompose manure , compost , peat or other hommos can be till into the garden site as presently as the soils can be worked in the spring .
Tomatoes require a land with a pH around6.5 . The pH is the general measurement of sourness in the grease . A soil test is the best mode to decide the pH of your tomato patch . Soil testing kits can be incur through your local county annexe office . If the pH of the ground is too low or virulent , add dolomitic limestone in accordance with the soil test testimonial . In add-on to adjusting the pH , dolomitic limestone also provides calcium and magnesium , both of import element for the maturation and health of the tomato flora . If potential it is recommended thatlime be applied several months before plantingto allow time for the lime to react with the ground and line up the pH. Additional soil examination info can also be obtain from theVirginia Cooperative Extension Publication 452 - 125 .
As with any horticulture bodily function , a little provision will often provide that bound in growing a successful tomato crop . In deciding what tomato plant varieties you want to plant , guess about your goal . Is your goal to have the first advanced tomato in the neighborhood ? Or do you care to grow an passable harvest for eating thoughout the season ? Or perhaps you want even more tomatoes — enough not only for summer eating but also for preserving , i.e. , canning , making juice , salsa , and sauces . With your finish in mind , you could adjudicate how much room to allocate to tomatoes — how tumid a garden footprint to dedicate to growing Lycopersicon esculentum . A general formula of quarter round is that a healthy tomato industrial plant can produce 10 - 15 British pound sterling of tomatoes over the growing season and will ask approximately 3 straight feet of blank space .
Thevarieties of tomatoesrange in the hundreds and can often be overpowering to a new gardener : gather data from horticulture friends for their favorites , the varieties that dwell in our field . Another seed of information for selecting tomato variety is find in Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication 426 - 480 , an article style “ veg Recommended for Virginia . ” Also , it is helpful to keep a daybook and make bank note on which varieties perform well — and which did not — to be used in selecting future varieties .
Tomatoes based on plant life characteristics :
Tomato Types base on fruit characteristics :
Most gardeners want to maximise the love apple harvest time season , and the time period between planting and harvesting can vary greatly . Most seed packets and catalogs indicate the a figure of “ days to harvest ” for individual love apple varieties . In universal , days to harvestis the number of days from the time the transplantation are institute in the garden until one can expect ripe fruit from that individual tomato diversity . For example , the day to reap for the Early Girl form is 57 days ; for the Better Boy variety , it is 75 mean solar day , while for the Pineapple variety it is 85 - 90 days . By planting different miscellany with different twenty-four hour period to harvest , the gardener can plan a longer harvesting time of year . retrieve thatdays to harvestis only an appraisal , and may alter greatly from year to yr . That ’s because love apple are heat - bonk plants , and the ageing of yield may be slowed down by a strand of cloud-covered days , or prolonged coolheaded spells . Thus , the twenty-four hour period to glean is a very soft estimate.1
Hybrid and Heirloom tomatoes :
crossbreed - Many tomatoes on the market today are intercrossed tomato . A hybrid is the result of span two dissimilar works varieties with the finish of combining the attributes of the parent plants and perhaps obtaining more lucky trait than either of the parent . Many hybrids are breed to be disease resistant , produce good yield size of it and shape , and increase yields .
Many new intercrossed cultivar areresistantto or tolerant of some tomatodiseases . This is indicated bya alphabetic character or compounding of lettersfollowing the tomato name , such asF(Fusarium Wilts Race 1),As(Early Blight),FF(Fusarium Wilt Race 1 and Race 2),B(Bacterial speckPseudomonas),N(Root - mile Nematodes),L(Septoria leaf spot),T(Tobacco Mosaic Virus),St(Stemphylium Gray leaf spot),A(Alternaria Stem Canker / Crown Wilt ) .
Heirloom – Increasing in popularity today are heirloom tomatoes . The definition of an heirloom Lycopersicon esculentum vary , but the term usually refers to an “ open pollinated ” variety that was in cultivationprior to 1940 , when the first intercrossed cultivar become available . Often heirlooms have been make pass down within families or communities for many days , with seed hold open from the best flora each twelvemonth . All heirloom areopen pollenate . subject pollinated plants , when isolated from other Lycopersicon esculentum variety , will grow true seeds each class and their seed can be saved with the outlook of the same flora and fruit quality each year .
Although open - pollinated heirloom cultivars have become very popular , many have little genetic ohmic resistance to common disease and in general are not as fat as intercrossed cultivar .
Planting Tomato Plants :
When you areselecting plantsto be transpose into the primer , select plants that have a productive stem turn and are about 6 to 10 in tall . Unlike many veggie plants , tomato plant plant should be planted rich . To do this , first softly remove all but the top two or three set of leaves from the stem . The hole should be dug deep enough so only the continue parting on the stem are above reason . If the transplant is leggy , remove all the leafage except the top two or three true leaves and plant the stem horizontally . root will form along the stem , producing a unassailable plant . Do not remove the flora from the container if the container is paper or a peat pot . Remove only the top inch from the container and make trusted the pot is buried below the airfoil of the dirt , to prevent the container from wicking away water from the plant . If the organ transplant is in a non - biodegradable credit card container , softly remove the plant from the container before planting ; mildly loosen the roots . Once the transplant is in the hole , press the dirt firmly around the transplant so that a slight depression is shape for holding water . Pour just about one pint of starter solution or diluted Pisces emulsion around each works to wash the territory around the roots . Mulch with leaves , or straw around the tomato plant to maintain moisture and mastery weeds .
Take your time with harvesting . It ’s often tempting to nibble a tomato that is just starting to turn and wreak it in the house to fetch up ripening on the window sill , but a sodding ripe home produce tomato eaten sun warm is unrecognisable from those use up from the windowpane sill or purchased from the local store .
Happy tomato plant - growing , and please join us in The Garden Shed next calendar month for our clause on tomato plague and disease .
Resources :
1Dubose , Fred , The Total Tomato , Harper & Row ( 1985 ) .
“ Tomatoes , ” Virginian Cooperative Extension Publication 426-418.http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-418/426-418_pdf.pdf
“ Vegetable Planting Guide and Recommended Planting Dates,”Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication 426-431.http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-331/426-331.html
Smith , Annabelle , “ Why the Tomato Was reverence in Europe for More Than 200 Years,”Smithsonian ( June 2013).http://www.smithsonianmag.com / arts - culture / why - the - Lycopersicon esculentum - was - feared - in - EEC - for - more - than-200 - years-863735/
Howard , Doreen G.,Heirloom Flavor : Yesterday ’s Best Tasting Vegetables , Fruits and Herbs , For Today ’s Cook , Cool Springs Press ( 2013).http://books.google.com / books?id = kEXuuSFzj2kC&pg = PA12&dq = tomatoes+AND+pewter+plates&hl = en&sa = X&ei = p0y3UdTQG4aJjALI44GgDQ&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBA#v = onepage&q = tomatoes AND pewter pl&f = simulated .
Polomski , Bob , “ Tomato : Fruit or Vegetable ? ” Clemson University.http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/safes/faculty_staff/images/Tomato_Fruitorvegetable.pdf
Goldman , Amy , The Heirloom Tomato : From Garden to Table , Bloomsbury ( 2008 ) .
