Evening star., 1945-04-15

tomato is so widely grown it will do
we'll with little or no care, but this is
not the approach Of the experienced
gardener. He will go to great
lengths to prepare the soil deeply
and carefully. Some gardeners dig
hole Is inches deep and fully as
wide. A mixture of well-rotted ma
nure or compost Is thoroughly mixed
with soil and superphosphate added
so that there will not be too much
nitrogen in the soil. Excess nitrogen
produces luxuriant foliage to the
detriment of the fruit crop. Next to
shade, excess nitrogen in the soil is
the most common cause of the bios
sons falling.
The main advantage Of having
large quantities of humus in the
soil is that it provides an ample
moisture reserve for the growing
plants, helping to keep them in good
growth. Such soil preparation goes
a long way towards preventing
blossom rot" Blossom-end
rot is not disease but physiological
condition. Whenever plant food is
out of balance or moisture supply
deficient, the plant starts taking
from the fruit, causing the apparent
decayed condition at the blossom
end Of the fruit.
Next to soil preparation, choice
of varieties has an important bear
| ing on the success of the tomato
crop. Most gardeners like to pro-
duce large tomatoes. Because of its
size many grow the Ponderosa.
While it is largefruited tomato
and produces well under Washing
ton conditions, it has definite Short
comings. First, it is not disease
resistant. Secondly, the fruit has
many folds in the skin which make
it more difficult to prepare for can
ming. Third, the fruit does not
ripen uniformly, usually having
green cap" around the stem end
when ripe. The recommended va
rieties for this area, Marglobe,
Rutgers and Pan-America, are dis
se-resistant, the fruit is free from
wrinkles and ripens uniformly.
A well-planted and cared-for to-
mato plant needs stake 6 or 7
feet long. That allows for driving
Is or 18 inches into the ground, leav-
ing Az to 5l2 feet above ground
A 1x1 inch stake is hardly strong
enough to carry a well-loaded to-
mato plant in high wind, 1l2xll y
inches is preferable.
1t was mentioned above that
superphosphate is used with ma
nure or well-rotted compost to avoid
having the nitrogen out of proper
ton to the other plant foods. The
available Victory garden plant food
(5-10-5) is not too high in nitrogen
| for tomatoes and should be used
two or three times during the grow
ing season. Most gardeners who
prepare the soil deeply mix a small
handful Of this fertilizer into the
soil at planting time. Additional
applications are made in late June
and again in August. Tomatoes
grow and produce fruit all season
long, so they need plenty of plant
food if they are to bear freely. A
large-sized plant can well use a
large handful but care should be
! taken to see that the plant has
been watered before the application
is made The fertilizer is normally
scattered in ring around the plant
and then cultivated into the soil
AS indicated above, lack of water
will cause blossom-end rot, hence
some provision should be made. if
practicable, to provide water during
periods of drought. One good soak
ing week is sufficient. Light
watering, the kind that only mois-
tens the top quarter inch of soil,
is Of no benefit and should be
avoided. If watering is impracti-
cable, the deep preparation of the
soil and the addition of consider
able quantities of humus becomes
most important In addition to
these, the use of mulching materials
is desirable.
inexperienced gardeners frequently
set too many plants for their needs.