Enjoy months of tonic love apple with these easy tips for extend your harvest .
love apple are surely the most hoped-for fruit in the garden . neighbor compete to see who picks the first yield and the inauguralBLT sandwichof the time of year is cause for celebration . The other end of the harvest window — those days when decline frost is threaten — pop the question treasured harvests too .
The beginning oftomato seasonvaries by region , but the typical 3 - week harvest home window can easy be stretched to 8 week with a little preparation . harvesting tomatoesearlier in the growing season and continue harvesting for months by thoughtfully take assortment and adopt some promiscuous and effectual cultural pattern .
Credit: Jason Donnelly
When is Tomato Season?
The exacttiming of tomato seasondepends on your region . In the mystifying South and Southwest , tomato plant are planted as early as January and ripen in April and May . In these red-hot area , tomato harvest usually ends in early June due to high temperatures . In the Mid - Atlantic neighborhood and other placement with moderate temperature , tomatoes are imbed as soon as thelast chance of frost passes in saltation . Fruit ripens in late spring and former summertime in these country .
Unique growing climates , such as parts of California and the Pacific Northwest , experience months of summertime tomatoes with the first fruits mature in late spring . Finally , tomatoes are quick to pick in cool part , such as the Northeast and Midwest , in midsummer and fruit continues to ripenuntil the first frost in fall .
Marty Ross
Credit:Marty Ross
Extending Your Tomato Season
No matter where you garden , there are several thing you may do to extend your tomato harvest window . slice a Lord’s Day - warm , just - picked tomato does n’t have to be define to a 3 - hebdomad full stop . Get ready to enjoyhomegrown tomatoesfor 8 weeks or more with these bare garden strategies .
1. Wait for the soil to warm.
Tomato plantsgrow best in soil that is at least 55 ° atomic number 9 . While it ’s tempting toplant seedlings in the gardenas soon as the air temperature warms up in springtime , it ’s the soil temperature that spurs tight , efficient ontogenesis . In stale neighborhood , the soil temperature usually reaches about 55 ° fluorine about 2 weeks after the last forecasted rime particular date in a fussy arena .
tomato planted in the gardenbefore the soil is lovesome tend to fade . The tenseness contribute on by moth-eaten dirt will slow their emergence and delay fruit for two weeks or more . Care fortomato plantsin a vivid sunny window orunder grow lightsuntil it ’s fourth dimension to season them off andtransplant them into your garden .
2. Plant for an early tomato harvest.
Start your harvest earlier bychoosing type of tomatoesthat mature quicker . love apple plant life that produce fruit in just 55 days or so after seeding are the very first variety to ripen and are often call early season tomatoes . In colder areas , these fast - grow and fruit varieties sometimes produce their first tomatoes by July 4 .
In ardent climate , former senesce tomatoes are essential for fruit to recrudesce before the vivid heat sets in . Tomato flora bead blossoms and stop fruiting when the air temperature is above 90 ° F . change prized for their early harvest windowpane include : ‘ Fourth of July , ’ ‘ Early Girl , ’ ‘ Golden Sweet , ’ ‘ Jetsetter , ’ ‘ Juliet , ’ and ‘ Oregon Spring . ’
3. Include indeterminate varieties.
Tomatoes belong to one of two groups , found on how they bloom and yield : determinate or undetermined . Determinate varieties grow to a certain height , kibosh farm , and bring forth fruit . All determinate motley tomatoes bring out fruit over a two - to - three - calendar week windowpane .
Indeterminate varieties continue produce and fruiting until the plants are kill by Robert Lee Frost . undetermined variety can produce yield for 2 to 3 month . sum weeks to the remnant of your love apple time of year by planting several indeterminate varieties . A few favorite indeterminate varieties include ‘ Beefmaster , ’ ‘ Brandywine , ’ Big Boy , ’ and ‘ Jet Star . ’
4. Plant a salad tomato.
Salad tomato let in currant , cherry , grape , and pear type . These bite - size Lycopersicon esculentum organize on large , sprawl plant . The tight - farm plant life are also debauched to fruit and continue producing yield during hot , wry conditions . Many varieties fruit with gusto until frost zap the vine . Some of the best salad tomatoes admit ‘ Super Sweet 100 , ’ ‘ Sun Gold ’ , ‘ Jasper , ’ ‘ Jolly , ’ and ‘ Valentine . ’
5. Stake your plants.
Tomatoes trained to a individual stakeor grow vertical with the help of a John Cage are more productive than plant that are allowed to sprawl over the terra firma . take aim plants are less morbid because atmosphere diffuse freely around the leaves and staunch , drying them quickly after rain or morning dew . Disease - free flora produce workable fruit for weeks . Trained flora are much easy to harvest than non - trained plants because you do n’t have to hunt for tomatoes bury under a pile of leave and stem . bet on extends harvest simply by making ripe fruit easier to line up .
6. Keep watering and harvesting.
Tomatoes are most productive when they receive about 1 in of water a week . Water plants deeply once a week if nature does not supply moisture . If summer vacation calls you off , have a friendwater your tomato plantsor set up anautomatic lachrymation system with a timer . During tomato season , design to reap mature yield daily . advanced yield result on the vine rots quickly and draw in plague that can terminate output in poor order .
