By Vanessa Richins

David in Kansas:

“How do you keep a tomato plant from growing up in an upside down tomato?”

Another reader asks:

“I am trying out the upside down tomato planters for the first time. Both of my plants (Mountain Pride) are yellowing and curling upwards towards the root. Any advice?”

Hi. This is likely due to a phenomenon called tropism. A tropism is a factor in plants where they move or grow in response to the environment around them. Phototropism occurs when plants move towards a light source.

When tomato plants are first planted upside down, the planter is often in the way of the direct sunlight. The plant will start growing upwards to reach towards the light, so it can still photosynthesize.

There’s also another tropism in effect: gravitropism. Plants respond to gravity in that the roots grow downwards (toward gravity) and stems grow upwards (away from gravity). They may hang down more as the tomatoes form on the plants. Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

From Patt, Oregon:

“I have a quick question. I haven’t heard of anyone doing this, so there must be a reason. But maybe I don’t know.

We have a daylight basement with lots of southern-facing windows. I would like to grow fresh “garden” food down there in the winter. We live in eastern Oregon (the dry side of the state.) Winter daylight is as little as 8-10 hours in the dead of winter

Does anyone know if one can be successful growing tomatoes in this kind of an inside garden in the winter? If this is possible, are there other fresh-type fruits or vegetables that would be successful for winter indoor-gardening as well?

Thanks!”

Hi Patt! Growing vegetables like you describe can be done…though you would likely need to add in some additional grow lights to the room, as well as make sure the room was kept warm enough.

To understand why, we need to first look at Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Jorge writes:

“Hi. I am interested in storing seed long term (more than 5 years) Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks!”

Hello Jorge. Tomato seeds can generally be stored up to 10 years and still keep a germination rate of 50%. Victory Seeds says that the typical length that they will keep is 4-7 years.

They have a great picture tutorial on how to save your tomato seeds.

You start by fermenting the seeds for a few days in Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

One of the hardest parts of growing tomatoes is waiting for them to ripen.

Of course, you can use green tomatoes in some recipes, a la “Fried Green Tomatoes”, but most recipes call for juicy, ripe tomatoes.

As I was zipping around Google, I came across a tomato variety called the Kumato.

Its claim to fame is that it is able to be picked and used at any stage of development.

As Hellomagazine.com explains, “The Kumato…starts with a dark green skin and a mild flavor. It then turns dark brown with a sweet and spicy aroma, before finally becoming a dark red hue which is sweet and juicy. It is available in two sizes, a Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Susan W. writes:

“In order to enable success with tomatoes, do I have to give up planting corn all together or is there a distance between the two crops that will give me the best of both crops?”

Hello Susan. The main reason that advocates of companion planting list tomato and corn as enemies is because they are prone to attack from the same nasty insect.  Helicoverpa zea is known as the corn earworm, the tomato fruitworm and the cotton bollworm.

Their favorite meal is corn. When they are Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

As tomato season gets into full swing, problems start to crop up.

This week we have 2 questions dealing with yellow leaves.

From Kerrie in Utah:

“Hi, I planted my tomatoes & tomatillo’s about two weeks ago. I added compost and coffee grounds when I dug the holes. I have given them deep water a few times and it also rained a bit.

They plants were really healthy and I can’t see any evidence of bugs. I did get all the plants accept for one at the same nursery. I am worried they may have something I can’t fix, and need to know what it is in case I need new plants. Thanks.”

Hi Kerrie. First, it would be good to Read the rest of this entry »