3 Things You Should Be Doing to Your Tomatoes Right Now

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I help a non-profit human service organization maintain 20-plus raised vegetable garden beds. About a third of those beds are strictly tomatoes. I was asked to write up a general maintenance schedule for the beds—weeding, what to watch for, etc.—and when I got to the tomatoes, I was stymied. Several of the tasks are difficult to word-ify. And they aren’t necessarily tasks you can easily put on a calendar.

Here are the three things you should be doing to your tomatoes right now:

Pinching axillary branches

What does axillary mean? I’ve been using the term so long it just means axillary to me. But a quick Google search says it is relating to the axilla (armpit).

Armpit, exactly right. If you look at the main tomato stem—the one growing straight up—you’ll see side branches, like you’d see on a tree. Now, look in the crook of those branches (the armpit) and you’ll notice in some of them that smaller branches are developing.

Pinch those little branches between index finger and thumb and take them out. They are just secondary branches. They will produce some tomatoes, but the energy that the plant expends into those branches is a waste. That energy is better used for the branches at the top of the plant where most of your tomatoes will be produced. Be sure to pinch out the axillary branches at the bottom and middle portions of the plant.

Eventually the plant will be growing so big and fast, you’ll stop pinching around the beginning of July.

Tomato staking

I go back and forth between using cages and stakes to support my tomatoes. This year, I will use both (instead of buying more cages—they arent cheap!).

When staking, the earlier you insert the stake, disturbing the tomato’s root system in the process, the better. The stake should be placed close to the tomato’s main stem, called the leader.

When tying the stem onto the stake for support, don’t secure it tightly. It could eventually damage the plant as the stem gains in girth. Take a length of butcher’s twine or jute twine, bring it equally from behind the stake to the front of the stake, and cross the right side over the left side. Repeat this step so the twine doesn’t slip down the stake.

Now with the two sides of string in front, bring the tomato stem in and loop the string from the back of the stem to the front, crossing the right side over the left in front. Loosely. Now bring the left and right sides of those strings back around to the back side of the stake and tie it off. It’s like a complicated figure 8.

At what intervals do you secure stem to stake? That depends on how heavy the plant is as it’s growing. The heavier it is, the closer the ties.

Watering Tomatoes deeply

One other important task is simple: water deeply.

You want the tomato’s root system to grow deep into the ground to help the plant support itself. Quick daily additions of water to the soil surface keeps roots growing at the surface. Instead, hold your hose over each plant for a good minute, letting the water soak into the soil. Go through all of your tomato plants this way, a minute each, then do it again.

This also ensures that you won’t have to absolutely positively water the plants every day. Unless, of course, it’s 90F for several days running. Or if you’re growing those tomatoes in a container.

Meet Ellen Wells

When you’re raised on a farm, you can’t help but know a thing or two about gardening. Ellen Wells is our expert on edible gardening.…

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