Tomato Growing - 3 major problems of tomatoes solved

Tomato harvests are in full swing in the garden and it's at this time of year several problems surface. You can ask your own gardening question at http://www.douggreensgarden.com

The first is when you look at your tomato and it appears that birds have been pecking at the surface leaving deep holes. This is quickly followed by having half (or more) of a tomato plant disappear overnight leaving only juicy remnants. This is a slug problem. The solution here is to find some iron-based slug bait and leave it around the base of the plants where the slugs crawl. Diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the tomato base will also stop slugs.

A second issue is when you harvest a big ripe tomato to discover the bottom is blackened and shrunken. This is called blossom end rot and is usually caused by either too cool temperatures during pollination or a lack of calcium during early growth. Most folks think by adding calcium they'll solve this problem but the solution is far simpler. It is usually a lack of water to carry the readily available calcium that's the problem. No solution to remedy the situation late in the season but next year - plant in warmer times and make sure the plant doesn't have water stress.

And the third issue is fruit cracking. This is caused by variations in temperature and water and nutrient availability. The plant is slowed down in growth because of temperature and when the temperatures change to more normal, fruit growth is accelerated and the plant literally outgrows its skin. If this is a normal happening in your garden, change tomato varieties to those less prone to cracking. Naturally, making sure your plants have adequate food and water is step one to solve this problem.

And those are the big three tomato growing problems you're likely seeing at summer's end.

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Howto & Style

Tags:

• tomato
• growing
• tomatoes
• gardening
• organic
• diy
• insect
• control
• vegetables
• garden
• disease

[dfaenterprises]

Thanks for bringing this up. Use Slug Shields. No hassle, no slugs for the whole season.

[gardenmagik]

great video! Thanks Doug!