Tomato Troubles

I am happy to report that for my own garden tomatoes they are in healthy shape and the best I have ever had.  They just aren't ripe yet.

Others, however, have been asking me "What's wrong with my tomatoes?  They are rotting on the bottom."  This is affecting many varieties of tomatoes and it is because of the crazy weather we have been having.  Milwaukee has felt more like New Orleans with an extend stretch of very hot AND humid weather.  We go through dry spells and then we get buckets of rain followed by more hot and humid weather.  Blossom end rot is affecting many gardens this year.

My tomatoes are fairing better because of their unique location.  Being close to the house on the south side has kept them in a very protected state of moisture control.  The rain typically does not land heavily here so my water with the soaker hose is carefully regulating the moisture balance.  No big swings back and forth.  If they were out in the open garden or my raised beds, I would be singing the blues with you.

Short of controlling the weather you can do some things to help out the tomatoes.  When we hit those dry patches give your tomatoes as slow soaking so it may not swing so drastically if we do get a heavy downpour.  Deeper watering makes deeper roots.  See previous post on watering.  Mulch the soil to hold in the moisture during the dry periods.  Avoid bark mulch as it is a nitrogen robber and your plants may start getting yellow leaves as a result.  Grass clippings (if you don't treat your lawn with herbicides), newspaper, and the new red plastic sheets designed to help tomotoes do their best (anyone try that yet?) are good options.  Calcium may be lacking in the plants but without having a soil test, it is never a good idea to start adding fertilizers.  Romas and other paste tomatoes may be more affected than other varieties and the cherry tomatoes are rarely bothered.

Another problem higher temperatures can bring on is lack of blossom set.  You get the flowers but they just fall off without growing fruit.  Be patient.  Time will be on your side if you just wait.  If the hot weather continues and we get lots of rain with it the ripening fruits may crack.  Mulching can help but the best you can do is eat those as they crack as they will start to show decay at that point.

Pick more disease tolerant varieties if you have more disease problems than you can handle.  Rotate crops so you do not plant tomatoes, peppers, or potatoes in the same spot for 3 years between crops.  If you don't have the space, you do the best you can.  I have had success with peppers in the same gardens that the tomatoes do terribly in so there must be some exceptions to the rules. 

I am still waiting for that BLT with the first tomato off the vine.  Cherry tomatoes are coming in now to hold me in the mean time.  I think we will also give fried green tomatoes a try if I can't wait for the ripe one.