This Northern Life: Tomatoes

Have you ever wondered what it's like to garden at 2,500 ft elevation and 46 degrees north latitude? Well, for a girl from the South, it's a bit of a challenge and requires learning a lot of new tricks--not to mention patience. I planted my tomatoes last weekend, following some very detailed instructions.

The following Palouse-tomato planting instructions were written by Dr. Douglas Young, an Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics at Washington State University and reviewed by Carol Miles. Doug is a colleague of mine and very avid gardener. The tomatoes that I planted last year were given to me by Doug and performed very well! I'll have more advice from Doug in future posts, so stay tuned!

“Hard Work” Tomato Planting Instructions Based on 34 Years Gardening in Pullman

1. Select a location with at least ¾ day sun for your tomato patch. Avoid shade from trees and buildings. Build soil over years by composting all grass clippings, garden residue, leaves, and vegetative kitchen scraps. Deposit in the fall.

2. Your selection of cold tolerant early varieties is essential for the shorter summers and cool nights of the Palouse. “Stupice,” a Czech variety and “Cougar Red,” developed by WSU, are delicious, early small tomatoes, sometimes ripening by July 15. Taxi, Bush Early Girl, and Jetsetter are also good early tomatoes, but I haven't had multiple years experience with them. Medium sized, slightly later varieties include Early Girl, Moskovitch, Celebrity, and others. New Yorker and Fantastic are good larger later varieties, among many others. These won’t ripen some years. Dozens of varieties haven't done well.

3. You can grow open pollinated varieties from your own saved seed. Seed March 15 at about 75^o F in 4” pots. Seedlings thrive on 18 hours of light/day (set timer); use mixed warm and cold fluorescent light tubes. Keep seedlings within 6 inches of the lights! Water as needed; apply liquid fertilizer once or twice. Seedlings will be ready in about eight weeks.

4. “Harden off” tomato seedlings for 1- 2 weeks by leaving them outside. Bring seedlings inside at night only if temperature is forecast to be below 40 degrees. Reduce watering slowly, but if it is windy outside, protect and water daily.

5. You can usually plant tomatoes in the Palouse about May 20 nowadays—earlier if covered. Shovel planting hole about 15” diameter and 22” deep. Make walls around hole with subsoil to create a well. This is good exercise. If you are getting older or lazier, rent a 12-inch motorized augur, hire a young brute to run it, and you can dig 50 holes in 1 ½ hrs.

6. Return topsoil to hole, breaking up clods. Pour in 1/3 bag steer manure and a small handful of vegetable fertilizer (organic or conven.). Also stir in a tablespoon or less of gypsum or other calcium source to prevent blossom end rot. Invert 5 or 6 shovels of this mixture and chop to stir thoroughly. More exercise (or place mixture on surface and use augur).

7. Plant seedlings about 3”-4” deep after pinching off lower leaves. Lay part of stem horizontally in planting trough. You can gently bend the stem upright. Prop stem with clod if needed. If you rarely break a stem, throw seedling away. If plant is at a slight angle, it will straighten. The seedling will set roots all along the buried stem and thrive. This boosts production!

8. If you have space, plant tomatoes 30 inches within row and 45 inches between rows to facilitate picking. Cover pathways between rows with wood planks, straw, etc. to discourage weeds, conserve moisture, and keep shoes clean while picking.

9. Water adequately the first 2-3 weeks. Circling a 1/2-inch soaker hose around each tomato is an easy method of watering. Once plants are established, water well once a week or as needed. To enjoy prolific smaller tomatoes as early as mid-July, let plants dry out slightly between waterings. To enjoy larger tomatoes that ripen later, keep tomatoes moist all the time. A slit-side probe tube is useful to quickly check soil moisture profile. If you are away for a week, enlist a neighbor's help.

10. Place 4- to 5-foot cages around each plant supported by a rebar or stake wired to the cage. This prevents large tomato-laden plants from being floored by summer wind and rain storms.

11. If a frost threatens your planted seedlings, you may cover plants/cages with plastic bags, blankets, or other protective covers. Tomatoes are pretty tough; I've never lost tomatoes to spring frost on our low-frost location on a hill.

12. Pull or hoe out annual weeds when they are young. Remove perennial weeds like morning glory and quack grass repeatedly—or better cover areas with black plastic or landscaping fabric. If you are not organic, carefully spray perennials with Roundup. Roundup will kill tomatoes.

13.You may give tomatoes a couple gallons of dilute liquid fertilizer, like Miracle Grow or manure tea, if they turn yellowish during growing season. Otherwise, abundant compost and manure before planting is sufficient. Don’t over fertilize.

14. Avoid pruning non-bearing branches in hot eastern WA to avoid sun scald. For indeterminate varieties which grow beyond your cages, pinch off end of leading stems in early August to let remaining tomatoes ripen before frost. Killing frosts usually arrive in this area in late Sept./early Oct., but vary greatly by year and by location.

15. Your tomatoes will grow so vigorously insects will not be a big problem. Ladybugs will move in to consume aphids if you avoid pesticides. You can squash larger bugs between your thumb and index finger.

16. Prepare for a bountiful harvest. Harvest regularly. Neighbors, friends, and local food banks welcome tomatoes.