It is always best to allow tomatoes to ripen on the vine and unless you plan on putting them up (canning) for delicious winter menus it will be to your advantage not to pick them all at once.  Tomatoes that are allowed to ripen on the plant will not be bright red, but have more of an orange hue.  This happens when the climate temperatures become too high.  Climates that have very high temps usually still have flavorful tomatoes but not bright red ones, you never know.

Whether the tomato is orange or red, make sure that it is good and firm before you pick it off the vine,  very hard firm tomatoes should be left on the vines until they begin to soften.  Be careful not to leave them on to long, and extra day or two is fine. Allowing them to become too soft will only attract garden pests and birds.  Most of your garden vegetables, especially the tomatoes will need to be picked before the first frost comes. By the passing of late summer, if you still have a lot of tomatoes, then they must be picked, even if they have not reached their normal size.  Cold will destroy your tomato plants quickly, so if you are expecting a few more warm tolerable days and there is a threat of frost at night, cover them with heavy plastic or blankets.

If you must pick them green before the frost, pick them bring them indoors and store them in a box with a lid and placing them in a single layer and adding a few apples to help with the ripening process that the ethylene gas from the apples will emit.  I have tried this method when I have left my plants out after the frost.  I have kept them covered during the night and uncovered during the day, until I bring them in and this allows me to have tomatoes for a longer period of time.  Of course the climate you live in will play an important role in how long your plants will last, but there is nothing like being able to enjoy the fruit of your own harvest for as long as you can.

[tags]  Harvesting  Your Garden Tomatoes]

Sour Rot – water soaked legions which may or may not have a white scum like growth in the cracks of the tomato.  Look for this near the stem and end scar. A fungicide to prevent further spreading may be needed.  As for controlling it, keep the fruit off the ground if possible, and water only at the base of the plant.

Anthracnose – is very common and usually affects ripe fruit, it symptoms are dark circular sunken spots with the lesions resembling a bulls-eye as it gets bigger.  Water on the fruit makes it worse but to control it a fungicide spray and crop rotation is recommended.

Black Mold- is a combination of numerous fungi on the tomato fruit, to identify this fungus, look for lesions near the stem or scar of the tomato.  The fruit will have black or brown areas that will extend all the way into the internal tissue of the fruit.  Control is done by keeping fruit off the ground, if however possible, and by limiting wetting by watering at the base of the plant. The use of a fungicide spray may be needed.

Alternaria Cankers- This is a disease that attacks when the fruit is “green” and continues into the ripening period.  This is a fungus that over-winters in the soil and can be spread by winds or damage when or if the plant has been pruned.   Look for sunken gray lesions to be apparent on the fruit. Control this by the use of a good fungicide spray and again water at the base line of the plant.

Cottony Leak- This will definitely cause fruit rot to your tomatoes, look for large water soaked areas on the fruit that have off color light and dark patches.  The fruit will look fine until touched then a watery spill of the internal fruit will flow out. Control this by watering only the leaves and keeping the fruit off the ground and you may require a fungicide spray.

Cloudy Spot- Generally cause by “Stink Bugs” from weeds, their feeding on the fruit will cause the tomato fruit to have white or yellow flecks in the tissue right beneath the skin.  If you peel the fruit at the affected area you will see a hard whit cork like tissue. Since, when the bugs are feeding it is not noticeable, a good insecticidal preventive spraying will help to control them.

Spotted Wilt- Yellowing older leaves with large yellow, red and green lesions on the fruit and the malformation of the fruit caused by this virus will need special attention.  This virus stunts the plant.  Onion thrips from ornamental flowers and shrubs that play host to the virus carry it from one infected plant flower to another. Generally elimination of the plants that carry this virus is best.  Clean cultivation is highly recommended.

Blossom End Rot- Affects fruit at all stages of its development and be wary of secondary infections.  Look for symptoms such as sunken black leathery spots on the fruit and a deterioration of the fruit at the blossom end.  Generally cause by a calcium deficiency in the soil and water stress from not watering at the base line or over-watering of the plant itself.  Control this with fertilization of lime and calcium before planting and remember to irrigate and mulch properly.

[tags]  Tomato Fruit  Diseases ]

Most gardeners that do prune simply just pinch off the side shoots (suckers) of the plant depending on what type of tomato that they are growing.  Pruning is basically and simply thinning the plant to prevent its becoming too top heavy, causing leaning and often splitting of the plant when they have grown out of control.

Indeterminate tomato plants such as “Beefsteak“, “Big Boy”, “Brandywine” and early producing plants like “Early Girl” and “Celebrity” will generally die back before the end of the growing season because they produce earlier which is why they are often called semi-determinate varieties of tomatoes as well.  Some indeterminate tomato plants depending on their growth habit will continue to grow and produce tomatoes all season long.  Pruning you tomatoes will compact them, however it will also give you a smaller yield in fruit so if the stems are good and strong leaving some “suckers” on the plant will improve the crop, giving you more tomatoes to look forward to.

If you want to prune, prune out the suckers below the first flowers stems. Many gardeners say that this method improves and helps develop a stronger central stem while others choose to leave the suckers on the lower portion of the plant because they are easily staked.

Determinate tomato plants really don’t need to be pruned at all.  They are a more compact growing variety of plant that reaches a certain height and generally Stop Growing. When their branches are nearly fully grown the will start to produce their fruit, usually all at once. They will not keep re-producing so pruning is not necessary.  These varieties include “Rutgers”, “Marglobe” and some varieties of “Celebrity”.  Sometimes called bush tomatoes they are generally smaller than indeterminate tomatoes and are perfect if you want a large crop at one time.

Whether or not to prune or not to prune your plants is still a matter of preference and a personal decision and depending on your garden size.  If you do decide to prune, Less is “better” for the plant; to get a feel of how well it will or will not respond.  Pruning really is just an experiment of trial and error on  the part of the growers to see what works, what works best and what doesn’t work at all.

[tags]  Tomato Pruning]