Tomato Guide

Planting Tomatoes and General Gardening Information for piedmont NC

What you will need to create a Garden:

• Area– Pick a spot outside with at minimum of 6 to 8 hours or more of direct sunlight. It’s better to have morning sunlight and shade in the afternoon sun. This prevents damage to the plant from the sun.

• Soil– You need a well-drained soil (potting soil/mix) with a compost of some sort.

Important Growing Information

• Planting Months-
  • Sow seeds inside 6-8 weeks before planting outside. Check your seed package for exact time for that specific variety.
  • Transplant outside mid-April through early May.

• Sowing Seeds and Transplanting–
  • Sow seed indoors, there are many ways to do this but I will give you a brief description:
    • You need a seed starting soil, seed tray with lid, and heating pad/or grow light.
    • Put soil in trays then bury 2 to 3 seeds per hole an ¼ inch deep.
    • Water soil until moist but not soaking.         
    • Set tray on heating pad or under grow light.
    • Soil temperature should be 70 to 80 degrees.
    • Place lid on top of tray and make sure there are vent holes in the lid for air circulation.
    • Continue to keep soil moist throughout the germination process.
    • Once the seed germinates (emerges from soil) they will need sunlight or a grow light. They will need 8 to 10 hours of daily light.
    • Before you put the plants outside make sure the average daily temperature is above 65°F consistently (after the last frost of the season) and they must be hardened.

• Hardening Process-
• Gradual Exposure:
• Day 1-2: Place the seedlings outdoors for a couple of hours in a shady, protected spot.
• Day 3-5: Gradually increase the amount of sunlight the plants receive each day, working up to 6 hours of direct sunlight.
• Days 8-10 (or until transplanting): Continue to increase sun exposure until the plants can tolerate full sun for the entire day.
• Watering: 
• Reduce the frequency of watering during hardening off, but don’t let the plants wilt. This encourages deeper root growth.
• Monitoring:
• Regularly check your seedlings for signs of stress like wilting, leaf discoloration, or sunburn. Bring them indoors or protect them with row covers if temperatures drop below their minimum tolerance levels or if strong winds are forecast.
• Transplanting:
• Once your seedlings are hardened off (typically 7-14 days), transplant them into your garden or container. Choose a cloudy day if possible to reduce heat stress. Water the plants well after transplanting. 

• Transplanting outside–
  • Dig a hole and mix fertilizer in the bottom of the hole. Do it on a cloudy day or evening (avoid direct sunlight). Then water well.

• Watering–
  • Water 1 to 2 times a week.
  • They like moist soil, not soaked.
  • Always check soil with the full length of your finger before watering.
  • On 90°F plus days check soil, it can dry out quickly.
  • Water in the morning around 7am or before. This is preferred but you can water in the evening when sunlight is not directly on the plants.
  • Water at the base of the plants not on the leaves.

• Fertilizing–
  • Get a good all-purpose fertilizer or any you prefer. Read instruction for how much and apply every 2-3 weeks. When you use dry fertilizer make sure you gently mix it into the top layer of the soil. Make sure you water it in.

• Pruning–
  • Identify the suckers and remove. Make sure you remove suckers while they are small to avoid stressing the plant.
  • Prune yellow or diseased leaves.
  • Leaves that are touching the soil or very close to the soil are more susceptible to disease, you may want to prune those.
  • You may also want to sanitize your pruning tools with soap and water to prevent the spread of diseases from plant to plant. (Example-if you know there is a Disease on the leaf of one plant and not the other. Prune the non-diseased first then diseased one, after finished sanitize your tools.)

• Harvesting–
  • Check the package for when to harvest based on the type of tomato planted. Use garden shears or “knuckle” method, cut or snap the tomato off at the knuckle, leaving the cap (leafy greens on top of the tomato). Do not pull the tomato off. It can damage the plant.

Varieties of tomatoes that grow well in Piedmont NC:

• Good Varieties of Tomatoes –
  • Slicing type: Better Boy, Celebrity, Big Beef, Cherokee Purple
  • Cherry type: Sun Gold, Super Sweet 100, Jasper
    • Note: But you can choose any variety you would like, just make sure that this is a variety that would grow well in North Carolina (growing zones)

Common Problems and Possible Solutions:

• Diseases–
  • Fungal Spots:
• Early and Late Blight, Septoria Leaf spot. Leaves symptoms are irregular, dark, water-soaked spots appear, often with a white, fuzzy growth (spores) on the underside in humid weather. Leaves turn brown and die quickly. On the fruit will be firm, dark, leathery spots and it will become soft and rotten quickly.
  • Virus: 
• Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) is a big threat. Symptoms are as follows: Yellowing, bronze-like patches, and dark, concentric rings or spots, leading to wilting and distortion. Dark streaks or lesions on the stems. Mottled appearance with circular, raised, brown rings, sometimes with yellow halos on the fruits.
  • Blossom-End Rot: 
    • This is a physiological disorder, not a disease caused by a pathogen. It results in a dark, sunken spot at the blossom end of the fruit. It is caused by a calcium deficiency in the developing fruit, which can be due to a lack of calcium in the soil or the plant’s inability to absorb it.
  • Bacterial Wilt:
    • Symptoms include wilting leaves that eventually turn yellow and die.

• Treatments for Diseases–
  • There are a lot of different ways to fix and prevent some of these diseases, it is based on what you would prefer.  
    • For fungal diseases you can use neem oil or a copper fungicide.
    • For viruses you should try to get rid of that plant before possible spread to other plants.
    • For bacterial diseases you can use copper based sprays and keep up with pruning to create good airflow.
• Bugs–
  • Aphids: 
    • These are small insects that feed on plant sap, and in large numbers can cause stunted growth and misshapen leaves. They can also transmit viruses.
  • Spider mites: 
    • These tiny, eight-legged mites that feed on the underside of leaves, causing yellowing and discoloration.
    • Severe infestations can stunt or kill plants and may be accompanied by fine webbing on the underside of leaves.  
• Tomato Fruitworm:
• They bore into the fruit, especially in July/August.
• Hornworms and Loopers:
• Caterpillars that can defoliate plants quickly.

• Treatments for Bugs –
• Insecticides
• Make sure you get the sprays that are for elidable plants. Also, READ THE DIRECTIONS on the spray carefully.
• Natural treatments
• Neem oil, Insecticidal soap, Vinegar spray, Diatomaceous Earth.