what are your very best tips for tomato yield?

[grasswire]

I've got nine varieties of heirloom tomatoes in pots. What are your best tips for maximizing yield?

[noamnety]

1. My best tip

is to shield them from squirrels.

[China_cat]

2. Abso-fucking-lutely.

I lost 9 whole plants worth of tomatoes to the tree rats. The other 12 were in another spot and have done ok (once we got over the blossom end rot problem). But the 9 we lost were 6 of my Romas (which I was counting on for making sauce) and 3 others.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Grow hybrids.

I kid. Most heirloom varieties do produce less than hybrids though.

In pots, the key is to fertilize frequently because the plants can't expand to new soil for nutrients. Use a tomato formula rather than a general fertilizer if possible. The easiest way is to make a very weak solution of fertilizer and apply it every time you water.

In my experience, any type producing less than 4 oz fruit on average will do well in 5 gallon containers with plenty of fertilizer. The bigger fruiting plants (like Brandywine) either produce small fruit for their type or put out only a few large fruit at a time. They're the ones that really need to be in the ground for best results.

[EstimatedProphet]

4. Prune them

If they are indeterminate, pull off all the suckers up to the top 3 branches. Cut the first flowers too. The plant will grow much bigger that way, and produce a lot more tomatoes. I tried this on half my plants about 1 month ago, and the difference at this point is striking. The plants I did this to are twice the size of the ones I left alone.

[NJCher]

6. I second that

I read a study that said to do that with the first blossoms of pepper plants. The percentage quoted by the study was quite remarkable. I started doing it with my eggplant and tomatoes, too, with similar results.

Another thing you can do, although you probably won't want to because it's expensive, is to use an extracter. Here's what the Organics Alive people say it does:

...can be used with soils, and soil-less media. The beneficial microorganisms in Organics Alive consume organic substances in the root zone and makes nutrients readily available. OAS will improve oxygen availability, increase root mass by 150% to 400%. It will prevent root lock and salts build up. Adding Organics Alive Solution to your soil environment will improve the overall health and dynamics of the plant, resulting in a robust and vigorous garden.

Organics Alive Solutions is approved for organic farming and can be used with all plants, flowers, fruits, vegetables and herbs.


I have one and am going to whip up a batch this weekend.

Here's what it looks like. I have the smaller, home garden version.

http://www.organicsalive.org/organic_soil_equipment.html

The nice thing about having one of these is that I can use it to mix up growing solution for hydroponics if I decide I want to do that in the winter.



Cher

[Blue Gardener]

5. A bought a "Tomato Success Kit"

From Gardener's Supply. A little pricey to start, but I'll be able to use it for years, and just have to freshen up the soil yearly and fertilize. So far the plants look fantastic, and are loaded with baby tomatoes.

http://www.gardeners.com/Tomato%20Success%20Kits/VegetableGardening_TerrificTomatoes,35-776RS,default,cp.html

[ThomWV]

7. Easiest way is to just grow more tomatoes

You're going to be pruning them anyway and you'd be amazed how easy it is to start new plants from cuttings with tomatoes. Also, why not try a pot of cherry tomatoes for munchies? They are awfully prolofic

Actually what I wanted to say was that your question seemed funny to me. If you've got 9 good strong plants in pots that are of adequate size (pot size will go a long way toward effecting your yield) you're going to be burried in tomatoes. Either you're planning on canning or its going to take a family of 10 eating tomatoes at every meal to use up what you're going to have. No kidding, 9 strong plants will produce an awful lot of tomatoes. We only grow about a dozen plants these days and we give tomatoes away to everybody we can get to take them.

[NJCher]

8. that's a terrific idea, too

Cutting the suckers off and burying them sideways with a few leaves sticking out (watering carefully) is also a great way to get new tomatoes.

We freeze them. I agree it seems like there is a lot but I never have enough of those delicious, roasted tomatoes with garlic and basil to get me through the winter!



Cher

[grasswire]

10. so what's a good pot size?

I appreciate your comments. I've never had this many plants, but also never had any plant yield much more than a couple of meals worth of tomatoes for four people.

Also, I was thinking of using fish emulsion in water on these. What do you think about that for feeding them?

On edit: I take that back. Last year the volunteer cherry tomatoes took over the front garden and sprawled everywhere with massive yield. This year only one of those volunteers came up, despite the fact that I let a lot of the late fruit go to seed in the dirt hoping for another crop.

[madeline_con]

11. I've used 5 gallon buckets with success.

Lots of composted manure (Black Cow) in the mix helps. One of my most beautiful plants was a volunteer I moved to a bucket.

[bearfan454]

9. Use really big pots and

keep them watered super good because the water runs through the pots. I am an avid believer in pinching off the flowers until the plant gets to be good size. I also will swear by Miracle Grow for tomatoes and turkey compost mixed in the soil.

[morningglory]

12. Some Ag school tested colors and found that tomatoes flower and produce

more if they can "see" red. They sell red tomato trays in gardening catalogs (Lee and Park, for example). I am trying them, but do not have enough plants in exactly the same shade/soil situations to gather statistics. I also cut the bottom out of red plastic coffee containers from work and stuck around the bottom of the plants like cutworm eradicators. They also sell red plastic "mulch" for under the plants. Also, I peruse the plants first thing in the morning and pick any that are turning from green to slightly orange. Squirrels are doing the same thing, but they look for the ones turning red from orange. Hopefully, I am getting there first.

[RedLetterRev]

13. All of the above, and some more...

I start my plants indoors well ahead of frost. Believe it or not, I do use the Farmers Almanac to find the last frost. I get my plants good-sized and ready to go before I commit them to outdoor life. Here's the one thing that I'm sure will grow monster stalks, absolutely will prevent bloom-end rot and (at least for me) has nearly eliminated that blighty-stuff. On old farmer gave me this tip and absolutely it works.

As I said, I get my plants ready to go indoors. I have a mini-greenhouse, but I don't keep it overly warm, but I do have some rather pricey plant lights to encourage the young plants. I do keep herbs indoors year-round for cooking (I got tired of weeding them so I never take them out any more), so a greenhouse has been worth it. Ennyhoo, the tomatoes. I get them to nearly a foot tall and leafy before they go out. Now, it doesn't matter if you're going to put them in a pot or put them in the ground; this works the same. Use rich soil in either case. You can use cowpoo in a pot or enrich with organics, starting the previous fall in the ground. Make your hole nearly as deep as the young plant is tall (I use a post-hole digger, because it's convenient). Strip all but the top leaves from the plant. Take as much garden lime as a tight squeeze in your fist and throw that in the bottom of the hole, then your choice of fertilizer and throw that in the bottom of the hole. Mix VERY WELL with dirt at the bottom, and make a dent like so \/ then put the plant in, leaving a couple of inches peeping out of the top, then backfill. That stalk where you stripped the leaves will root out the sides. You'll be amazed at the girth of the stalk that the plant will grow. Plant them FAR apart and surround them with lots of organic mulch and goodies. Fish emulsion is WONDEFUL, if a bit expensive. BUT -- My once-spindly patio hybrids are 5' across and my heirlooms are Mean Green Muthas. I'm having to reach up to get all the fruit. I've rebuilt my trellises several times this summer (much to my shock and surprise).

You'll need to get in and sucker the plants at the bottoms once or twice (DO THIS EARLY), but you won't be bothered with blighty limbs and they'll bear like crazy until frost gets them. If you don't, you'll have such a jungle and if they do get a touch of blight (out here in the country, it's almost inevitable if you don't sucker them) you won't get nearly as much fruit.

[Kittycat]

14. Don't pot them, and put them in full sun.

My plants are like Tomatoes on Steroids. I've given them nothing but organic planters soil (topsoil, mushroom compost & sand). I'm growing Romas and a german grape variety called Reintraube? I believe. The regular heirlooms are on the side, and not getting enough sun - so I'm expecting a lower harvest from them.

[HamdenRice]

15. Regular watering -- a lesson I learned late

It's not actually that the tomatoes need that much water. It's that if you have a dry stretch and then you get a good rain, the tomatoes swell with water and split. I've lost a good percentage of my crop each year from that. Not this time, if I can help it.

Apparently the constant watering is more to ensure that they don't react badly to later water then to keep them from dying or underproducing from lack of water.

Another thing is staking. Sometimes I've let them flop around, which leads to many of them getting rotten or full of bugs, or the plants fighting with each other over light.