I did a rough estimate and it looks like I have almost 90 tomatoes planted between my garden and two adjacent properties. There are still a few 'winter storage' type tomatoes to go in, so likely around 100 plants this year. The next few weeks will involve diligent pruning to keep all of those suckers in check. One false step, and it could be tomato chaos.
Over the past couple of months I have really enjoyed reading about how all of you grow tomatoes, and I will be trying out some of the tips and techniques that have been mentioned. Most of the tomatoes will be kept to just one vine, with the occasional plant allowed to have a second stem; if it becomes too much I will prune them back to just one leader. I am using up whatever jute that I have on hand, and am converting to baling twine for stringing them up. Given that we are in an extended stretch of hot, dry weather I am not pruning the lower leaves yet, so they can shade the roots and make food for the plant. Mulching is next on the agenda. The watering ports that I installed in the ground for all of the tomatoes on sloping terrain are working great. And instead of growing the plants straight up some are growing on quite an angle, to see if that will make for a better plant (we placed the tomato pole well away from the base of the plant, so not quite a 45 degree angle but a pretty good slope). So thank you for all of the wonderful inspiration. As long as the weather cooperates this will be an epic summer of tomatoes!
