Watering Tomatoes - how much and how often?

[TN Song Dog]

Need advice from those of you who grow nice and big magazine quality tomatoes. How should I water? We just have a few in a small raised bed, but im not doing it right. We have quantity but not good size. Also some are split from excess watering or the big rains we had a couple weeks back. Any advice is welcome.

 

[TN Song Dog]

@backyardtndeer ?

 

[Bone_Chaser]

I'm a produce farmer so I've grown 10s of thousands. Here's my advice.

Keep the ground wet as possible from bloom until the first fruits ripen, you should be able to easily stick your entire index figure into the soil during this time. After that I try and keep good ground moisture but not soggy. Basically replace the 1/2" of ground moisture lost daily in 90 degree weather.

If you want large fruit first off you need genetics, second you need a large healthy plant. You can also prune clusters to only 3 tomatoes. Use 5x more fertilizer than you're used to. I send 20-20-20, potassium nitrate and calcium nitrate through drip irrigation at 1oz per gallon every 3rd day one at a time until ripening occurs.

There are tons of new varieties that won't split if you start your own plants that still have good flavor. Any of the "mountain" cultivars I've found to be good choices for vine ripe.

If you're growing heirlooms or an outdated hybrid such as better boy, pick fruit at first blush and let them ripen in a tomato box with lid to prevent dehydration and they will be 95% of the quality of completely vine ripe with no splits, heat cracks, etc.

Or just cut around them and enjoy.

 

[backyardtndeer]

We used to get a lot of split tomatoes with better boys and other varieties, and still do some. We went to jetstars and cut way down on the splits, really is rare with them. With all the rain, I have not had to water our tomatoes much this year. I do usually cut cow manure into my garden before spring. I don't really know much about raised beds.

 

[Bone_Chaser]

The leaf curl on lower branches is most likely from under watering and the browning of new growth from a potassium deficiency FWIW.

 

[TN Song Dog]

The leaf curl on lower branches is most likely from under watering and the browning of new growth from a potassium deficiency FWIW.

What about pesticides? We had a couple worms show up, so we sprayed with Seven. Is that a good option to continue and how frequently?
That's for the good info.

 

[TN Song Dog]

We used to get a lot of split tomatoes with better boys and other varieties, and still do some. We went to jetstars and cut way down on the splits, really is rare with them. With all the rain, I have not had to water our tomatoes much this year. I do usually cut cow manure into my garden before spring. I don't really know much about raised beds.

Thank you! Your pics look like some really nice tomatoes.

 

[Bone_Chaser]

What about pesticides? We had a couple worms show up, so we sprayed with Seven. Is that a good option to continue and how frequently?
That's for the good info.

Were they army worms, horn worms, black with an orange head or small and light green? Sevin changed their active ingredient to carbaryl a few years back which is a proven carcinogen in mammals. I don't use it at all and certainly wouldn't after fruit production begins. I personally don't use pesticides on tomatoes as I've found the pest impacts to be pretty minimal and don't like spraying anything that will be consumed. I have no problem prior to fruiting on crops.

I use pyrethrins (permethrin) when absolutely needed, and neem oil on soft bodies (anything but beetles)

 

[backyardtndeer]

What about pesticides? We had a couple worms show up, so we sprayed with Seven. Is that a good option to continue and how frequently?
That's for the good info.

Sevin spray or dust will work for hornworms. I use both.

Thank you! Your pics look like some really nice tomatoes.

My wife loves tomatoes, I like salsa and homemade sauces. We use Greenway nursery in Milan for our plants. We were late getting to the nursery this year, and they didn't have much in the way of tomatoes left.

First time for us growing Cherokee purple, have 8 of those plants, should have some ready soon. I know you asked in the classified, we should have plenty, she hasn't tried the Cherokees yet. She usually has people at work begging her to bring homegrown and she does.

We do have jetstars and romas as well.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Seven changed their active ingredient to carbaryl a few years back which is a proven carcinogen in mammals.

The garden tech Sevin that Walmart sells here hasn't been carbaryl for many years. It's using zeta cypermethrin.

 

[TN Song Dog]

Sevin spray or dust will work for hornworms. I use both.

My wife loves tomatoes, I like salsa and homemade sauces. We use Greenway nursery in Milan for our plants. We were late getting to the nursery this year, and they didn't have much in the way of tomatoes left.

First time for us growing Cherokee purple, have 8 of those plants, should have some ready soon. I know you asked in the classified, we should have plenty, she hasn't tried the Cherokees yet. She usually has people at work begging her to bring homegrown and she does.

We do have jetstars and romas as well.

If you end up with some extra purples, I'd love to buy some here and there if you open to it. Tell her not to try them and I'll take care of them, haha. Joking. They are good and she may not want to let any go.

 

[TN Song Dog]

Were they army worms, horn worms, black with an orange head or small and light green? Seven changed their active ingredient to carbaryl a few years back which is a proven carcinogen in mammals. I don't use it at all and certainly wouldn't after fruit production begins. I personally don't use pesticides on tomatoes as I've found the pest impacts to be pretty minimal and don't like spraying anything that will be consumed. I have no problem prior to fruiting on crops.

I use pyrethrins (permethrin) when absolutely needed, and neem oil on soft bodies (anything but beetles)

Smaller and light green. The seven I have says the zeta-cypermethrin. Will look into the neem oil though. I didn't spray until this week when I found one worm then another.

 

[WTM]

raised beds and big pots evaporate a lot. it should stay moist 2" from the top. wheat straw mulch helps with the evaporation. the worst thing you can do it let them be dry a couple of days and then water them a lot. inconsistent watering and nutrition causes a lot of tomato problems.

i dont use high nitrogen fertilizers, it makes them put on foilage faster than the roots, less blossoms and more of a chance of calcium uptake failure and blossom end rot, unless youre injecting calcium nitrate like a lot of market farmers do now.

i pretty much do a slow release 3-4-6 like tomato tone at planting in the hole watered with 5-1-1 fish emulsion. then two week feedings with fish emulsion until first set then bloom booster 3-8-7 every few weeks. once a month with the tomato tone.

varieties pretty much will dictate tomato size all else equal. in my area better boys, celebrity and jet stars are pretty much what i can grow well. i grew cherokees one year and my wife doesnt like them so i dont grow them any more. usually a couple of plants of big beef since she likes those but i dont care for them. this year she mixed the seeds up and we ended up with a whole bunch of tommy toes. not bad for salsa and at least i dont have to peel them lol.

 

[Chapman]

For worms I use Spinosad or Bt (both organic). I give my tomato plants a tablespoon of Calcium Nitrate every 1-2 weeks after the first tomatoes are quarter size. Gives them a boost of Nitrogen plus calcium. They say they need 1 inch of rain a week so water them accordingly. If you want big tomatoes go with the varieties that make large ones. I like Celebrity, mostly 8 0z up to 1 pound. Also do well with Cherokee Purples, keep suckers pruned down to 3 or 4 main stems per plant for them. My Celebritys, I prune the suckers up to the first set of blooms and let them grow from there.
Also, trim off any branches that touch or are near the soil, helps with disease control.
I have been spraying them with Daconil the last couple years to help with diseases and I think it has helped. Cherokee Purple and Celebrity in picture.

 

[WTM]

if you do a lot of raised bed and containers search @GMB54 posts. dude can grow some stuff. we had some good discussions on fertilization, soil ph, etc.