Fall Tomatoes – Part 2 by Byron Chitwood, Master Gardener.
- You can still make a fall crop of tomatoes in your garden.
- For best results, they should be planted in July.
- Depending on variety, they take 60 to 90 days to produce.
- Start garden plants from transplants that you purchase through your favorite nursery if available.
- Start indoors with seeds or cuttings from some of your favorite spring tomatoes.
- After planting in the garden, protect them from direct sun by shading with shingles or cardboard.
- Keep the ground moist around the growing plants.
- Mulch heavily with chopped leaves, shredded newspaper or pine straw.
- After the plants have begun to grow, fertilize with a 3-1-2 ratio slow release nitrogen and water the fertilizer into the soil. Do not over fertilize. Use a spoon full of fertilizer per plant. Fertilize every four weeks during the growing season.
- Pick the tomatoes when they first start ripening. Otherwise, the birds will beat you to the fruits.
- Set partially ripe tomatoes on a rack or in a shallow box and they will ripen in a few days.
- Pick all green tomatoes on the day before the first forecast killing frost.
- If you want to take a chance, cover or somehow protect plants from the frost. After the first killing frost, there are usually 2 or three more weeks of frost free growing weather.
- As mentioned before, store the green tomatoes inside the house and they will continue to ripen through Thanksgiving or even Christmas.
- For a longer producing season, try planting some tomatoes in large pots or even a wheelbarrow. Move them into a protected place such as a closed garage or small greenhouse before frost. Then move them outdoors in the full sun during daytime.