KITCHEN GARDENS With Norina Jane

What gives me anxiety in the garden? Moths!

There is nothing more frustrating than nurturing your tomato plants from seed, snow peas or cauliflowers (or any vegetable for that matter) for 60-100 days only to see numerous holes left by caterpillars in what was a week ago, a beautiful vegetable that you were excited to pick, eat, or share with friends and neighbours.

Well, that was before I installed my vegie nets. Now I watch them flutter over the nets, occasionally land on them and “fly away”.  I can appreciate them now.

Many vegetable gardeners will be picking their tomatoes now or maybe preparing new tomato beds after other crops have recently finished producing.  

So, what are common problems with tomato growing (other than caterpillars)?

If you are not getting many flowers (and therefore poor fruit set), there may be too much nitrogen in your soil. Over fertilising tomatoes will encourage leaf growth but at the cost of your fruit.  

If you have lots of flowers but no fruit set, chances are your tomato plants are too close together. Tomatoes, like corn (as discussed last week) are self-pollinators. They rely on the wind to pollinate (as well as beneficial insects), so if your tomato plants are way too close together, you are stopping the wind from doing its job. Poor pollination can also mean undersized and/or tasteless tomatoes. So, thin out your tomato plants.

Other things to be aware of during pollination are temperature and water.

I know I am always going on about watering your vegetable patch every morning but you really do need to water your vegetable patch every morning!

A lack of water when your flowers are appearing will guarantee that they will fall off your beloved plant.  

The one other thing worth mentioning at this time of year is that if the temperature at night drops below 12 degrees, chances are your tomato flowers may drop off. Another month and that should no longer be something you need to consider.

A sure sign that pollination was poor and that your soil lacked fertiliser, is when your tomatoes look great, but they are light in weight and when you cut them open, rather than being juicy and full, they have gaps/spaces with no content.  Fertilise your tomatoes monthly with Seasol. Make sure you give them a great kick start when first planting with good soil. We have bagged soils specifically for tomatoes but you can certainly mix your home compost through the soil.

Later in the year, sunburn can be a problem for tomatoes (again vegetable nets are great, offering 20 per cent shade). Over pruning can expose tomatoes to the sun too, so you want to always leave shade leaves.

One last thing I have to mention, is cracked skin. This is caused by inconsistent watering. If you let the soil dry out for a day or three, then your tomato is going to be very thirsty!  When water finally arrives, it is going to take in as much as it can (you try going two days without water and see what you do when given a litre) and your fruit will split.

Did you know: That if your milk is on the edge, you can dilute it and add that to your tomato plant’s soil?  

Healthy tomato plants

Flowers for pollinating

Caterpillar damage

Inconsistent watering causes tomatoes to split

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