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Organic Tomato Gardening Tips

Organic tomato gardening is perfect for almost every backyard, however small. All you need is a sunny corner. And nothing beats the taste of freshly picked sun ripened tomatoes from your own garden! Follow our tips for the perfect home grown organic tomatoes.

1. Location

Tomatoes need support and like a sunny, sheltered site. They usually prefer slightly acidic soil. A south or west facing fence or trellis is ideal. Some varieties grow up to 6 feet tall, others are smaller.

2. Variety

There are many different kinds of tomato. If you want a truly organic garden, you will want to start out with organic tomato seeds. Otherwise you can use regular seeds and simply avoid using chemicals on your plants.

The best way to choose a tomato variety is to ask around among your neighbors. They will have the same climate and soil type, so what works for them will probably work for you. Maybe they will even share seeds with you.

3. Feeding

Successful organic tomato gardening requires some attention. Feed plants at least twice in the season with a good organic fertilizer. Slow release fertilizers in the soil are more effective than liquids. Spraying with kelp and fish emulsion from time to time will provide the growing leaves with extra nutrients.

Regular watering is vital. Never let the plants become so dry that they wilt. They may recover but they will not produce good juicy tomatoes that way.

4. Pests

Unfortunately tomatoes are vulnerable to various kinds of infestation. Here are some examples of tomato pests and what you can do about them.

Hornworms or Manduca quinquemaculata

This is a big ugly caterpillar native to the USA with a black horn on its rear end. It adores tomato plants and anything else in the same family (eggplant, potato, bell pepper, tobacco).

Hornworms will hide under the leaves of your plants so check every day, especially if you know that they are common in your local area. Sometimes you will find them by seeing their black excretions that have fallen onto other leaves.

The easiest and most effective way to deal with hornworms organically is to squish them. Alternatively, you can buy parasitic wasps or braconid wasps which will lay their eggs on the caterpillar. When the eggs hatch, the larvae will feed on the caterpillar and kill it. If you use braconid wasps, do not kill the hornworms yourself: the wasps will leave your garden if they do not find a few to lay their eggs on. The adult wasps feed on the flowers of dill and cilantro plants so grow some of those near to your tomatoes too.

Eelworms or Nematode

These worms live in the soil all around the world. They feed on the roots of several plants including potatoes and tomatoes. There is an organic pesticide called Methyl Bromide that can help with this. Planting marigolds in with your tomatoes is a good prevention measure.

Tomato Blight

Tomato blight is caused by fungus. Good preventive measures include rotating your plants so that the tomatoes are not always in the same place, and thinning them out so that they have plenty of circulating air. Still sometimes in a wet summer you will see some blight. Remove and destroy affected plants immediately to stop it spreading, or it will ruin your chances of successful organic tomato gardening.
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