Tomatoes With Potato Leaves

Only recently have I started to grow tomato plants with potato shaped leaves.
The varieties that I grow include:
Glacier - a semi bush cherry.
Tamina - a tall medium variety.
Brandywine - a tall beefsteak heirloom of exceptional flavour.

I've been impressed with Glacier's ability to set in cool temperatures and its leaves stand up to the punishment of outdoor conditions well. This pic shows glacier about to be potted into a larger pot earlier in the season.

The potato leaves are really quite wide and will shade the fruit from too much hot, direct sunlight which can cause sunscald, greenback and blotchy ripening.

Flowers & Fruit Set

How different one variety is from another. New Yorkers and especially Glaciers are setting very well ... on my Glaciers some of the fruits are almost ripe and most of the flowers have set.

However, some of my varieties, especially Garden Pearl and Tumbling Tom seem reluctant to set. Lots of flowers dying away but no pea-like fruit yet ... maybe I shall see something soon.

Day and night time temperatures need to even out a bit for flowers to to set although there are not as many friendly flying insects around in my garden this season to help pollination.

Growing Tomatoes In Large Pots

Large pots have several advantages over grow bags.

They can be moved easily.
Great for bush varieties.
Plants can trail over the side without reaching the ground.
It is more difficult for slugs to hide.
It is easier to plant a support in a deep pot than a grow bag.

Some disadvantages are:

Pots can be blown over by the wind.
It is more expensive to buy pots than grow bags.

Adding sand to the compost will improve drainage and make the pot heavier and therefore less likely to be blown over on a windy day. You could also put a large stone or brick at the bottom.

Gravel, stones or even polystyrene packing at the bottom of large pots help drainage.

Add perlite, vermiculite or water retaining gel to the compost to help retain moisture and prevent compost from drying-out too quickly.

Trusses

I'm constantly amazed by the different characteristics of tomato plants.
The trusses on my Glacier plants are so close that the tomatoes over-lap each other, that is, the truss above partly hangs over the truss below.

However, the Black Cherry plants have trusses that are such a distance between them that I thought at one point I was only going to get one truss!

Shirley also has a short distance between trusses which is helpful when height is an issue.


In the picture is Sungold ... lovely trusses of very sweet fruit. This year I'm trying Sun Cherry Premium which is supposed to be even better ... we'll wait and see!

Heirlooms & Open-Pollinated Varieties

To be considered an heirloom, a variety should have been around at least 50 years and be open-pollinated. Being open-pollinated means that it holds on to the parents characteristics generation after generation.

This is important if you want to save seed and you should also make sure that it has self-pollinated and not have accidently been crossed with a little help from a friendly bumble bee!

Blossom End Rot (BER)

Some of my medium size fruit varieties have just started to set and it is at this stage that I am most concerned about Blossom End Rot.
BER is the result of a lack of calcium as the fruit is forming and affects the underside of medium and large fruit varieties leaving a dark leathery patch. When the fruit has formed it is too late to add calcium.

The thing is, it's not that there isn't enough calcium in the soil (usually), it mostly happens because roots aren't working to full capacity owing to dry areas in the soil or cold temperatures.

I took this slightly out of focus picture of a plumb variety two seasons ago and every tomato on the plant was affected by BER ... rather disappointing considering the time and effort that went into getting the plant to this stage (the camera was more interested in the fence!).
As soon as the pea-like fruit appear I make sure that I give the soil or compost a good watering and a foliar feed with a food that contains calcium or trace elements at this stage is, in my opinion, a good idea.

Pollination and Fruit Set

One of the most exciting moments in tomato growing is when the flowers fade and the first little pea-like fruit appear. Each day they grow until they reach their mature size, start to change colour and the first ripe tomato from a plant is almost too good to eat!

The problem is, for most tomato varieties, temperatures and humidity have to be right in order for flowers to create pollen and set fruit. If flowers fail to set, blossom drop is the result and those pretty little flowers are aborted by the plant.

For outdoor growers, there is little you can do if the weather is too cold for pollen production.
The trick is really to sow at the right time, that is so that flowering will begin when outdoor temperatures (hopefully) are likely to be right for pollination.

From seed to flower takes about two months, so if temperatures are good for pollination from the beginning of June onwards, you would sow at the beginning of April (my favourite time to sow).

Other weather related causes of blossom drop include air that is too dry and air that is too damp.

It's easier to deal with dry air as you can spray/mist plants to help flowers set their fruit. Hopefully, by the time humid weather arrives, it is well into the season and you have lots of tomatoes ripening.