Growing Tomatoes Week 10

By now your tomatoes will be thriving and growing so fast you can almost see them developing fruit.
One of the most important aspects when it comes to growing tomatoes is to ensure even when we experience hot weather that the plant doesn’t suffer. Even if you haven’t had a problem with plants wilting to date, I recommend checking the soil after the plants have been watered, just to check that the root system is damp. How quickly a few warm days play havoc on a healthy tomato plant.
Apply a wetting agent (even if you have already done this at planting) the plants will benefit. This ensures the water will soak into the soil. Apply again at the end of January. If you feel your plants are suffering in hot weather organic matter and a thick layer of mulch is going to be your best defence through the hottest part of summer.

Throughout this fact sheet series we have concentrated on successfully growing tomatoes and some of the problems you are likely to face and how to fix them or prevent them ruining your crop.

A subject that I would like to touch on is seed saving.
Saving seeds from tomatoes is very easy and one of the cheapest ways you can garden. Saving seeds your own seeds ensures you can grow your favourite varieties again.
Unfortunately not all tomato varieties are suitable for saving. There are 2 distinct types of tomatoes, the hybrids varieties and the open pollinated varieties.

Let’s deal with the hybrid varieties first. These varieties only set fertile seed in the first generation (which is the one you are growing). If you decide to collect seeds from a hybrid variety they will grow, but the flowers and fruit will not develop at all, leaving you with a healthy baron plant.

If you collect seeds off an open pollinated variety you will find these are fertile and very easy to grow. They come true to form, which means the fruit will be the same as the previous year.
All the heirloom (old fashioned) varieties of tomatoes have been saved this way. Luckily for us gardeners many gardeners were passionate and committed to sharing and saving seeds and keeping these varieties alive for future generations.

Saving seeds is as simple as selecting a ripe healthy tomato and keep on the plant for as long as possible. This gives the seeds a chance to develop to maturity. Scoop the seeds out and lay on a piece of paper towel. Let dry out and they place in a jar. They need to be thoroughly dry before going into the jar otherwise they will go mouldy and will not be fertile. Label the jar with the variety and date and store in a cool dark spot.
A hot garden shed is not ideal and will cause the seeds to lose viability.

Good luck with your tomato crop and be sure to send us your photos of the success stories to bob@6pr.com.au or gardening@6pr.com.au

Enjoy!

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