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Tomatoes – The Apples of Paradise

Writer's picture: Rebekka WallnerRebekka Wallner

In Austria, tomatoes are called “Paradeiser,” which comes from “apple of paradise.” There might be some truth to that. Nothing tastes like fresh picked tomatoes from your own garden. The taste can vary by the type as well as by the variety. The most common types are the following:

Type

Advantages

Disadvantages

Grape tomatoes

​Crisp & crunchy; can be stored longer; hold meaty texture after cooking because of their thick skin

Because of their small size they take longer to be harvested

Beefsteak Tomatoes

​Soft & juicy; nice to put on bread or cook for tomato sauces

​Can’t be stored for a long time; easily bruised

Roma Tomatoes

Few seeds and great for sauces because of their thick skin, can be stored for a long time

​Not always best for the salad because of their thick skin

Cherry Tomatoes

​Sweet taste; nice to eat just like that as snacks

​Lots of seeds – not so good for sauces; take longer to harvest because of their size

Salad Tomatoes

Because of their medium size very nice to cut for salads; don’t fall apart like beefsteak tomatoes and have a thin skin at the same time

Can’t be stored as long as grape tomatoes or Roma tomatoes


1. Gathering Tomato Seeds


Producing your own tomato plants starts in the fall. You might either have your own crop already or you know about somebody who has really yummy tomatoes from whom you would want to take seeds from. Choose some big and ripe tomatoes; you might even leave them longer on the plant and mark them at an early stage with a woolen thread so nobody will harvest them. When they are very ripe, take them and cut them horizontally with a knife into halves. With a small spoon you can easily take out the seeds inside. Generally, you want to choose seeds that are thick and big. They have the highest germination rate.

You can place the seeds in a sieve and rinse them well, to remove everything else. Some take the seeds and put them on newspaper or kitchen paper to dry. After they are dry, one can take them off the paper and store them clean and dry. An easy way is to just take the whole paper with the seeds and place it in the soil whenever you start sowing.

One can also take seeds from tomatoes with the remaining parts of the flesh and put them in a glass of water with a cling film on top. A fermenting process starts, and the outer slimy layer of the seeds comes off. The seeds sink to the bottom of the glass. After 24-48 h take them out and rinse them well. Let them dry a bit and spread them afterwards on a coffee filter or a kitchen paper to dry.

Seeds are best stored in a dry and dark place, if possible, in small paper bags.



2. Starting Tomato Plants


While there might be still snow outside, it’s time to start your tomato plants. Some begin at the end of January; I recommend starting a bit later. We have tried to start in January and in the middle of February and within a few weeks you couldn’t see a difference anymore because the ones sown later grew faster.

At Bogenhofen we use our own compost soil mixed with peaty soil at a ratio of 2:1. You may also use a special soil mixture for starting plants which they sell at different stores.

Place some soil in a tray and press it down with your hand. If you don’t have trays, you can also use some containers from the kitchen. It is best if the trays have some holes for the water to drain. After compacting the soil a little, draw lines with a wooden stick or the back of a spoon and sow the seeds within very little distance to each other. The distance between the rows can be around 5cm and between the seeds in the row 0,5-1cm. Sprinkle a few mm of soil on top and press it lightly down again. This will prevent the water to wash out the seeds.

In the beginning it’s best to water with a spray bottle in order to have very fine drops. After the plants have grown a bit, you can use a watering can.

Make sure the soil is moist but not overly soggy.

Place the tray on the window sill or somewhere with lots of sunlight at room temperature.

If your plants have thin long necks, it might be that they don’t have sufficient light and so they bend towards the sun. It helps to turn the tray 180° once a day, to water a little less, maybe to find a spot with more sunlight, as well as to transplant them as soon as possible.

In general, after the plants appear, be careful with watering! The soil should be moist but if it is too moist, the plants start to rot.



3. Transplanting

There are different methods for when to transplant the tomatoes. We have tried to sow them in cell seed trays and leave them there until they have developed their first 4 leaves. In this case we only need to transplant them one time into bigger pots before planting them in the soil. This saves one working step.

Otherwise, it’s good to transplant the tomato plants from normal trays into cell seed trays when they have developed at least 2 leaves. If they get taller, they start fighting for light, since there are so many at one spot.

The soil we use for the pots is usually compost with peat mixed in a 4:1 ratio.

When transplanting, make sure you take the tomato by the roots. If the plants have grown into each other, loosen them carefully. With a stick or with your finger make a deep hole in the soil of the pot you are going to transplant to. The deeper you plant it, the more root it will develop which will help in producing more fruit afterward.

Press the soil softly from all directions towards the plant. If the soil is very loose around the roots, it will take longer for them to continue to grow.

Some like to graft their tomato plants, where they take the top or “scion” of any tomato variety seedling and attach it to a specialized rootstock which has been grown specifically for its vigor and disease resistance. When you graft a tomato plant you are able to benefit from that root stock and dramatically increase production to as much as 50%.

Personally, I haven’t tried this method since I like to keep the plants in their original state and just give them what they need to grow well.


4. Planting, Trellising, Suckers & Co

If you have a hoop house or a greenhouse, you can plant your tomatoes by the middle to end of April. In case you want to plant your tomatoes outside, you might need to wait a little longer to ensure that there won’t be frost anymore. Generally, tomatoes should be planted in the soil when they are about 20-30 cm tall.

Usually, they don’t like a very packed soil. So, if your soil is rich in clay, add some sand or peat to it. It needs to be well drained but still moisture-retaining. Also, they need soil rich in potassium and phosphorus with a pH level between 6 to 6.8.

Tomatoes don’t like big temperature changes. Therefore, take them to a little cooler place for a few days just before planting them. You can for example set them outside during daytime and put them back in during the night.

When planting, make sure the tomatoes are deep enough in the soil and press a little around the plants. In that way they will continue to grow quickly. The distance between plants should be around 50cm in the row. We plant two rows about 40-50 cm from each other and then leave 1m distance to the next two rows.

In order to have mixed crop, it’s nice to plant something between the tomatoes. Tagetes flowers, for example, are great because they scare away nematodes from the tomato plants. Other vegetables you might plant between are beets, radish, turnips, scallions, lettuce heads or savoy cabbage.


Mulch

We usually mulch our tomato plants. For that we use grass clip from the lawn mower. Make sure the grass doesn’t have flowers or seeds inside, otherwise you might end up having more weeds in your garden. Also, it’s best to spread a thin layer several times instead of a thick once, since it might rot and destroy the tomato plants as well.

Mulch helps to keep the moisture and prevents weeds from growing up. After the growing season, we just till it into the ground.


Trellising


Some use wooden sticks to tie the tomatoes to. Others use clips, cloth strips, foam ties, soft wire tires or zip ties to fix it on strings which are hanging down from the roof, or metal sticks which are placed in the ground next to the plants. There are also metal spiral stakes which can be used for many seasons. One can use strings with roller hooks from the top down. The plants can be let down a few cm occasionally which makes the harvest easier.

We use a string hanging down from the roof which we tie to the plant with a very loose knot about 2 weeks after we planted them. Especially before the first harvest it’s best to go through the tomatoes every week and wind the growing tips around the string or whatever you use. This will help to keep them organized as well as discovering any deficiency or disease.

Suckers which grow between the leaves and the main stem need to be removed. They take all the energy of the plant. Make sure that you identify the growing tip before cutting the suckers. Sometimes there is no more growing tip and in this case one sucker can become the new growing tip of the plant.

All leaves in the very bottom can be trimmed up to the first vine with tomatoes. Don’t trim all of them at once. Suckers and trimmed parts of the plants should be removed from the greenhouse to prevent fungus or disease.


Irrigation and Fertilizer


Tomatoes don’t like water on their leaves since they are susceptible to fungus. That’s why they should be watered only at the bottom, and this can be done easily with drip irrigation. It saves water since you just water the plant itself.

To grow well, tomatoes need a lot of nitrogen. One can use seaweed powder and spray it once a week on the plants (75 g of powder to 10 l of water). Seaweed powder is also a great source of potassium.

Other fertilizers are alfalfa or fermented stinging nettle tea. For the stinging nettle tea, one collects stinging nettles and places them in a barrel. Then they are covered with water (about 10 cm above the plants). Now, it’s important to stir them every day. After 7-10 days one takes out all the plants. If one adds a little stone powder to the mixture, it takes away the smell. Then, one can use it every week diluted with water 1:10 or 1:5, depending on how much one needs.

When the green tomatoes start to develop, we add some comfrey to the stinging nettles, since it is high in nitrogen and phosphorus, but also in potassium which is needed for the fruit’s best development.


Vegetative vs Generative


With tomato plants one might either push for more leaves or more fruit, depending on what one wants. If vegetative is the goal, cut off some fruit or blossoms. If generative (more fruit) is wished for, cut some leaves. When the plants are young, don’t try to push for generative since the plants will be worn out quickly. So, if there is a small plant with lots of big fruit, it’s best to cut off some to ensure a longer production.

Whether plants are vegetative or generative can be recognized especially at the top of the plants. If the top has big flowers and thick stem, it leans towards vegetative; if the top is thin with small flowers, the plant focuses on fruit. Another sign is how quickly the fruit develops after the blossom closes.


Pollination


Without pollination, no fruit! Bigger greenhouses often have boxes with bumblebees inside. Bumblebees usually stay at one place if they have everything they need. Another way is to have windows open so bees and bumblebees can come in from outside.



5. Harvesting and Storing


The riper tomatoes are when harvested, the better is the taste. Different tomato types have different signs when they are ready. Beefsteak tomatoes, salad tomatoes or cherry tomatoes are ready when they get soft. Roma tomatoes are ready when they have a nice red color.

Beefsteak tomatoes are harvested best with a scissor or a sharp knife. Otherwise, it’s very easy to destroy either the tomato or the plant.

Make sure not to put several layers of beefsteak tomatoes on top of each other in boxes, since they get bruised so easily. It is best to put a newspaper under them and to place them upside down next to each other.

Tomatoes are best stored in a cool place, but they don’t need to be placed in the fridge. We store them in the basement, where they last for a few days until we harvest the next ones.

In the main season we harvest twice a week.

Usually, one leaves 3-5 vines before cutting the growing tips off in the fall. This is done to steer the plant towards generative growth. The plant will focus on the last blossoms and green tomatoes. If the plant continues to grow it will be difficult to harvest since the fruit is very high up. If one uses a roller hook, then it’s possible to let them grow, if the temperature and the season also allows it.


6. Common Diseases and Treatments


There are many different types of diseases which tomatoes can be affected by. Whenever one sees a symptom, it can have different causes and with time and observation they can be discovered and then also prevented.

For example: Just because the edges of leaves turn yellow, brown, and purple, this doesn’t have to be early blight disease; it could also be a potassium deficiency. Especially when the temperature drops, the plants stop to take potassium and symptoms are seen. One can see that tomatoes don’t ripen evenly, which can be another sign of big temperature differences. Too much watering can also stop the potassium intake of the plants. If it is the temperature, one can put shade clothes so there isn’t so much sun or a heater if the night is quite cold. If the problem lies in the soil, one discovers it through a soil test and can amend with some potassium in natural forms like, for example, seaweed.

Here are four common diseases and problems with tomatoes:


Late Blight


This is one of the most feared diseases for potatoes and tomatoes. It spreads very quickly through wind. Diseased plants have symptoms starting on lower leaves with grey-green spots. Parts of the stem turn black and later even the fruit turn brown. Within 2 weeks the whole greenhouse can look brown and dead.

We try to fight it by avoiding too much moisture in the greenhouse. We also take off lower leaves and trim some branches for more air to circulate. Moisture is a problem for many different fungi. It is best to remove infected parts as soon as they are seen or to spread stone powder on them. This doesn’t cure it but slows down the spreading of the disease. We also have good results with spraying homemade soy yoghurt.

Some spray a mixture of baking soda, dishwashing soap, vegetable oil, and water, which might also help.


Curly Top Virus


This virus is transmitted by the beet leafhopper, a small insect. The leaves of infected tomatoes twist and curl upwards, their veins turn yellow with some purple. Often, they become thick and leathery. The fruit has a strange taste and looks dull or wrinkled.

There is no very effective treatment to CTV because the leafhopper can be anywhere and spread the virus all over. Infected plants take some days to two weeks to show symptoms. It helps to keep the plants regularly watered, have space between them and clean away all weeds, as well as make sure to remove infected plants immediately.


Fruit Cracking


This can be the cause of irregular watering or big temperature changes during the day/night. Try to water them regularly with an amount of water adapted to the weather.


Blossom Drop


Sometimes one can see on a vine many blossoms falling off and no tomatoes developing. The cause can be a lack of water, lack of pollination, insect damage, a nitrogen deficiency or excess or insufficient watering. Another reason might be big temperature changes. Tomatoes need 13-25°C during the nighttime for blossoms and fruit to develop well. It might help to check if the ground is moist enough, how much nitrogen there is in the soil, what type of insects are around the plants as well as planting flowers nearby to attract bumblebees and bees.


7. Spiritual Lessons from Tomatoes


Tomato plants need a lot of attention and while working with them we can gather lots of object lessons. Here are some examples which we have found with the students and student missionaries at Bogenhofen:

  • For tomatoes to grow, they can’t stay all in one place. So we also have to spread after a while to grow more and to bear fruit to God’s glory. It’s not the purpose for theology students to stay at a school all together for the rest of their lives.

  • The more nutrients tomatoes receive, the more they grow. The more spiritual food we receive, the more we grow as well.

  • The aim for every plant is to bear fruit. The way we can influence it is by giving all the conditions for it to grow, and fruit will come by itself. In educating children, we can surround them with the right conditions and, by God’s grace, fruit will grow as a blessing to many.

  • Suckers look great on tomato plants in the beginning. If you take them and plant them – they will actually grow to become beautiful new tomato plants. The problem is that, if they are on the tomato plant, they will take the energy of the plant. The same in our lives: We must take away good things in order to focus on growing towards Jesus and producing fruit to His glory. Being busily involved in many things might not always end in beautiful fruit since we can’t focus well everywhere, and we might even die spiritually because of the heavy work load.

  • Tomatoes need a lot of care and attention every week, which is different from potatoes or other plants from the same family. They are fragile, but their fruit is impossible to think away from our everyday food, be it with pasta, on pizza, in the soup, in the salad and as a flavor enhancer in many different dishes. Our relationship with God might be often under attack, but if we faithfully invest in it – it will make a difference in all different types of daily situations, like tomatoes in the food.

 

Rebekka Wallner has grown up on a family farm and taken an education as a kindergarten teacher. After several years working and learning at different institutions within Europe, God has convicted her to work fulltime within gardening at the Adventist institution Bogenhofen in Austria. There she is still learning together with the students how to grow vegetables, and how to grow closer to God.

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