1138 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



TOMATO 



this experience a fairly rich sandy loam 

 may be regarded as the best soil for 

 Tomatoes. 



Waterimg dc. — Tomatoes do not like 

 too much wet at the roots, but the soil 

 should never be allowed to get absolutely 

 dry. When watering, neither the foliage 

 nor stems should be wet, simply the soil, 

 and it this is in a fine powdery condition, 

 water is best applied with a rosed water- 

 pot, so as to avoid making holes in it, and 

 exposing the roots to the air unnecessarily. 



Time to plant out, position, tying die. 

 It is scarcely safe to plant Tomatoes out 

 until the beginning of June, although in 

 mild seasons and in the south this may 

 be done somewhat earlier. If grown as 

 single stems or coi-dons, the plants should 

 be at least 1 ft. apart, but more space 

 may be given. A warm sunny and 

 sheltered position facing south, away from 

 trees and shrubs, is best, as too much sun 

 and air cannot be given to bring the fruits 

 to maturity as quickly as possible. The 

 plants may be grown against south walls, 

 or in the open ground, but each one should 

 be secured to a stout stake with a piece of 

 raffia or string, several ties being necessary 

 before the end of the season. 



For outdoor cultivation Tomatoes may 

 be grown with two stems to every plant, 

 but then they should be at least 15 in. 

 apart in the rows, and the latter should 

 be 2^-3 ft. away from each other, so as 

 to allow space for tying, or for raising a 

 row of Lettuce, French Beans, or other 

 greenstuff between. 



Pinching out side shoots. — As most 

 gardeners prefer the single stem system 

 as giving the best and quickest results, 

 it follows that all the side shoots, or 

 'laterals ' as they are generally termed, 

 should be pinched out as soon as they 

 appear. In fact this operation must be 

 performed frequently during the season, 

 at least once a week, so that all the 

 vigour of the plant is thrown into the 

 main stem for the earlier production of 

 flower trusses. If the side shoots are 

 allowed to remain, the plants soon become 

 a tangled mass of sappy growths, and very 

 few flowers and consequently few fruits 

 are developed. 



Fertilising the flowers. — It may seem 

 paradoxical to state that the best time to 

 obtain a heavy crop of Tomatoes is when 

 the plants are in bloom. Such, however, 

 is the case. Bees and other insects are 

 not fond of Tomato flowers ; at least I have 



never observed any searching them for 

 honey. The pistils or fruit carpels are 

 therefore more or less dependent on the 

 wind for having the pollen dust blown 

 on to their sticky surface or stigma, 

 to ripen the ovules in the ovary (see p. 24). 

 This is the reason why good growers like 

 to have a thorough circulation of air when 

 Tomatoes are grown in glass houses. 



As one can never be sure, however, 

 that the poUen will find its proper resting 

 place by means of wind, it is far safer to 

 attend to the fertilisation of the flowers 

 personally. Many gardeners smartly slap 

 the stems, or trelUses, or stakes, or what- 

 ever the plants are attached to, about the 

 middle of every day, so as to cause the 

 pollen to be distributed in the atmosphere 

 and thus blovsm on to the stigma. Bright 

 sunny mornings are always best for this 

 purpose. 



A better and surer method of fertilising 

 the flowers is by means of a rabbit's tail 

 or any piece of soft down or fur, either in 

 the hand or attached to a stick. With 

 this each truss of flowers is gently dis- 

 turbed, rubbing the fur over the anthers 

 and thus securing the distribution of the 

 poUen, much in the same way as the silky 

 bodies of bees do when fertilising other 

 flowers. This method of fertilising Tomato 

 flowers may take a trifle longer than 

 tapping the plants, but it has a far 

 heavier crop of fruit ultimately to recom- 

 mend its adoption. 



Tritnmvng the leaves. — It is a very 

 common practice with many to not only 

 mutilate the leaves by cutting off the tops, 

 but sometimes remove them almost 

 entirely from the plants before the fruits 

 are anything like ripe. A reference to 

 p. 34 will show that the leaves have very 

 important functions to perform in regard 

 to manufacturing the food of plants, and 

 if these functions are interfered with 

 seriously the plant and its fruits suffer in 

 proportion. Detaching or severely cutting 

 the leaves of Tomato plants usually results 

 in a crop of laterals or shoots from the 

 axUs of the old leaves. This is merely an 

 attempt on the part of the plant to develop 

 its natural food-producers, and until they 

 are formed the work of ripening is either 

 retarded or at a standstill. 



Nothing can be said against cutting 

 out leaves here and there as needed to 

 admit light and air to the plants, and even 

 cutting the tips off occasionally may be 

 tolerated. But, on the whole, I do not 



