EFFICIENT TOMATO PRODUCTION PRACTICES* 
By JESSE M. HUFFINGTON 
Assistant Professor of Vegetable Gardening Extension, Agricultural Extension Service, 
The Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa. 
1. Use only disease-free plants that have been grown carefully and hardened properly. 
Seed should be certified by State authorities for freedom from disease. It is safer, also, to 
have the seed treated according to instructions from your County Agent and to follow a 
complete disease control program as outlined by the Extension Specialist in Plant Patholog}\ 
2. Plants should be grown only in clean soil, without tomato refuse, spaced liberally 
for stocky growth. Excessive watering and prolonged temperatures above 90 degrees 
Fahrenheit should be avoided. Transplanting and the use of sandy soil will give much 
better root systems. Steady, uniform growth with liberal spacing will give plants that 
will start growth at once when planted in the field. Severely hardened, yellowish plants, 
or soft, slender, dark green plants are extremes to be avoided. If southern grown plants 
must be used they should be purchased only from the most reliable growers and certified 
for freedom from disease. 
3. Well-drained fields of high fertility with a liberal supply of organic matter are best 
suited to tomatoes. Applications of manure and sod or green manure crops turned down 
are necessary for building up the organic matter content and increasing the depth and 
fertility of tomato soils. 
4. Early planting, preferably in May and always before June 5, favors production of 
the largest yields. Set the plants deeply and firmly into the soil for early development of 
the root system. 
5. In addition to manure, commercial fertilizer should be applied at the rate of 500 
to 1,000 pounds to the acre—500 to 750 pounds in the row or 750 to 1,000 pounds broad¬ 
cast. Indications are that this should contain 0 to 4 per cent nitrogen, 12 to 16 per cent 
available phosphoric acid, and 4 to 7 per cent potash, depending upon the nature of the 
soil and the state of fertility. For average soils a 4-12-4 would be satisfactory where no side 
dressings are to be applied. If a side dressing of nitrogen is to be applied along the row 
after planting, a 0-12-5 mixture will be satisfactory for the application before planting. 
The complete fertilizer should always be worked deeply (2 to 3 inches) into the soil, while 
the nitrates alone may be applied to best advantage after the first blossoms have set fruit. 
Fertile clay loam soils respond well to 4-16-4 and even superphosphate alone. On 
light sandy or shale soils better results likely will be obtained by the use of 4-12-6 or 4-14-6 
mixture, and additional side dressing of nitrate of soda, sulfate of ammonia, or calcium 
nitrate at the rate of 150 to 200 pounds to the acre. The nitrate side dressings should be 
applied only if needed and the need is indicated by a light yellowish-green coloration of 
the foliage. 
Row applications are most effective when placed in solid bands about two inches from 
the plant and two inches deep. When mixed with the soil, in the row only, the nitrogen 
and potash ingredients of the fertilizer are likely to cause injury to the plant, especially in 
a dry season. 
6. Space the plants with at least 15 square feet for each plant—3 by 5 or 4 by 4 feet 
apart, or more. Five feet between the rows allows more space for spraying or dusting and 
less injury is done to the vines in picking, and four feet between the plants is highly de¬ 
sirable on fertile soil. 
7. Thorough cultivation is necessary to control weeds and avoid hand weeding. The 
first cultivation is usually deep, but later ones shallow. 
8. Consult your County Agent on disease and insect control in the field. 
9. Pick only fully ripe, red tomatoes that are firm and without serious defects. Ripe 
tomatoes weigh more than partially ripe ones and are sold at a higher price per ton. 
10. Keep records on your crop to learn how much it costs in labor and actual cash, 
for plants, fertilizer, picking and hauling. 
11. Grow not more acres but better acres of tomatoes because higher yields per acre 
mean higher quality and greater cash returns. For the same amount of tomatoes larger 
yields per acre mean fewer acres to plow, to prepare for planting, to cultivate and to weed. 
Lower the costs and increase the cash income by using better practices in tomato production 
and marketing. 
*This article is reprinted by special permission from “The Penna. Ten Ton Tomato Club Report for 1936”. 
