Tomatoes in the fall

We plant and plant and weed and weed, and then pick and pick, and then enjoy and enjoy all summer. So many times in the fall we are just tired of the garden and gardening. We are ready for it to frost and put an end to the garden.

There may be one exception -- tomatoes. Probably the main garden crop for many gardeners and the public is tomatoes.

I raise both determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate tomatoes only grow so much and then stop growing. Most of the time they will get only 3 or 4 feet tall. Normally the tomatoes on a determinate plant will ripen about the same time. It may take a month or so, but the time period is fairly short. My favorite determinate tomato is Celebrity.

An indeterminate tomato will just keep growing and blooming and putting on tomatoes. You can plant them in the spring and, if disease or bugs don't kill the plant, they will still be blooming and putting on tomatoes clear up to frost in the fall. I use 5-foot rebar cages, and they will grow to the top of the cage and then fall over almost to the ground. In shorter growing season areas, the determinate tomato is the best by far. If you live where the season is longer, you can plant both determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. There are literally thousands of indeterminate tomato varieties. Some are Mr. Stripey, Big Boy, Brandywine, Jet Star, etc.

When fall approaches, there will be tomatoes on the plants that range anywhere from getting ripe and ready to pick to branches that are blooming. There will be penny-size tomatoes on up to big tomatoes. As a tomato grows taller, they grow leaf sprigs or branches with leaves, and then they will have a branch with blooms or a fruiting bloom.

With frost approaching, we know these small tomatoes won't ripen. So what I do is go down the tomato plant until I find a tomato that will probably get ripe in the remaining time left before frost. Any tomato that is less than an inch in diameter probably won't make it. I then go up the tomato plant to the next or even second sprig with leaves. I then snip off the entire top of the tomato vine over this leaf sprig.

If I leave the entire top of the tomato vine on the plant, much of the energy of the plant will go into producing new vine and more tomatoes that have no chance of ripening. So I limit the number of tomatoes on the vine and the amount of plant.

Several years ago I visited a gentleman in Morley, Missouri, who grew indeterminate tomato plants, and his were only 4 or 5 feet tall. He would intentionally snip off the top of the plant when it got to the height he wanted. If you snip the growing top of a tomato plant off, it will stop growing taller. By snipping off the top of the plant, you are forcing the plant to put all its energy into the tomatoes that are on the vine and which should ripen before frost.

When the weatherman finally forecasts frost or freezing temps, you have a couple choices. You can cover the plants and hope they won't freeze through the blanket. Don't use plastic if you allow it to get right on the tomato vine. It will frost or freeze through the plastic. The best cover, I believe, is a fabric called Agribon. It is reasonably priced and does a great job. Most garden suppliers will have it in stock. This covering will work only if the temps don't dip down too low. Eventually it will get cold enough that even Agribon won't be sufficient.

The other option is to pick all the tomatoes and store them indoors. These tomatoes will gradually ripen. You may have ripe tomatoes for Christmas if you have the patience.

Once your tomato vines are history, cleaning your garden is probably the best way of reducing or preventing problems next spring. Don't put your old vines on your compost pile. I like to burn mine. I pull the vines and haul them to where we have a burn barrel. After the vines have dried, we go ahead and burn them.

Rake up the leaves where you had your tomatoes and burn them as well. If your soil tends to need lime, now is a great time to lime the soil. I also like to till the soil and then plant some kind of green cover crop. I like turnips as a cover crop in my outside garden. Where it is late, the turnips will get several inches tall and will be perfect to till under in the spring.

In my tunnels, I like to plant spinach or kale or lettuce or beets. If they come up and grow, they will make a super cover crop. And then in the spring, there just may be enough for a really early garden salad.

Just a little time this fall may supply you with a few ripe tomatoes. A little work cleaning your garden now will save you from numerous problems next spring.

Have a good one,

Until next time.