Other than leaf problems, one of the most common issues gardeners have with tomato plants is a lack of tomatoes. Many of us who have grown lush bushy tomato plants have stared at them wondering, why won’t my tomato plants produce tomatoes?

So let’s talk about reasons why a tomato plant just won’t flower and fruit and what you can do to fix it.

Why Tomato Plants Make Flowers But Don’t Produce Fruit

First off, tomato gardeners have to have patience. After you plant your tomatoes in the ground, it will typically be a couple of months before you’ll be harvesting fruit. Every variety of tomato has a different time to fruiting which can be 90 days or more.

But how long before a tomato plant flowers? Tomato plants usually flower pretty quickly after planting, but those first flowers may not set a lot of fruit early in the season. This can be normal and should improve as the weather warms up. Can tomatoes flower too early? Only in the sense that low nighttime temperatures can affect their pollination.

Tomato flowers are complete flowers which means they have both a male part and a female part. This is what makes them self-pollinating, so you do not need pollinators to make tomatoes from flowers. But many environmental conditions, like relative humidity, can cause problems with the flower’s ability to self-pollinate.

A tomato will grow from the female part of the flower, and takes several weeks to ripen – depending on the variety. It’s really hard to be patient waiting for the fruit to ripen on your plant, but the first thing to do is to search your variety so you know the typical time to fruit for your particular tomato variety.

If your plant is giving lots of flowers but not producing tomatoes, then it’s time to consider one of these reasons for poor production of your tomato plants.

Extreme temperatures cause lack of fruit setting

A tomato plant will grow in a wide range of conditions, but temps on the extreme side can impact the number and quality of fruit your plant makes. If your nighttime temperatures are dropping into the 50s or daytime temperatures are in the 100s, then you’ll have issues with flowers being able to self-pollinate.

You may even see the flowers falling off the plant (aka blossom drop) without setting any fruit. Extremes in humidity will have a similar effect causing pollen to be too sticky or not sticky enough to fertilize the pistil. If temperature and humidity are affecting your tomato fruit set, you might just have to wait for the weather to become more cooperative. 

We usually plant tomatoes a week after our last frost date, but it’s still going to be too cold to expect a lot of fruit just yet. You may even want to place cold frames and frost protection over your plants in the first couple of weeks. If you know your area gets hot spells in the summer, plant your tomatoes where they will receive some afternoon shade or try growing under a shade cloth. In areas where there are no frost dates, you may have better luck planting your tomatoes in the fall as the hot weather is too much for tomato plants.

Other environmental causes for lack of flowers on your tomato plant include storms and strong winds that displace small blooms, fungal diseases present in the soil, and pest stress.

Water stress can cause blossom drop

One thing my husband used to say about gardening is to make sure I kept my watering in the Goldilocks zone…not too much and not too little but just right.

If your plants are having periods of drought and flooding, they’ll often respond by dropping their flowers. It’s best to water tomato plants evenly and regularly. Drastic changes in their watering schedule can lead to tomato fruit problems.

When possible, install drip irrigation at the base of your plants and soak the soil only when necessary. Depending on your environment, you may need to water every day or only once a week. Knowing how much to water your tomato plants is really a practice in observing your garden and getting to know the specific conditions that affect your plants.

Signs that your plant needs to be watered include dry soil (obviously), curling of leaves, sagging stems, and suckers that flop or fall over.

Pruning will help improve flowering and fruit set

Note that pruning is not recommended for determinate plants. Learn more.

Left to their own devices, indeterminate tomato plants can become enormous sprawling vines. Some gardeners prefer to grow their plants this way and have great results. But in my experience, letting them bush out leads to fewer and smaller fruit. Think about it as if you are a tomato plant, what is your purpose in life? It’s to reproduce by making tomatoes.

So when life is good and there’s plenty of space and nutrients to grow, then the tomato has no motivation to make fruit. It can continue to vine out and take up as much space as it needs. But if there’s any indication to the plant that it won’t be able to grow, then it will shift gears and start making more fruit. So I like to prune my indeterminate plants down to one or two vines.

This not only encourages it to put more effort into fruiting, but it removes some of the bulk of the plant and allows me to watch for issues like pests or disease.

Check your fertilizer for excess nitrogen

If you’re unfamiliar with the basic nutrition needs of plants, here is a great explanation and guide to using fertilizer. But in short, nitrogen encourages leaves to grow and phosphorous encourages fruit set. So if you’re using a fertilizer that has too high nitrogen concentration or lacks a full spectrum of nutrients, then your plants may not be setting as much fruit as you’d like.

I always prefer to use organic fertilizer because it’s much easier to get the dosing right. Synthetic fertilizers are often high in nitrogen which can lead to burning leaves and blossom end rot. But even if used appropriately, they can cause a low fruit set because there is too much nitrogen in relation to potassium.

Look for an organic fertilizer that has equal amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous (5-5-5) or has less nitrogen and more phosphorous (2-6-4). For a more detailed explanation of what those numbers mean, read this article.

Monitor for signs of pests and/or disease

There are many fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases that can affect tomato plants. Most often these are present in the soil in your area, and they are very hard to eradicate. The best thing to do is to inspect your tomato garden several times a week if not daily. Signs of infection that can stifle tomato production include wilting, stunted growth, spotted, yellow, or misshapen leaves.

It’s frustrating to find disease in your plants, but there are only two options once a plant is infected. Let it grow or pull it out. By the time you see infection, there’s not much you can do about it. Except in the case of lack of water, always pull out wilted tomato plants and get rid of them asap. Some forms of wilt will spread quickly if not removed, and sometimes even then it’s not enough.

For most diseases/infections, your plants will either tolerate the disease and grow through it or they’ll succumb to the stress and die. Any treatment you apply is really to prevent spread of the disease to other plants, although this is often an effort in futility. Tomato varieties often list what we call a disease-resistance package, and it’s recommended to choose plant varieties with resistance to diseases common in your area.

Heavy infestations of pests like aphids or spider mites can put additional stress on a tomato plant that can have an impact on fruit set. How you decide to implement pest control on your plants is a personal decision. On our farm, we like to use organic treatments like diatomaceous earth, spinosad, and Bt. If it gets really bad, we will use Pyganic but this is a very broad spectrum organic pesticide that we use only sparingly.

Should I remove flowers from tomato plants?

Generally, no you do not want to remove flowers unless you are trying to decrease the number of tomatoes you’ll get.

I’m sure there are some people who do this in certain circumstances, like early in the growing season. Why let the plant waste energy on flowers when it’s too cold to set fruit? I don’t know how much difference it would make in future fruit set, but I could understand the reasoning. Likewise, I know some people limit the number of fruit on a plant to encourage the fruit that does set to be larger/healthier. However, this is not something we do or recommend doing for tomatoes.

That’s why a tomato plant flowers but no fruit

With the exception of weather and disease, it is possible you can redirect your plant’s growth to encourage more fruit set with the above tips. If you’re new to gardening, then running through this list will help you learn to observe and respond to your plant as needed. Experience is really the biggest route to success with growing tomatoes, so even if you didn’t get a great crop this year, try again next year and the year after that. You’ll get better and better at it and enjoy it the whole time. Happy Gardening!

The post Reasons Your Tomato Plant Flowers But Has No Tomatoes appeared first on You Should Grow.

Dragon fruit is a cactus that has many names: pitaya/pitahaya, strawberry pear, belle of the night, cactus fruit, and night-blooming cereus. You’ve probably seen this strange looking fruit in the grocery store. The bright pink or yellow skin with alien-like spines is hard to miss. 

It might look intimidating, but the skin of this fruit is actually quite soft and the spines on the outside won’t stab you when you hold the fruit. And you’d never know from the look of it, but this is a fruit you can grow at home – if you’re willing to put in the work.

What zones does dragon fruit grow in?

Dragon fruit is an exotic fruit, and in most of the southern US, you can grow a dragon fruit plant in pots on your patio if you’re careful to protect it from cold weather. If you live in US Hardiness Zones 10-11, you’ll be able to grow dragon fruit outdoors year round.

But no matter where you live if you want to grow dragon fruit cactus, I say go for it! Just bring it indoors or keep it in a greenhouse during the cold months of the winter, and expect that the plant may not grow as fast, large, or be as productive as it would be in a more natural environment.

How To Grow Dragon Fruit

A dragon fruit plant needs a lot of sunlight. If you’re aiming for fruit, make sure it’s getting 8 or more hours of bright to direct sunlight during the fruiting season. In some climates or if grown indoors, you may need to supplement with artificial lighting. If you’re not aiming for fruit, your plant will grow in less light but it won’t grow as fast or make flowers.

As a plant native to South America, the dragon fruit plant likes a warm environment and is sensitive to extremes. The ideal growing temperatures for dragon fruit are between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything below 32F will kill your plant. Anything over 100F will damage the fruit and cause it to wilt.

Dragon fruit cacti are climbers, so you’ll need to provide support for your plant to grow on. As it climbs, it will root into the support you provide, and it can be invasive if grown in the wrong location. Watering the pole when you water the plant will greatly improve results.

Overwatering is the quickest way to kill your dragon fruit. So only water when the top 1/3-1/2 of the soil is dry, but the plant is not wilting. Unlike other cactus, you don’t want to wait until the whole pot is dry – if your plant is withering or wilting, you’ve waited too long. Letting the plant wilt causes stress and will decrease flower/fruit production.

A drip line or mister from above works well for plants climbing on poles. To accomplish this, install a drip line and attach it to the center support in your container. Place the drip nozzle at the top of the support line and let it run down the pole. This is the most effective way to water your dragon fruit and will keep it very happy.

Fertilizing dragon fruit

Cacti are low maintenance plants. They are not heavy feeders and do not require a lot of fertilizer. In fact, over fertilization will harm your plant. Choose an organic, low nitrogen fertilizer and apply at planting and then every other month…even less in the winter.

Learn how to tell if your fertilizer is low in nitrogen with these fertilizer tips.

Growing dragon fruit in a container

This plant is best grown in a container in most environments. The container allows you to control the content and the moisture level of the soil more efficiently. When mature, these plants will need a container that is at least 10 inches deep and 24 inches wide. This equates to about a 10-gallon pot. Younger plants and stem cuttings, can be started in smaller pots and up-potted when they are more mature.

Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya, is a vining cactus, so you will need to provide a sturdy support in your container. Otherwise, the cactus will grow over the edges of your container and sprawl along the ground until it finds something to climb.

Make sure to use a sandy, well-draining soil made for cactus plants. Any soil that holds too much moisture can lead to root rot. If your container does not have several drainage holes, then you will need to add them so the roots of the plant never become soggy.

If outdoors, pick a sunny location for your dragon fruit plant that provides at least 6-8 hours of sun. The plant will tolerate some shade, and may even require it in very warm environments – remember, anything over 100 degrees Fahrenheit will damage your fruit. When grown indoors, you’ll want give it the sunniest location you have (and/or supplement with artificial light).

Growing dragon fruit as a houseplant

Only recently have I seen plant shops offering small clusters of dragon fruit stems for sale as houseplants. They actually do make really cute little plants for your home or office. And if your expectation is that it will just be a houseplant, I don’t see why you shouldn’t add one to your collection.

These houseplant sized dragon fruit are not going to produce fruit for many years, but that is many years of growing pleasure you can still enjoy. These baby sized plants require the same care that adults do – minimum 6 hours of sunlight (more sunlight will make them grow faster, less will slow them down) and only water as needed. This may be once every week to once per month depending on the conditions in your home (brighter light needs water more often, low light less often) and the time of year (water needs decrease in the winter).

If you’re growing it as a houseplant, you can wait until the plant wilts before watering as you are not concerned about flowering/fruit. As long as you step in before it’s too dried out, it will perk up after you give it a drink. This does cause some stress to the plant, but it’s less stress than root rot. 

Dragon fruit flowers and fruit

One of the coolest things about the dragon fruit is its flowers. They are stunning ruffled white blooms, and what’s more, they are night blooming. That’s right, the blooms open after dark and only for one night! 

Dragon fruit plants that flower but don’t produce fruit are a common complaint of growers. This happens because most dragon fruit flowers are incomplete and require pollination. Some plants even require cross-pollination by unrelated varieties (just like blueberry plants) and still some others are self-pollinating. 

If you choose a variety that is not self-pollinating, then you will need to attract pollinators like bees, moths, or bats to pollinate them for you. If grown indoors, you’ll have to stay up at night or get up really early to pollinate the plants yourself. For home growers, the simplest course is to choose a self-pollinating plant.

When to prune dragon fruit

If you’re giving your dragon fruit optimal conditions for growth, then you will quickly find that your plant has grown so thick and so fast that it needs to be pruned. Pruning dragon fruit is usually done in the fall or as necessary to contain the plant within your desired space.

Letting the plant get too crowded will lead to problems with pests, fungus, and disease. Not only do crowded plants need more maintenance (watering and fertilizer), but they also do not produce as much fruit. Pruning the plant actually stimulates flowering and new growth, so it is a task you are encouraged to do.

Propagating dragon fruit from cuttings

The good news is that pruning your plant provides a bunch of new plants to grow or share. Sure, you can start dragon fruit seedlings from the seeds inside the fruit, but it is slow and has a frustratingly low success rate. Because of this, it is recommended that you grow dragon fruit from cuttings. 

To grow dragon fruit from a cutting, take a piece of a stem at least 12 inches long. Place the cutting into some well-draining soil mix burying 2 inches of stem under the soil. Water it only when the soil is dry and roots will form within 2-4 weeks. Once you see new growth, you know your cutting has established a healthy root system and it can be left or transplanted as needed.

When you’re ready to transplant, be gentle with the roots of your cutting and try not to disturb them too much. Gentle loosening of the small roots on the surface of the rootball is adequate. Plant your dragon fruit in fertile, sandy soil level with the rootball.

Types and varieties of dragon fruit

There are many varieties of dragon fruit that range in color, flavor, and production. Some dragon fruit need to be hand pollinated, some rarely set fruit even when pollinated. Some take longer to ripen, and some take a very short period to ripen.

It’s best to research which variety will work best for the conditions you intend to provide. Then you’ll want to make sure you are dealing with a reputable nursery or good friend. Make sure you trust that they are being honest about the type/variety of cutting you’ll receive.

• Hylocereus undatus (Pitaya blanca) is the most commonly grown in commercial fruit production settings. It produces the bright pink fruit with white flesh.
• Hylocereus costaricensis is a variety known for bright pink to red fruit and matching flesh. 
• Hylocereus megalanthus produces yellow fruit with white flesh.
• Hylocereus guatemalensis has a deep pink fruit with pink spines and a bright purple flesh.
• Hylocereus polyrhizus has a beet red flesh and skin
• Hylocereus stenopterus is an uncommon variety that produces green fruit with white flesh
  

How to tell when dragon fruit is ripe

Once your dragon fruit plant sets fruit, wait to harvest it until it turns color. Most dragon fruit will turn a gorgeous bright pink magenta color, but some are bright yellow.

In general, the longer it stays on the plant, the sweeter it gets. In most cases, a dragon fruit takes about 30 days to ripen.

Dragon fruit pests and problems

When grown indoors, dragon fruit plants can get in trouble with mealybugs, mites, aphids, and sometimes ants. If given the opportunity, ants will attempt to eat your fruit before you can harvest it, so watch out for those nasty pests! Treat pests with an appropriate pesticide as soon as you see them to prevent a major infestation. Here are some natural methods of ant control to consider.

Another common problem of dragon fruit grown at home is root rot caused by overwatering. This is one of the reasons why it’s recommended to grow pitaya in containers vs in the ground. Watch the soil to make sure it’s draining well, and only water when the top 1/3-1/2 of the container is completely dry but before the plant is wilted. 

Dragon fruit recipes

This white flesh of this exotic fruit is really unique and yummy! It is super hydrating and especially satisfying when chilled, and the tiny black seeds add a nice crunch to the soft and creamy texture of the flesh. Aside from the deliciously delicate flavor, the fruit of a dragon fruit tree is has many health benefits. It’s full of antioxidants, easy-to-digest carbohydrates, and omega fatty acids in the seeds.

There are many ways to use dragon fruit including sauces, salads, and smoothies, but it’s also quite good sliced in half and eaten out of its skin with a spoon. Truly, eating your dragon fruit is the best part of growing it. A chilled fruit tastes much better, in my opinion. Slice your fruit in half and eat it out of its shell like a bowl of ice cream. So amazingly delicious!

Dragon fruit tastes great in all sorts of recipes. Try one of these.

The post How To Grow Dragon Fruit At Home appeared first on You Should Grow.

These denser tomatoes make your work easier as you’ll need fewer tomatoes and less time to make your sauces. Among tomato nerds like us, we call canning tomatoes with these qualities plum tomatoes or paste tomatoes.

What type of tomato is best for salsa?

Paste tomatoes have characteristics that are desirable for making sauces and salsas. These tomatoes have less juice, gel, and seeds which cuts down on processing time.

They’re also often grown on determinate, bushy plants that have high yields in a short period of time. This is desirable since you want to be able to preserve the crop in batches.

Some say paste tomatoes are mild in flavor, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The flavor will be somewhat intensified as you condense the tomato into a sauce, and a mild tomato makes sauces that don’t overpower the flavor of the rest of your ingredients.

One variety of paste tomatoes that many people are familiar with is the Roma tomato. Romas are a great salsa tomato, and you’ll see lots of similar varieties of tomatoes referred to as Roma type.

Another commonly recommended paste tomato is the San Marzano. San Marzanos are praised for their flavor and texture which are ideal for homemade tomato paste, sauce, or salsa.

The problem with paste tomatoes

The thing you don’t really hear talked about is that home gardeners often find that these tomatoes are hard to grow.

That’s because they’re very prone to diseases that can wipe out an entire crop which is terrible when you’re trying to grow food for your family. Paste tomatoes are also notorious for struggling with blossom end rot which makes the tomatoes unusable.

We’ve grown dozens of varieties of paste tomatoes, and we know that some plants will get blossom end rot (BER) on every single fruit. It’s incredibly frustrating!

Blossom end rot is a complex disease process that has a lot to do with how you grow your tomatoes, but some types of tomatoes are more prone to the disorder than others.

For example, elongated tomatoes with pointy ends (like San Marzano) are very prone to BER whereas cherry and heart-shaped tomatoes are very resistant.

Growing tomatoes for canning sauces and salsas

For best results growing paste tomatoes, make sure you’re burying your tomato stems as deep as possible leaving only 2-3 sets of leaves above ground. Mulch the base of your plants heavily to help block weeds and prevent moisture loss.

The way you fertilize them will affect their growth. To make healthy plants that bear lots of fruit, fertilize at planting with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer and then switch to potassium-rich fertilizer when they start making tomatoes and repeat as needed every 4-8 weeks.

It’s incredibly frustrating as a family that eats A LOT of tomatoes, that we haven’t found a really good producer in the paste tomato category.

So I went on the hunt for some paste varieties of tomatoes that are resistant to disease AND least likely to get BER. These suggestions are from seed companies and fellow tomato nerds who grow and trial many types of tomatoes to find what works the best.

Some are hybrids and some are heirloom tomatoes. If you’re not sure what that means, check out this video:

Best hybrid tomatoes for canning

Big Mama – A beast of a tomato made for dicing, this is a very popular variety for home canners. Known to be a great producer of meaty gargantuan fruits some say this is the best tomato for salsa.

Little Mama – Grow an impressive cluster of small roma-type tomatoes on indeterminate plants with this variety. It’s said to be easy to grow and a heavy producer.

Granadero f1 – an indeterminate variety, this hybrid has a killer disease package. It’s a heavy producer of extremely uniform medium-sized tomatoes with great flavor.

Pozanno F1 – another indeterminate that has incredible resistance to diseases and is not prone to blossom end rot. Has the classic San Marzano shape but doesn’t give in to long, hot summers.

Gladiator hybrid – if you’re looking for a larger paste tomato, consider growing this indeterminate variety by Burpee. This is a Roma type, but quite a bit larger and, despite its large size, is supposed to be good for patios and smaller gardens.

What heirloom tomato is best for salsa?

Heirloom tomatoes are great because they provide tried and true harvest for your salsa canning. Here are some great heirloom, or open-pollinated, varieties that you can choose from.

Amish Paste Tomato – praised for its sweet flavor and heavy fruit set, this classic heirloom tomato is an excellent choice for your favorite salsa recipe.

Marzano fire – A striking yellow-striped red tomato that has shown great disease resistance. This variety, bred in southern California by Fred Hempel, is loved by many who grow it.

Rio Grande – bred to be tolerant of both hot and cold temperatures, this determinate plant sets lots of red, 6-8 oz tomatoes. The thick meaty tomatoes have a mild flavor but are great for canning into paste, salsa, and sauces.

Saucey tomato – An early producer of heavy yields of small red meaty tomatoes with great flavor. The fruit keeps well on the vine so you can harvest all at once.

Goldman’s Italian American tomato – a very large thick-walled pear-shaped tomato that is great for canning. A unique heirloom variety that has an excellent flavor for saucing.

Santa Maria – a somewhat rare indeterminate Italian heirloom paste tomato that has an excellent sweet flavor. It’s meaty and has few seeds to make canning easier.

Heidi – Excellent flavor and resistance to blossom end rot are the winning features of this tomato. Although the tomatoes are on the small side, the plant is very productive.

Oroma – A very dense, not too juicy, long-holding tomato originally released by OSU. Has excellent resistance to BER despite its oblong nippled shape. I’ve heard great things about this nearly seedless paste tomato.

San Marzano Redorta – large Italian heirloom paste tomato with a great taste and impressive disease resistance.

Can you use any type of tomatoes for salsa?

Sure! Feel free to mix the types of tomatoes in your sauce or homemade salsa. If you don’t have enough Roma-type tomatoes, don’t hesitate to chop up a hefty beefsteak tomato.

One of the best things about growing your own tomatoes for canning is that you can mix in several different varieties to make your salsa. This can improve the flavor and texture of your home canned goods.

Are green tomatoes good for salsa? If you’re talking about green-when-ripe, then sure! They make a beautiful salsa, though their flavor tends to be more tart but I encourage you to try it. However, green tomatoes as in unripe tomatoes are not recommended for fresh eating.

Are grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes good for salsa? They’ll taste good, but it will take a lot of tomatoes and chopping to get enough sauce or salsa to preserve.

So if you’re looking for the best types of tomatoes to mix together for salsa, I recommend trying a few different varieties and seeing which ones you like the best. Experimenting with mixing different types of tomatoes to add sweetness, acidity, and texture to your favorite recipes, is just one of the pleasures of making it at home.

You could also try adding some of your favorite flavored slicing tomatoes or roast some cherry tomatoes to add flavor to your sauce. You can always freeze some tomatoes as the harvest is coming in and use them later on when you’re ready. There’s no right or wrong combination of tomatoes for making sauce, just use what you like to eat.

What is the difference between Roma tomatoes and regular tomatoes?

Paste and Roma-type tomatoes are best for salsa because they have a denser fruit with less juice and fewer seeds. When you dice other tomatoes, you end up with a big mess of seeds, juice, and gel. All of that part gets removed if you’re making fresh tomato salsa. With less of that wasted portion and a thicker, firmer flesh, these types of tomatoes provide more meat for your recipes.

Are Roma tomatoes good for slicing?

Although they’re not categorized as a slicing tomato, they are great for this purpose. For the same reasons mentioned above (less seeds, juice, and gel), you will enjoy adding fresh slices of Roma tomatoes to your salad or sandwich.

Got another paste tomato to recommend?

Share it in the comments!

The post 14 Best Tomatoes For Salsa, Canning, And Sauces appeared first on You Should Grow.

If indulging in homegrown tomatoes is the goal, then starting tomatoes from seed is the best way to get there. Starting tomato seeds indoors allows you to control the earliest moments of your tomato plant’s life.

Healthy, happy seedlings do better at transplanting and yield a better crop. Store bought plants may have been mislabeled, treated with chemicals, or stressed and this can really affect the results you get at home.

Growing Tomatoes From Seeds

Tomatoes are actually not hard to start from seed, but there are a few tricks of the trade that can help you get better results.

So in this article, we’ll go over:

● The ideal conditions for germinating tomato seeds
● How to take care of tomato seedlings in their first weeks of life
● Answers to common questions about starting tomato seeds

Before you get ready to start your tomato seeds, you first must choose some tomato varieties for your garden. Not all tomatoes are created equal, so it’s good to do your research before your pick among the thousands of choices.

When To Start Tomato Seeds

You’re shooting for 4-6 weeks before your last frost. You can start them earlier, but any less than 4 weeks and you might not have enough season to get fruit off your plants.

If you’re new to gardening, using seed starting calculators is super helpful. But if you’ve been gardening a while and know your approximate frost dates, start your plants 1-2 months prior to your last spring frost.

For example, in our area of Georgia, we start planting in April. So I know we need to have our tomatoes going by March. My sister lives in New Jersey where the last frost can come as late as mid May. So all of her tomato seeds should be planted starting in April.

What You Need To Grow Tomatoes From Seed

First things first, make sure you have all your supplies. You don’t need any special equipment here, but investing in some basic seed starting supplies definitely helps improve your results.

Recommended supplies:
● Seeds
● Germinating mix
● Containers + dome lid or plastic bag
● Labels
● Heat mat w/ thermometer (recommended, but not necessary)
● Shop light or grow light

How To Sprout Tomato Seeds

Step 1: Fill your container with premoistened germinating mix all the way to the top.

Especially if you’re using a soilless germinating mixture, wetting it down before you fill your containers makes sure that you get even moisture throughout.

Prevent air pockets (where roots can’t grow) by tapping your container to make sure soil settles into all the spaces. Top off with more germ mix if needed.

Step 2: Put seeds in the container

There’s not a real science to this, but you can do a few things to ensure the best results.

➤ Don’t set your seeds too deep. If you push your seeds too deep, they may have trouble popping out of the soil. I use my pointer finger to do this: up to the nail bed but not past the first knuckle.

➤ Don’t crowd them. It’s okay to put multiple seeds into your container, but if they’re too close the roots will get all tangled. You can always cut some out, but if you want to keep all your seedlings, make sure there’s enough space to separate them later.

➤ Do cover them lightly with germ mix or vermiculite.

Step 3: Label container

I recommend putting the variety name, number planted, and date planted.

Step 4: Soak them with water, then cover the container

Give your freshly planted seeds a healthy watering. You don’t want them swimming in soggy soil, but you do want to make sure they maintain some moisture.

Placing a dome lid over your tray or putting your tray in a bag will help keep the moisture in and slow drying.

Step 5: Set them on a heat mat

Here’s where the supplies you choose can make or break your results. To maintain temperature an ideal soil temperature of 80-85 degrees, you really need a heat mat.

If you do use a heat mat, make sure you get one with a thermometer so you can accurately control the soil temperature and not burn them up.

Just setting your seeds inside your house is probably warm enough but you can give them a boost by placing your seed tray on top of your refrigerator.

FYI: Don’t try to use a heating pad, they get way too hot and it’s really easy to cook your seeds and seedlings.

At cooler temperatures (75-80F), you can expect germination to be slower and less consistent-meaning some of your seeds may not sprout. Give them up to 10-14 days to sprout if you’re not using a heat source.

Step 6: Put up a light

Tomatoes don’t need light to germinate but hanging it on day one means it’s there as soon as that first seeding appears. Waiting to hang the light can lead to problems…namely long leggy stems.

You can use a regular shop light with a bright white bulb or buy a seedling specific grow light. Hang the shop light just a couple of inches above your seedling trays. If you’re using, bright LED grow lights you don’t want them quite as close.

Growing tomatoes from seed FAQs

How many tomato seeds per container?

This is up to you, but here’s my recommendation. If they are brand new seeds and you have a heat mat set up, you’ll probably get close to 100% germination. So plant exactly what you need plus maybe one or two more.

If the seeds are old, were saved at home not using fermentation, or if you don’t have a heat mat set up, plant a few extra just in case they don’t all come up.

If you plant extra seeds and they all pop, cut out the weakest sprouts and leave only what you need.

How long does it take for tomato seeds to sprout?

It will take as few as 2 and up to 10 days for your seeds to sprout.

Do I need to fertilize tomato seedlings?

Seedlings will need fertilizer once they are about 2 weeks old. We usually don’t fertilize until after we’ve transplanted them from the small cell seed starting trays.

Caring for tomato seedlings after they sprout

Once they sprout, continue to check on your seedlings daily. Sprouted tomato seedlings simply need water and light for the next week or two.

Keep them covered and on heat to facilitate sprouting and water when the top of the soil appears dry. After 10 or more days have passed (or when all the seeds sprout), you can remove the lid and pull them off the heat mat.

After your seeds have sprouted and are about two weeks old, you’re ready to move on to part two of growing tomatoes from seed: how to transplant your seedlings.

Questions about starting tomato seeds?

Cool. I’m on it! Leave me a comment or join my Facebook group to get help.

The post Growing Tomatoes From Seeds: The Complete Guide appeared first on You Should Grow.

Ready to grow your own hairy tomatoes from seed? Start here.

Tomato plant hairs are actually trichomes.

Your tomato plants are covered in trichomes. Some are long and look like white fuzz on your tomato stem. In the photo below, you can see the glossy strands of the long trichomes poking out all around the stem.  But there are also super tiny ones that look more like little bubbles covering the surface of the tomato plant. Those bubbles are actually perched right on top of super tiny trichomes.

Why do tomatoes have trichomes?

Tomatoes have trichomes to help protect them from pests and disease. The tiny trichomes on tomato plants are like glands that secrete essential oils which give tomato plants their wonderful scent. It is precisely that scent that aims to repel some pests. The tomato plant can react to times of stress by altering the compounds within its trichomes to attempt to deter critters that may want to chomp on it. It is presumed that the pests find the taste, scent, or texture of the essential oils unappealing. If you’ve grown tomatoes before, you know this is not a fail-proof method by any means. But who knows how many more pests would be present without the distasteful oils.

The leaves and fruit of tomato plants are also covered in trichomes. As with the stem, there are trichomes on tomato fruit and leaves that keep them coated with essential oils. Trichomes and their oils form a barrier to prevent bacterial, fungal, and viral infection in addition to trapping water and reducing evaporation.

That’s pretty cool, huh?

Why do tomato plant trichomes matter to gardeners?

It is important to understand the role of the trichomes so that you can be cautious not to damage this protective layer. When pruning your tomatoes, be careful not to squeeze or scrape your plants. Your tomato plant can repair itself, but the wound is an invitation for infection to enter. The damaged area is without the protection of trichomes until the plant can form a scar over the wound.

You may also notice that oils will also begin to accumulate on your hands and fingers during pruning. It starts out as yellow, and as it becomes caked on your skin, it turns black.

Trichomes are to blame for tomato fingers.

If you’ve worked with your tomatoes, you know what I’m talking about! A dirty black film builds up on our hands when you’ve been handling your tomato plants. It happens when you plant, prune, tie up, or harvest. The more time you spend with your tomatoes, the more it gets caked on your fingertips. Some people call it tomato tar.

I call it Tomato Fingers!

These fingers are somewhere in between the green and black stage. Probably with some red clay mixed in. But you get the idea.

It is the build-up of the compounds on the trichomes that make that nasty film.

Remember that the trichomes secrete essential oils? Those oils are what become stuck to your finger and nails. They’re very sticky, and they don’t wipe off easily.

If you are familiar with this stuff, you also know that hand soap seems to just slide around on top of it. That is because the oils are not water-soluble. And don’t try to wipe it off with your hand towels because it will stain them!

I use rubbing alcohol or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and paper towels to scrub off as much as I can. With the crust wiped off, you can more easily get your hands clean. The alcohol dissolves the oils and makes it easier to wash your hands clean with soap and water.

Trichomes are a tomato’s best self-defense

Isn’t that cool that tomatoes can defend themselves with hair?! I am in awe of all the beautiful ways mother nature solves problems. The tomatoes needed a way to defend themselves. They don’t have arms or legs or brains, but they have hair. And they made that work. That’s neat.

If you like finding out cool things like this, please grow a garden. There’s lots of cool stuff to be found out there!

Need some help getting started? Check out these posts

Beginner Gardening Tips

Seed Starting For Beginners

Five Tomatoes You Should Grow

More Info

Visit these additional sites for some seriously awesome tomato hair pics and more info about trichomes.

What type of trichome is on tomato plants?

There are two types of trichomes – glandular and non-glandular. Tomatoes have both glandular and non-glandular types of trichomes. Wondering what trichomes look like? Here’s a microscopic view of tomato trichomes and how they interact with a thrip.

Here’s some more nerdy stuff if you like to know the technical details.

Biomechanics of trichome defense

The development of type VI glandular trichomes in the cultivated tomato

Overview of secretory and glandular trichomes.

The post What You Need To Know About The Hair On Your Tomato Plant appeared first on You Should Grow.

While we should all be proud of our bodies, it’s not always appropriate to parade around in our birthday suits. If you choose to indulge in some bare naked planting, we suggest you keep it classy.

So today, we’re sharing 20+ posts that illustrate the best and worst ways to celebrate World Naked Gardening Day. This post was updated on 12/28/22.

What is World Naked Gardening Day?

According to Wikipedia, World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) was introduced in 2005 as a nudist movement to discourage body shaming and encourage acceptance of all forms of the human body. And it’s really meant to encourage going au naturale in nature to experience a true connection to the green earth.

But you might argue that naked gardening has been ‘a thing’ since the garden of Eden.

“Perhaps indeed he or she to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature has never been eligible (and how many thousands there are!) has not really known what purity is— nor what faith or art or health really is.”

–Walt Whitman, Specimen Days

Today World Naked Gardening Day is celebrated by light-hearted and fun-loving gardeners around the world.

If you enjoy this humorous take on WNGD, then you’re sure to like my tongue-in-cheek post about why gardening is sexy, 

Do a search for #worldnakedgardeningday on any social network, you’re sure to find plenty of people sharing images of their adventures on WNGD.

I’ll admit I was nervous to look up pictures of how others had celebrated Naked Gardening Day, but most gardeners were really quite classy about it and I got a good laugh. After all, we are the only beings blessed with a sense of humor, and awkward + naked = funny. Every time.

While many gardeners opted to cover their goodies with some form of foliage, others were more creative. And it made me think about some of the things I would definitely NOT do on WNGD.

1. Plant roses

While WNGD is a great day to do some planting, stay away from thorny bushes like roses and bougainvillea.

Or what about this guy who decided to bee keeping? Yikes. That’s ballsy.

Instead choose something more appropriate like Peter Pepper, Teton de Venus tomato, and German Johnson tomato.

2. Re-pot your cacti

Of all the things I can think of to do on WNGD, working with spiny succulents doesn’t make it on the list. You could easily get yourself into a sticky situation!

3. Go to the community garden

While I’m all for being unashamed of the naked body, I don’t really want to see what everyone looks like naked. For that reason, I recommend against gardening at the community garden on May 5th.

And for the sake of your neighbors, perhaps avoid trimming the low hedges in your front yard…

4. Fire up the hedge trimmer

In fact, I would think twice about using any power tools while partaking in World Naked Gardening Day.

5. Forget to bring props

When you’re baring all, you might feel more comfortable with a prop. Think outside the box! Sub in your favorite action figure or cover up with a tiny flamingo watering can. Hahahaha

6. Forget to put on sunblock

If you’re going to bare all to the sun, make sure you’re wearing sunblock! And you don’t want to be asking just any random person to help you with your back.

For this reason, I think Naked Gardening Day is best celebrated with that special someone. Even if you never make it out to the garden…

7. Pose in a wheelbarrow

Because what if you fall out and bruise your booty?

8. Squat in the bushes

I’m sure this guy was very careful with his placement when he got down and dirty with his plants, but it seems risky to dip your twig and berries into some twigs and berries.

9. Use sticky fly traps to cover your goodies

Instant regret

10. Forget a way to carry your cell phone

For listening to your favorite tunes of course.

Or just keep your pants around your ankles. LOL

11. Don’t do it alone

The best way to celebrate any day is to have some fun with someone you love.

Here are some things we should do on World Naked Gardening Day

I think it’s a great idea to get out and have some fun on WNGD, and it’s empowering to bare all. Most importantly, don’t be embarrassed. If you’re going to commit to a naked gardening day, then go all the way for it and have some fun!

Have fun with it

There’s something inherently funny about nudity. We should all be proud of our bodies, but let’s also give in to the fact that there’s a lot of awkwardness around being unclothed outdoors.

Include the pets

Especially if you also have a naked cat!

Or this pup who very tastefully posed with his plant.

Invite your friends

It’s always a good day to enjoy the company of your favorite people … just make sure they’re aware of the dress code.

Stay in your comfort zone

If you kinda want to participate but you’re feeling shy, feel free to just bathe in the garden. Don’t forget the beer.

Even news stations are getting in on the fun:

Here are some tips for trimming your bushes on WNGD:

Are you celebrating World Naked Gardening Day?

Share your plans in the comments below!

The post 11 Things You Shouldn’t Do On World Naked Gardening Day appeared first on You Should Grow.

When you see a tomato plant wilting, you’re left wondering:

Is it just thirsty or does it have a disease?

In some cases, you just need to adjust your watering schedule and your plant will be fine. But sometimes, wilting is a symptom of infectious disease that can ruin your entire crop. There are some clues that can help you distinguish between them, and in this post, I’m going to go over the causes of tomato wilt and what you need to do to help your plant recover.

What causes tomato plant wilting?

Tomato wilt is a symptom of dis-ease that makes the tomato plant leaves droop and lose their shape. Wilting is most commonly a sign that your plants need water, and all plants will respond this way to dehydration. If the soil is dry and your plant is droopy with flat, thin leaves, you probably just need to water it. It should recover, but if it got too dry or this happens very often, don’t expect a good crop off of that plant.

On the flip side, too much water can cause wilting of plants. In this case, the soil around the plant will be wet and the leaves will droop but stay hydrated. Let the plant dry out and watch it for the next couple of days to see how it does. Don’t water again until the top inch of soil is dry. Container plants will also need some fertilizer as nutrients were likely washed out with the overwatering.

Pro Tip:

Watering tomato plants is a balancing act. Tomatoes need even moisture, and they don’t respond well to periods of dry or soggy soil. Water stress can lead to problems like tasteless fruit, blossom end rot, and cracking and even facilitate the spread of disease.

Other environmental causes of wilt in tomato plants

Tomatoes that experience a frost will wilt and not recover. The freezing of the water in their cells causes them to burst thus killing the plant. Also, certain trees like the black walnut, will stunt the growth and cause wilting of many plants including tomatoes. It is recommended not to plant under or near a walnut tree. If you’re looking at your wilted plant and there’s not an environmental issue causing wilt, then you might be dealing with one of the infectious causes of wilt.

Infectious causes of tomato wilt

When experienced gardeners and farmers talk about wilt, they are often talking about an infectious disease. Tomato wilt can be caused by many types of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections that can infect and destroy your entire crop. That’s why it’s very important to determine whether your plant is having a physiological response to stress or it’s come down with a sickness and you need to get it out of your garden asap.

There are several common causes of infectious wilt:

Tomato spotted wilt virus

Tomato spotted wilt virus is an infection that is can be seen worldwide. This viral infection is transmitted by several species of thrips which are tiny biting insects that find hosts on tomatoes and many other plants.

TSWV is not a disease of just tomatoes, but can also be found on peppers, potatoes, and several other flower and weed species. Symptoms vary by strain of virus, species of plant infected, and age of plant infected.

On tomatoes, symptoms usually appear on the youngest/growing portions of the plant. While signs of infection vary on a case by case basis, plants usually exhibit one or more of the following symptoms:

• Leaves turn a brown/bronze color and may curl upward
• Leaves can get clusters of small black spots
• Wilting and death of the growing portions of the plant.
• Both green and ripe fruit are lumpy with ring-shaped marks

Unfortunately, there is no way to treat infection with TSWV and infected plants should be culled and burned or tossed into the trash. You can send your plant for testing at your local university extension service if you want a firm diagnosis.

To prevent the spread, you really need to focus on getting rid of the thrips. If I knew they were spreading TSWV, I would skip all the horticultural oils and treat instead with either PyGanic or Naturalyte. Both of which are organic approved pesticides.

My preference is for Naturalyte because the active ingredient, spinosad, has no residual effect on pollinators, but PyGanic is a sure bet to get rid of your pest problem. In either case, avoid spraying when bees and other pollinators are active.

Fusarium wilt

Fusarium wilt is a fungal infection common in areas with warm, moist weather. The fungus lives in the soil and enters the plants via their root system.

As it spreads, it grows up the inside of the tomato plant to the stem and branches via the vascular system. This clogging of its vascular system is what causes the symptoms of wilting and stunted growth. You’ll first notice the lower leaves turn yellow and start to die. Sometimes only one side or branch is affected at first, but eventually infected plants die.

This fungal disease is persistent in the soil indefinitely so the only recourse is planting resistant plants (indicated by the letter F after the name) or growing in new/sterilized containers and potting soil. Do not compost – destroy infected plants.

verticillium wilt

Verticillium wilt is very similar to fusarium wilt, but is more common in the north and favors cool moist soils. Verticillium wilt does not kill tomato plants but rather causes a drastic decrease in vigor and production.

Symptoms appear later in the season and include yellow discoloration of the older (lower) leaves of the plant. On the leaf, yellowing often begins in a v-shape and eventually extends to the whole leaf. The plant will wilt during the day but recover at night. Fruit may set but are smaller and fewer in numbers.

Both Fusarium and Verticillium will be evident if you cut open the stem of affected plants. You’ll see a brown to black discoloration of the vascular system whereas a healthy stem is only shades of green.

While there are ways to tell the difference, it can be very difficult to distinguish between verticillium and fusarium wilt in the field. So if you want to know which your property is affected with, you’ll need to send your plants to your local university extension office.

Like Fusarium, once verticillium is established in the soil, it will remain indefinitely. There is no way to treat or prevent infection so the only course of action is to plant resistant varieties (look for resistance label V) or plant in new containers and soil. Don’t compost – destroy infected plants

Bacterial Wilt

Caused by the bacterium Ralstonia (Pseudomonas) solanacearum, bacterial wilt works in the same way as the fungal wilts. The bacteria grow in and lead to the death of tomato plants. This bacteria thrives in hot and wet soils and once established remains infective for many years.

Bacterial wilt can be distinguished from other forms of wilt at home. Compared to the fungal wilts, bacterial wilt causes wilting of the youngest (uppermost) leaves. Leaves do not turn yellow but rather stay green. When you cut the stem of tomato plants infected with bacterial wilt, you’ll see a white milky substance instead of the brown growth of the fungi.

When freshly cut stems are placed in a glass of water, you can see the white substance draining from inside. If you notice these symptoms and suspect your plant is infected with bacterial wilt, pull it out of the garden right away and dispose of it. Don’t compost – destroy infected plants.

The only method of control for bacterial wilt is planting resistant varieties or grafted plants on resistant rootstock. There is no treatment for infected plants or soil. If you confirm the presence of bacterial wilt in your garden, you’ll do better to plant tomatoes in containers from now on.

Root knot Nematodes

Nematodes are tiny wormlike creatures that infest and feed on tomato roots. Their presence causes knots or galls of the roots and damages their ability to take up food and water. Symptoms of root knot nematodes include wilting, stunted growth, and pale color. You’ll also see the knots or galls on the roots of the plants.

You can find tomato varieties that are resistant to nematodes as indicated by the letter ‘N’ after the variety name. Nematode numbers can be decreased by growing resistant varieties for several seasons. However, when susceptible varieties are then planted, numbers of nematodes will rise again.

Also affects pepper, cucumber, squash, eggplant, and okra.

Southern Blight

Another fungal disease, southern blight causes sudden wilting and death of the entire plant. Also known as Southern Wilt and Southern Stem Rot, the fungus enters the stem at the soil line causing the plant to suddenly wilt and die. Infection leaves a telltale dry brown rotten spot around the base of the stem which may develop a white moldy growth in high moisture situations.

The fungus lives in the top 2-3 inches of soil and high temps and wet, acidic soils encourage growth. Once the fungus is established in the soil, it can be hard to get rid of it. Grow tomatoes in raised beds or containers or grow nonsusceptible crops (corn and cover crops) for a minimum of 2 years before planting tomatoes in that area again.

Dealing with tomato wilt

Beyond optimizing your watering schedule, the best recourse for dealing with tomato wilt is to plant resistant varieties. Look for resistance label VFN, and keep in mind that many resistant tomatoes are hybrids…and it’s okay to grow hybrids even in an organic garden.

Some of my favorite wilt-resistant tomatoes are:

• Sungold
• Big Beef
• Polbig

But there are several options for you to look through at Johnny’s seed supply.

Have you lost tomato plants to tomato wilt disease?

Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

This post was updated on 12/24/22 to improve format

The post Tomato plant wilting? You need to do this now! appeared first on You Should Grow.

What is frost?

Frost is simply frozen condensation. It occurs at temperatures below freezing, i.e. 32F and 0C. In gardening, we talk about a light frost and a hard freeze. A light frost occurs below 32F and causes ice crystals to form from water molecules in and around your plants. A hard freeze is typically below 25F for more than 4 hours. Some frost tolerant plants will not have a problem with a light frost, but few vegetables will tolerate a hard freeze.

What does frost damage look like?

When water freezes it expands, and this causes your plants’ cell walls to burst. Portions of plants damaged by frost will initially be black and slimy. The foliage wilts and you’ll often note burned growing tips. You may just lose a few leaves, but it’s also possible to wake up to a completely dead plant.

How do you protect plants from frost?

Essentially, you just need to cover your plant with some kind of material to trap warm air around your plants so that temperatures stay a few degrees above those outside the cover. The type of cover you use doesn’t actually matter all that much. So in a pinch, you can throw almost anything over your plants as long as it doesn’t squish them and you take it off in the morning.

Consider planting frost resistant plants

Not all plants are as susceptible to damage from frost. Some plants can protect themselves from a light frost by increasing the sugar content within their cells. The increased sugar lowers the freezing point of the water in the cells just enough to protect the cell walls from damage, and these plants will actually taste better if they are grown through a frost!

5 ways to protect plants from freezing temperatures

If your first frost is a few weeks away, then you still have time to build a low tunnel or cold frame. However, sometimes frost warnings pop up unexpectedly, and you might not be ready with a low tunnel or cold frame.

If that’s your situation, don’t worry! I have some quick solutions for frost protection that you can use in a pinch. The first two types of plant covers for cold weather not only offer frost protection but actually create a microclimate that will significantly extend your growing season.

Protect plants in winter with a low tunnel

A low tunnel is a short greenhouse tunnel placed over your plants. They are usually only 2-4 feet tall. You create a low tunnel by placing hoops every few feet and covering the entire bed or row with plastic or agricultural fabric.

The covering works by trapping warm air under the tunnel to raise the temperature a few degrees which protects your plants from frost overnight. This method using fiberglass rods is the easiest and fastest way to make hoops that I’ve seen!

You can also make hoops from PVC pipe (here’s a good tutorial) or use this tool from Johnny’s to make hoops from galvanized electrical conduit. That’s how we built ours.

For the cover that you’ll place over the hoops, you may choose a lightweight frost protection fabric (like this one) which will protect plants from frost down to about 28 degrees Fahrenheit. If it’s colder than that, you’ll need to use a thick UV resistant plastic sheeting. Don’t forget to place rocks or bricks around the edges to hold the fabric or plastic down, and make sure that at least one side of your tunnel can be lifted for harvesting.

During periods of warm days and cool nights, you may need to open the ends of the low tunnel during the day to let out some heat. This is especially true if you decide to go with plastic sheeting. Low tunnels are one of the best ways to grow more food during colder months. They can be customized to fit the length and width of your garden bed and are easily stored when not in use.

Build a cold frame for frost protection.

A cold frame is basically a small greenhouse that can be placed over your a garden bed. Cold frames can be built with scrap lumber and old windows like this one from This Old House. However, it doesn’t need to be that complicated. It can be as simple as setting some hay bales around your plants and placing a window on top.

A cold frame provides excellent insulation and protection from wind and cold weather. However, while there are many uses for cold frames, this type of frost protection does limit your growing space. And, depending on the construction, the walls can block some of the light that your plants receive. For these reasons, a cold frame is most appropriately used for small garden beds.

Use a plant cloche

A cloche is a tiny greenhouse house you place over individual plants. This is a great option if you have just a few seedlings or small plants in the garden that need protection. They are usually made of plastic or glass and may be rigid or flexible like these popup types. You can also make your own from 2-liter plastic bottles or a milk jug. All cloches should some venting so that they don’t cook the plants the next day. Otherwise, make sure you’re out there as early as possible to remove the cloche before the sun comes up.

But what if frost is in the forecast and you don’t have a tunnel, cold frame, or cloche?

You have several options to protect your plants from frost even if you didn’t plan ahead.

Basically, you can cover them with anything you have on hand. For individual plants, grab a bucket, flowerpot, or even a cardboard box to put over them for the night. If your plants are sturdy, you can lay garden fleece, burlap sack, blanket, tarp, or sheet right on top of the garden bed. If your plants are small and fragile enough that laying a blanket right on top of them could break the stems, then use stakes or blocks to provide some support underneath your cover.

Be aware, though, that thinner covers like bed sheets may not provide complete protection and the tips of plants can still get bit by the frost where the cover touches them. In any case, you absolutely must remember to pull the cover off in the morning or you might smother your plants.

Don’t have a cover? Leave a sprinkler running overnight

That sounds crazy, right? I thought so when I first heard it! But keeping your plants wet can actually protect them from freezing. Make sure you read about using sprinklers to protect plants from freezing before deciding to use this method.

So if you find yourself facing a frost, don’t give up hope on your garden!

When you see a cold snap looming in your forecast, you need to act fast to protect plants from dangerously cold temperatures. Using one of these techniques you can keep your plants protected and growing healthy food even into the winter.

Have another idea for protecting your plants from frost? Leave me a comment below!

This post was updated 12/24/22 for format and removal of broken links.

The post How To Protect Plants From Frost appeared first on You Should Grow.

Some people say you should only grow heirlooms because you can’t save seeds from hybrids. But to me, this is just silliness.

#1 – You can save seeds from hybrids (you just don’t know what the baby tomatoes will be like)

#2 – Who cares? It’s unlikely that this is the last year for gardening, and you’ll need to have your own stock of saved seed to carry on to future generations.

Why You Should Grow Hybrids

First-time gardeners, in my experience, have one of two ideas about growing tomatoes. Either, their first garden was a fantastic success and they think it’s super easy (ahem, virgin soil), or their garden flopped and they think they have a brown thumb and can’t ever grow tomatoes.

In reality, growing tomatoes really all comes down to healthy soil, adequate sun, and appropriate watering. If you get all that right, then you can grow any tomato variety successfully.

But if you’ve struggled with growing tomatoes before, perhaps it was the tomato that didn’t suit your garden and not the other way around.

So why hybrids? The short answer is hybrids can be easier to grow and tend to produce more tomatoes. Let’s go into some detail about why this is true.

Hybrid Tomatoes Have Improved Disease Resistance

If you’ve never grown tomatoes before, I’m going to save you some trouble. Your tomatoes will get diseased at some point.

In some areas, the soil harbors fungal wilt diseases, and if you unknowingly choose a variety that isn’t resistant to that disease, your garden might fail no matter what you do.

As a general rule, hybrid tomatoes are bred to improve resistance to a variety of diseases. So even if you don’t know which diseases might be endemic to your area, a hybrid tomato is a great choice.

Pause for an important fact: disease resistance does not mean your plants won’t get diseased. It only means your plants won’t die and will continue to produce despite infection.

Hybrids Are More Heat & Drought Tolerant

If summer temps in your area top 90 degrees F, your tomato plants could stop setting fruit. And forget trying to keep up with watering…especially in container-grown tomatoes.

At some point, your watering is only going to keep your plants alive, but since tomato leaves are inedible, what’s the point if it’s not making fruit?

Choosing a hybrid variety that makes tomato babies even when the summer sun is beating down is the only way to combat this and another reason hybrids make better plants than heirlooms.

Hybrid Tomatoes Can Test Better

The way a tomato tastes has a lot to do with how it’s grown, but genetics also play a major role. From the color of the skin to the sugar concentration and pH, many factors affect the flavor of tomato fruit.

There are some general rules about tomatoes like yellow fruit are lower in acidity but this also tends to make them bland. Cherry tomatoes tend to have higher concentrations of sugar and taste sweet.

Manipulating genetics through breeding can break these rules, so if you want to find a really sweet yellow tomato, start looking into hybrid varieties.

Hybrid Plants Bear Fruit Faster

One of the things that I find most frustrating about tomatoes is how long it can take to get your first ripe fruit. Granted, time to fruit can be affected by a lot of things including weather, time of planting, and age of the plant.

But genetics also play a major role in how long it takes to get ripe fruit from a tomato plant. Heirlooms often take their sweet time, so choosing a quick growing hybrid variety can have you making tomato sandwiches faster than your neighbor.

Hybrids Provide More Tomatoes To Eat

All of the above amounts to more and better tomatoes, and that’s really what we’re all after. However, fruiting potential can also be selectively bred for and some hybrid tomatoes are truly more productive. It’s just in their genes.

Don’t Be An Heirloom Tomato Snob

If you choose only to grow heirlooms because those are the plants that speak to your soul, then go for it. But if you’re only growing them because you think that somehow is better for your garden, then you’ve been misinformed.

Grow what you want to grow, and don’t make gardening harder than it has to be. If you are struggling to get the results you want out of your garden, maybe it’s time to rethink what you’re planting there.

The post The Case For Hybrid Tomato Varieties appeared first on You Should Grow.

Seed saved from a crossbred vegetable is called f1 seed, but you might think of it as the first generation.

You hear a lot of people talking about heirloom veggies and why it is so important to grow heirloom varieties for your home garden. But I don’t hear a lot of people talking about the advantages of hybrid plants.

And if you are skipping varieties of your favorite fruits and veggies just because the variety is a hybrid, then you are really missing out!

Hybrid Vegetable Facts

• Hybrid plants are not genetically modified.
• Hybrid plants are not sterile.
• Hybrid plants are not going to contaminate your garden.
• Hybrid plants are not going to give you cancer.

Click here to read about the difference between heirlooms, hybrids, and GMOs.

Exactly what is a hybrid vegetable variety?

Usually, hybrid plants are created by vegetable breeders who intentionally pollinate one variety of vegetable, fruit, or flower with another variety of the same vegetable, fruit, or flower.

That’s it.

It’s kinda like a Labradoodle puppy. They have qualities of behavior, looks, and maintenance that are more desirable than either labradors or poodles on their own. But basically, they’re just a mixed breed.

You love Labradoodles right? (What’s NOT to love?!)

Hybrid plants are just mixed breeds. Nothing to be scared of there.

But they say I can’t save seed from hybrid plants!

Nonsense! 

Of course, you can save seeds from hybrid vegetables.

In the vast majority of cases, the seeds from a hybrid vegetable will grow the same vegetable in the next generation.

If you’re faced with an SHTF survival situation, seed saved from a hybrid plant will still provide you with food.

But here’s the thing about hybrids, their genetics are unstable.

So the plant and fruit from the saved seed could be a little (or a lot) different from what you grew originally… but only in terms of size, shape, color, flavor, and vigor of the plant.

Your first hybrid plant was food. Your second-generation hybrid fruit is also food. You might like it more. You might like it less. But it’s still food.

If you did have to grow hybrid seeds for your food, then you would still have food and survive. So let’s just toss that concern out the door.

After about 7 generations, the hybrid variety will stabilize its genetics, and they become an open-pollinated variety.

Once they hit open-pollinated status, a lot of catalogs will refer to open-pollinated varieties as heirloom seeds.

Many so-called heirloom tomatoes were an f1 hybrid just 7 years ago.

But hybrid veggies are not as nutritious!

Baloney!

This is just silly. Don’t believe everything you read.

In fact, hybrid vegetable varieties can be bred to be more nutritious by altering the amount of color pigment (antioxidants) and increasing the bioavailability of antioxidants.

Hybrid vegetables can’t be organic

Hogwash!

Organic status refers to the way plants are grown and considers things like:

• Does the farmer use chemical pesticides or herbicides anywhere on the property?
• Are the plants fertilized with synthetic fertilizers (like Miracle-gro)?
• Are any of the crops grown on or adjacent to the property genetically modified?

But whether the plants are heirloom/open-pollinated or hybrid has nothing to do with being organic.

But the hybrid veggies will cross-pollinate with my heirloom veggies!

Okay, this one might be true.

If you have a lot of pollinators in your garden, it is possible that your hybrid varieties can pollinate your heirloom veggies.

But pollinators will also cross-pollinate different heirloom vegetables.

So if you’re concerned about getting pure seed from your plants, make sure to separate different varieties of plants by at least 3 feet or choose to grow only one variety of each type of vegetable.

The reality is that most of your garden veggies are self-pollinating.

Especially the ones that we tend to grow many types of like tomatoes and peppers.

Learn more about self-pollinating vegetables here.

And because of this, even in a densely planted garden with many types of veggies, most seeds will not be cross-pollinated.

What would happen if your heirloom veggies did cross-pollinate?

1. You eat the fruit and never know it happened.
2. You save the seed and you have a hybrid cross F1 seeds. And you still might not even know it happened.

Advantages to growing hybrid plants:

Hybrid plants are bred for improved vigor.

Many hybrid f1 varieties of vegetables will grow bigger, faster, and produce more fruit. They might also be more tolerant of heat, drought, frost, or rain.

Hybrid plants are bred for increased disease resistance.

This means they will make fruit even when faced with disease pressure that can kill heirloom plants. So if you’ve had trouble with late blight or mosaic virus in your garden, you might search out some resistant hybrid tomato varieties.

Hybrid plants are bred for improved flavor.

They might be sweeter, juicier, or less bitter than their heirloom counterparts. This is especially true when it comes to corn seed. Many of the sweetest varieties of corn are f1 varieties.

Hybrid plants are bred to be better looking.

Many hybrid varieties are bred to fit into tighter spaces, have perfectly round red fruit, or be smaller and more manageable or larger for more pounds per plant.

Disadvantages of hybrid plants:

• f2 plants are much less reliable than f1 plants
• you might have to grow a lot of f2 plants to get a good one
• you have to rebuy the seed for f1s

Don’t be afraid to grow hybrids

I have grown, eaten, saved seed from, and cross-pollinated with hybrids, and I’m not dead yet. So if you feel like trying something new, don’t hesitate to grow a vegetable variety just because it’s a hybrid.

Happy Gardening!

The post The Honest Truth About Hybrid Plants appeared first on You Should Grow.