Baked Tomato

 

July, 2022

Pickaway to Garden

 

Baked Tomato

 

By Paul Hang

 

I am referring to the plant not the fruit. If the plant is baked you are not likely to get any fruit, baked or otherwise. Lately our tomato plants, along with us, are being baked in the garden. At prolonged temperatures of 85 degrees plus and especially with high humidity, tomato plants are prone to dropping their blossoms and not setting fruit. I have noticed that my plants don’t have as many tomatoes on them as I am used to seeing. How about you?

 

I turns out that tomatoes have perfect flowers, which means they have male (Stamens) and female (Pistils or Stigmas) parts in the same flower. They are self-fertilizing and don’t need bees or other insects to help fertilize them. Tomatoes like it warm, they are a tropical plant, but not too hot. With prolonged hot temps and high humidity the pollen becomes sticky and does not fall from the Stamens onto the Pistil and thus the ovary is not fertilized and the blossom dries and drops off. No fruit forms.

 

If the leaves on your tomato plants are also dropping off this is another clue they are too hot. What to do? Water well and regularly. Stick your finger in the soil and if it is dry an inch down you need to water, about an inch a week or more when it is hot. Mulch the plants with organic material or plastic. If you have your tomatoes in containers you might be able to move them into shade temporarily. You might try shade cloth if it is feasible.

 

Another trick is to flick the flower with your finger when the blossoms are bright butter-yellow. Don’t flick them so hard that the petals fall off; you are just trying to dislodge the pollen. For a thorough discussion of this go to joegardener.com, Podcast #266. There, Tomato guru Craig LeHoullier gives lots of ways to improve your tomato growing.

 

Prolonged hot weather can also affect the pollination of other solanaceous vegetables such as peppers, potatoes and eggplants. Melons, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins and beans can also suffer from poor pollination when the temperature and humidity are high. With all these plants affected, perhaps I should have titled this column Baked Ratatouille.

 

Have gardening questions? Call the Gardening Helpline 740-474-7534. To read about problems facing those of us who “grow things,” check out bygl.osu.edu.

 

Things to do in the garden:

Are you waiting on cucumbers and squash to start bearing fruit? Remember, they get male flowers first then later the female flowers come on. Then, after pollination, the fruit can form. This is the time to dry herbs. Harvest just before they flower. Pick on a sunny dry day and in the morning. Tie them in small bundles with rubber bands. Hang them upside down in a hot, dry, dark, well ventilated spot in an attic, barn or shed. This is also the time to harvest garlic and hang them or lay them out to dry and cure. Harvest when leaves are turning yellow but there are still one or two green leaves.

 

Weeding, deadheading and watering are high on the list of routine activities. If July turns out to be bone dry, as usual, water the equivalent of one inch per week. Don’t let your plants wilt. This will cause blossom end rot in tomatoes and other solanaceous plants like peppers and eggplant.  Mulch to conserve moisture and keep down weeds. If you haven’t mulched yet do so after a soaking thunderstorm or a good watering. Vegetables higher in water content need more water e.g. tomatoes, watermelons, onions vs. green beans.

 

Keep your mower blades sharp; cut your grass long, 3-4 inches is ideal. If you use a pesticide for grubs you are also killing the ones that produce fireflies. Consider organic methods if you have a grub problem.  Kill Japanese beetle scouts before they let their comrades know about your garden. Brush them off into a cup of soapy water or alcohol (not Jim Beam). Repeatedly letting the lawn go dormant and reviving it by watering can kill the grass. Either keep watering or wait for Mother Nature to do it for you. Don’t forget to water your compost heap. It needs to remain moist for fast decomposition.

 

Going on vacation? Water well before you leave. Place container plants in a shady area. They should do fine for a week depending on the weather. If you will be gone longer have someone reliable come over and water regularly. Container plants in the hot sun may need watering daily.

 

If your grafted trees or roses are sprouting suckers below the graft, cut the sprouts off.

Keep picking seed pods off the annuals and clipping spent flowers (deadheading) to encourage bloom all summer. Pinch back mums July 15^th for the last time.

 

Always read the labels on your plants for fertilization. Most woody plants have completed their growth and their buds for next year so fertilizing trees and shrubs after early July is a waste of money and may harm the plant. Keep watering trees and shrubs planted in the past 2-3 years. Ten gallons for every inch in diameter every week is good.

 

Consider planting a fall garden this month. Cool weather vegetables can be planted to take advantage of the coming cool fall weather. Plants such as cabbage, broccoli, spinach, collards, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts (plant seeds now, seedlings later), kale, Swiss chard even beets and parsnips thrive in our fall weather. If it is hot and dry, consider starting your plants indoors (except for root crops). Acclimate seedlings to the sun before putting them out in the garden.

 

Other vegetables that grow well in cool weather but should be planted a little later are lettuce planted through August and September, carrots and radishes in September.  Count the days before the average frost (mid-October), veggies that have that many days to harvest can still be planted. Check the seed packet. There are also some other varieties of vegetables that can overwinter for harvesting in the spring.  Check varieties in seed catalogs or on-line. Order now.