I grew up on a small farm in rural Missouri. There were nine in my family so growing a large garden was a necessity. As a kid, I took to gardening like I was born there. I loved digging in the dirt and helping my dad grow the biggest tomatoes I’d ever seen. Our tomato plants towered over six feet high and most of the tomatoes we harvested weighed at least a pound or two. My dad used a special technique to grow tomatoes this big and I’d like to share his secret with you.
Today, I live in the Flathead Valley in northern Montana. Because I live in town, I had to modify my dad’s tomato growing technique to fit both the climate here and my personal situation. It is fairly easy to adapt my dad’s tomato growing technique to your own climate and circumstances. You will still be able to grow really big tomatoes. The general principle is the same and my tomato pictures are proof that it really works!
First, you will need to choose a variety of tomato known for producing large fruit and adaptable to your particular area and climate. There are several tomato varieties that generally fall into this category. Back when I was a kid, my dad was well-known for growing large Big Boy hybrid tomatoes.
Today, my favorite large “meaty” tomato is the Beefmaster. The hybrid tomato is fairly easy to identify with the Beefmaster’s rather distinct wrinkles radiating out from the tomato stem. I always recommend Beefmaster first to anyone wanting to grow large round tomatoes. Here’s why:
Beefmaster hybrid tomatoes produce amazingly large yields of firm round tomatoes. Beefmaster hybrid is also one of the meatiest large round tomatoes. The fruit is firm and has a true old fashioned “tomato” taste. Beefmastertomatoes taste great freshly sliced on sandwiches or served in salads. They also make delicious homed canned salsa and sauces. That’s right; this firm beefy Beefmaster hybrid tomato works as well as Roma tomatoes in many home canned tomato recipes. More importantly, this hybrid variety produces tomatoes over an extended period. This can be critical for northern gardeners like me who have relatively short growing seasons. Following are some important tomato growing considerations:
First, if you decide to start your tomatoes from seeds, remember they’ll need adequate sunlight, proper watering, room to grow and adequate protection from kids and pets. I say this because my three cats love nothing better than sunning themselves in my flowerpots while digging in the dirt, and destroying my plants!
Most seed companies recommend planting tomato seeds indoors 5 to 6 weeks before the last frost date in your area. I recommend starting tomatoes from seeds even sooner, provided there is adequate space for them to grow indoors. If this is too much trouble, or just not feasible with your circumstances, don’t fret. You can always go to your local nursery and purchase tomato starter plants ready to be transplanted into your garden. It is certainly more convenient than starting tomatoes indoors from seed.
If you decide to purchase a large number of tomato plants, it can get rather expensive, so shop around. Farmers’ markets and local nurseries usually have better deals than most retail stores. You know–the stores selling tomato plants from a parking lot greenhouse. Also, be sure you purchase tomato plants that look healthy and have thick strong stems. Don’t wait too late in the season, either; you might find yourself disappointed. Tomato plants tend to sell out fast; at least they do here in my area.
Once home, don’t wait too long to set your new tomato plants outside. You should have them outdoors as soon as any danger of frost has passed. In order to set fruit, tomatoes need a period of vernalization. This requires exposure to cooler temperatures down in the 40’s for several weeks to initiate good bud formation. The more buds–the more tomatoes! So even if your tomatoes are still in their pots, it’s good to set them outdoors. It also helps reduce transplant shock when you finally do plant the tomatoes outdoors in the garden.
In addition to proper nutrients, you need to ensure these two things occur. This is critical to growing large tomatoes:
(1) Getting enough water, since tomatoes are about 90% water and
(2) Preventing tomato rot from occurring. This happens whenever tomatoes are left to touch the ground.
And now . . . here’s my dad’s secret tomato growing technique. It ensures these critical things all happen! And believe it or not, it involves nylon pantyhose. My mom, two sisters and I saved every single pair of snagged or ruined pantyhose–just for tomato growing season each summer.
First, plant your tomatoes in the garden in parallel rows about 3 ft. apart. There should be about 2 ½ ft. between each tomato plant along both rows. If you have already planted tomatoes in your garden and the weatherman predicts frost, put an upside down bucket over your plants, or use whatever you have on hand to protect them from danger of killer frost.
Hill the parallel tomato rows with a garden hoe, and keep weeded. After your tomato plants have had a few days to adjust to their new garden environment, hill rows even higher. About this time my dad would always haul a couple of pick-up-truck loads of aged barn mature, and dump it between the tomato rows. My brothers, sisters and I were kept busy shoveling composted manure, and hilling it up around the plants. Hilling the tomato plants higher helped make a knee-deep irrigation ditch between dad’s two long tomato rows. Then my dad would run a fence between the two tomato rows, right along the length of the tomato irrigation ditch.
I skip these last two steps–too much work, and not feasible unless you happen to have a barn with a lot of manure, some extra fencing, and a post-hole digger. I modified my dad’s technique to just digging a ditch between my two tomato rows. My tomato ditch is smaller; too, I try for about a foot and a half to two feet deep. No shovels–I only use a garden hoe and a metal rake for digging and hilling up loose garden dirt. The metal garden rake is useful for raking loose dirt up and squaring off each end of the tomato irrigation ditch.
In Missouri, we always ran our garden hose out and filled up the big tomato irrigation ditch every day. Where I live in Montana, I only need to fill mine up about every other day or so. Adjust your tomato irrigation schedule depending upon the precipitation in your area. You don’t want to flood your tomatoes, just keep them well hydrated in the summer heat.
Next, since I skipped my dad’s manure step, I substitute by using Miracle Grow in my garden hose fertilizer sprayer. You might even have a favorite organic fertilizer you prefer. The trick is to spray the fertilizer directly onto your tomato plants and then spray fertilizer directly into your tomato irrigation ditch. Since I don’t want to stand and hold the garden hose for an hour or two while my irrigation ditch fills up, I usually prop the end up with rocks so it doesn’t spray holes into the side of my irrigation ditch. Fertilize this way at least twice a month; weekly if you can–especially if your soil isn’t very good.
Once your tomato plants are a couple of feet high, they may start leaning. So instead of building a fence like my dad did, stake your tomatoes up. Do not buy the metal tomato cages you see in the stores. These will not be nearly as large or sturdy enough to support your tomato crop. My husband went to the lumberyard and bought poles the first year we tried this. My tomato poles were so burdened from the weight of the large tomatoes, they started bending. Several poles even broke in two from the weight of the large tomatoes.
At the end of that first season, I pulled out my tomato plants and harvested the remaining green tomatoes. Even then, each plant had over 50 lbs. of green tomatoes each. My point being, tomato stakes need to be at least five to six feet high and very sturdy. We used scrap 2″x 4″‘s the next year instead of poles and they worked much better. Use a heavy mallet to hammer them into the ground so they stand firm and steady. Try to hammer tomato stakes as close to the base of the plants as you can. Avoid rocks andbe extra careful not to damage the tomato stems.
Once your tomatoes are staked, it’s time to tie them up. That’s where all those pantyhose come in handy. Unlike string or stem wire, nylon stretches and has the advantage of not injuring tomato stems as the plant grows larger. Cut each pantyhose leg into 1″ strips and then slit each of these nylon rings into strips.
Tie the main tomato vine up to the tomato stake using a nylon pantyhose strip. You probably will need to tie it in several spots to fully support it. Then tie up all the other main branches for added support. For some branches you may need to tie two nylon strips together in order to be long enough. I even cut up the panty portion of the pantyhose for longer tie strips. Make sure all tomatoe branches are well supported and no tomato fruit touches the ground.
You will end up using multiple nylon ties on each plant. Each tomato plant should have all its main branches supported with no tomatoes touching the ground when you are finished. As your tomato plants grow taller, periodically tie up new branches as needed to help further support the added weight.
Weed as needed, and continue your irrigating and fertilizing schedule. As long as your tomato plants are getting plenty of sunshine, moisture, and nutrients they should be growing like crazy.
My dad died in 1986. But, whenever I’m out in my garden working I remember him fondly, and smile. My dad and I didn’t always get along well, but I am forever thankful he taught me a love of gardening and his secret for growing really big tomatoes. Now, thanks to my dad’s special tomato growing technique, all winter long my family enjoys home canned tomato sauce, salsa, soup, catsup, and barbeque sauce. And since it isn’t a secret anymore, I hope you use it and share it with your family and friends, too.
