Tomatoes Solanum lycopersicum

Tomatoes are a garden favorite, the most popular homegrown vegetable, with fruits that come in various colors from yellow to red to purple and sizes small to large.  While the portion eaten is botanically a fruit, tomatoes are used as and considered a vegetable due to their savory flavor.  They are in the nightshade family and, although they have been cultivated in North America for a long time, are not considered native.

They need fertile well-drained garden soil, full sun, warmth and plenty of water.  They prefer a slightly acidic soil, 5.5 to 7 pH.  Keep the soil consistently watered to avoid blossom end rot and splitting fruit.  While they need decent nutrition, too much fertilizer– especially nitrogen– can lead to extensive leafy growth with little fruit production.  Cultivars come in bush-type (determinate), semi-determinate, and vining (indeterminate): bush-types are small and compact with a set amount of fruit production while vining plants grow several feet tall and produce fruit continuously until frost, with semi-determinate falling somewhere in-between.  While determinate cultivars do not always need support, It is best to cage tomato plants as most have weak stems that tend to sprawl on the ground if not staked.  These can be set up during planting.

Tomatoes can be started by seed indoors 5-6 weeks before planting or bought as transplants.  Plant outdoors after the risk of frost has passed, watering plants well before transplanting and choosing a location where other nightshade-family plants have not been grown within the past 3-4 years.  Plant as early as possible as North Carolina's hot summers can cause blossoms to drop before setting fruit.  Larger fruits like beefsteak tomatoes are harder to produce in NC for this reason.  Space plants 18-24 in apart.  Tomatoes will grow extra roots on portions of the stem that are under the soil; remove the lower set of leaves and bury the lower portion of the stem 2-3 in below the ground to increase root growth and plant vigor.  Tomatoes can also be grown in containers at a minimum of 5 gal and 1-2 ft deep, one plant per pot.

PROBLEMS: Tomatoes are susceptible to many pests and diseases such as blights, blossom end-rot, wilts, bacterial and viral diseases, tomato hornworms, aphids, beetles, and cutworms. Then there are problems like the weather and man-made issues as watering overhead. They can be a lot of work but well worth the effort.

According to Dr. Anna Dulaney, Clinical Toxicologist and Assistant Director of Education for the Carolinas Poison Center, since their database began in 1997 there has been only one reference to a child having a reaction related to consuming tomato leaves or stems.  In that instance, the child made and consumed a "Pie" consisting of cedar wood chips, grass clippings, tomato leaves and various other items.  That child vomited, but due to the large number of ingredients in the mixture, it is impossible to attribute the upset stomach to the consumption of tomato leaves.  She noted that in their database, the largest number of tomato leaves consumed at one time was 5 or 6 and that there were no ill effects. (This footnote inserted by Dr. Lucy Bradley, NC State Extension Urban Horticulture Specialist 10/26/2010)