15 Tomato Myths (BUSTED)

yellow leaves are bad you need to let the fruit ripen fully on the vine you need to add calcium to the soil to prevent blossom end rot there's so much advice about growing tomatoes probably more than any other plant sometimes it can become overwhelming how much of it is accurate join me today as I cover 15 myths about growing tomatoes [Music] hi I'm Gardener Scott and let's begin with the myth that yellow leaves are bad on your tomato plant to begin with yellow leaves when they appear at the bottom of the plant are perfectly normal as they are with most plants you're growing in the garden as the tomatoes grow bigger and bigger the root system may not be able to support the growth of all leaves and the lower leaves are going to be shaded from the Sun photosynthesis stops and the plant blocks off that Branch from the rest of the plant it's putting its energy into the new Young growth and sacrificing the old growth so yellow leaves at the bottom of your plant completely normal and nothing to worry about you don't need to add fertilizer you don't need to add extra water just accept it if the yellow leaves appear at the top or in the middle or throughout the plant it could be the sign of a disease or a greater problem but just having yellow leaves is not usually a big deal another myth is that tomatoes need a lot of water especially if they've got yellow leaves well too much water can actually create the problem of yellow leaves and tomatoes really don't need any more water than other plants in the garden like squash and cucumbers you should be watering enough to keep your soil evenly moist and not putting extra water on the plants just because they're Tomatoes if you have a problem with your tomato fruit splitting it's often caused by too much water too quickly a regular schedule of watering just to keep the soil moist is the best way to take care of your tomato plants you've probably heard this one too that the tomato fruit needs direct sun to ripen and I know gardeners and actually prune off all the leaves to expose the fruit directly to the Sun but that's just not true in my Greenhouse all these beautiful black cherry tomatoes are actually shaded from the Sun through shade cloth and through the density of the plant the fruit itself doesn't need sun the leaves through photosynthesis are creating the energy that ripens the fruit so don't over prune just to get sun on the fruit it can actually cause Sun scald which is like sunburn for tomatoes you should remove all of the suckers off of your tomato plant because they're stealing energy from the rest of the plant that's going to grow your tomatoes that myth really isn't needed either all of the suckers that grow at the junction between the main stem and the side branch do have the potential to grow into completely new plants long Vines and they will flower and produce more fruits so if you want a lot of tomatoes then leave the suckers on the plant especially if it's a determinant tomato plant you want to keep as many branches as possible to give you the maximum amount of fruit now I do prune off some of my suckers just to keep the plants under control against my trellis wall and you could prune your Tomatoes down to a single stem especially if you have a very short season and you want to put all of the plants energy into a smaller amount of fruit but that's up to you only remove as many suckers as you think are necessary it's best to let the fruit ripen fully on the vine well that myth isn't necessary either especially if you're a gardener who's battling squirrels and raccoons and birds and whatever other pests might be eating your Tomatoes once the Tomato begins to change color from green to whatever color it's going to become you can Harvest it that's called the breaker stage or the breaker point at that point Harvest it take it inside allow it to continue ripening on your kitchen counter and it will ripen and it'll still have good flavor and good texture and you don't have to worry about losing it too soon this next myth is related to the last one and it's that Tomatoes should turn fully red when ripe well that might have been the case when most gardeners were growing nothing but red tomatoes but nowadays there are so many varieties that don't turn red that it's important to understand what you're growing like this one right here this is a sun gold tomato this fruit is fully ripe and it's orange one of my other favorites is black cram it is a red tomato but when it's fully ripe the top of the tomato fruit is actually a dark green by waiting for it to turn fully red it actually over ripens gets mushy and can't be eaten Tomatoes like a lot of sun and more sun is better well this is a myth that has gotten a lot of gardeners in trouble Tomatoes like most of the plants in our vegetable garden really only need six to eight hours of sunlight a day and while eight is probably better than six you don't need 12 and you don't need that harsh direct sunlight during the middle of summer one of the reasons I like these large hoops over my tomatoes is because I can cover them with shade cloth I actually block out the harshest Sun of the day to avoid damaging the plant and as I mentioned earlier with sun scald the fruit can be damaged if it has too much direct sunlight one of the reasons my black cherries are doing so well in the greenhouse is because they're shaded and they're not getting a lot of direct sun have you heard this one that the tomato flowers need vibration to pollinate and that a bee's wings are at the perfect frequency of vibration to fertilize the flowers well as I look at this long row of tomatoes I do see a few bees but I get regular pollination not from the bees but from the wind and from Gravity tomatoes have what's called a perfect flower both the male and the female parts of the flower are present in the same Tomato flower so all it needs is a little jostle in the wind or that pollen falling and pollinating the flower it'll pollinate itself it doesn't need bees and vibration has nothing to do with it I know you've heard this one you need to add calcium to your soil to prevent blossom end rot and while blossom end rot is a Calcium deficiency within the tomato fruit it is rarely caused by insufficient calcium in the soil almost all of our soils have enough calcium but it needs to be absorbed by the roots and travel up to the fruit and if the soil is too dry or too wet that transfer doesn't happen effectively so the fruit doesn't get the calcium and blossom end rot results don't worry about adding calcium to your soil instead be concerned about how you're watering and try to get that consistent moist soil and you won't have blossom end rot problems if you want sweeter Tomatoes add sugar to the soil well that's not the way soil science works the roots of a tomato plant can't absorb sugar molecules it's just a waste of sugar and even if it could there's no nutrients in Sugar that the plants can use if you want a sweeter tasting tomato then choose a tomato variety that's naturally sweet like the sun gold and the Magic ingredients that makes tomatoes taste better and cures Blossom and rods and makes for a stronger healthier plant is to add Epsom salts around your plants well this one is so prevalent that there are a lot of videos out there including some of mine that show that myth has no basis in science either the magnesium and the sulfur that are in Epsom salts are needed by plants but like the calcium almost all of our soils have enough so unless you've done a soil test and know specifically that you need to add magnesium or sulfur there are better ways to use your Epsom salts than put them in your garden this year I'm growing a lot of paste tomatoes like Roma an Italian heirloom and Amish paste and San Marzano because I want to make a lot of tomato sauce and tomato paste but I don't subscribe to the myth that you can only make tomato sauce from paste tomatoes you can make sauce from any kind of tomato the reason these varieties in particular are most often used to make the sauce or the tomato paste is because they have more flesh they have less of the watery inside you need to cook down the tomatoes to get that sauce and paste which means that you have to evaporate off the water so using those waterier Tomatoes means more cooking time doesn't mean that you can't use them in fact the flavors of these are good but if I want to add some of my favorite flavors to my tomato sauce like from the black creme it's okay to do it it's a myth that you can only use these kind of tomatoes and it's a good thing that I'm growing all of this basil right next to my tomato plants right because basil will make these tomatoes taste better as well so many other plants you've heard of that you should use as a companion plant with tomatoes that's a myth the basil has no effect on the flavor of these tomatoes that is determined by the genetics of the variety that I choose I'm growing all this basil because I love caprese salads I love to come out Harvest some of my favorite tomatoes and at the same time Harvest fresh basil and take it in for a salad has nothing to do with one affecting the flavor of the other I started all of my tomato plants from seed but if I wanted I could prune off one of these suckers and soak it in water or put it into moist soil and it will grow into a completely new tomato plant because Roots will grow along the stem of the tomato and no doubt you've heard this it's those little hairs that grow into Roots well that's a myth those hairs are not growing into new Roots it's actually cells along the stem in between those hairs they're called advantageous roots and it's those cells that will grow into Roots if they're exposed to a moist environment you might even see that if it's been really wet in your garden you can see at the very base of the plants Roots beginning to grow from the stem not from the hairs this next one does have some basis in truth but it's a myth that you should never refrigerate your Tomatoes it's true that when exposed to the cool conditions in a refrigerator the enzymes within the tomato fruit are affected and it will slow down the ripening process so for young fruit that's ripening it is best to leave it on the kitchen counter at air temperature to continue ripening but at some point the tomato fruit is ripe and if you leave it sitting out it begins to degrade turn mushy even rot so when you get to that point that your tomato fruit is perfectly ripe and you're not planning on eating it right away go ahead and put it in the refrigerator and it will help maintain that peak of flavor just bring it out a few hours before you plan to eat it and all those flavors will come back there's a lot to growing tomatoes and getting things right if you want to learn more watch one of these videos next I'm Gardener Scott enjoy gardening [Music]

Channel: Gardener Scott

Views: 6,912

Keywords: gardener scott, gardner scott, how to grow tomatoes, tomato growing tips, tomato tips, tomato growing myths, growing tomatoes, how to grow tomatoes at home, tomato myths, myths growing tomatoes, grow tomatoes, busting tomato myths, busting tomato growing myths

Id: RakbPuJHhlQ

Length: 14min 39sec (879 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 24 2023