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31-10-2004, 09:20 PM

(rile) wrote in message . com...
This was the worst year I've ever had growing tomatoes. By the middle
of August most of the plants had died. I'm assuming it was some type
of blight that might have gotten them as well as several other things.
I know that I should rotate where in the garden I raise tomatoes but
am wondering if anyone does anything special to their gardens over the
winter time? Mine is already cleaned out and tilled. The only thing
I tend to do over the winter is put leaves on it and then till them
under in the spring.

1) Definitely leave the leaves on top, so that they separate the plant
from the soil. Tomatoes also like being mulched, so the leaves do
double duty. I put them in the tomato patch just before I plant, late
May (until then, the tomato patch is clear). You should have leaf
mulch throughout the season. You can also use wood chips as mulch.

2) Do not ever water from overhead. Place the hose on the ground or
use drip. Do not use sprinklers. Leave some room so that different
tomato plants don't touch. If they are caged, they will indeed not
touch with 8 inches between each cage. I plant some chicory in the
gaps (it is a winter green) so the space is not wasted. Lettuce or
other shade tolerant greens would do well, too.

3) Definitely rotate the tomato patch around. That means away from
patches where peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants were grown
recently. Nightshade is also a carrier, and a weed around here, so
kill it if you have it. Do not let the plant touch the ground, either
stake or fasten to cage as soon as the plant is in. Collect dead
plants and either discard or mow them into the lawn very far from the
garden.

4) It will help to give the tomatoes some manure, so that you have
stronger plants which can resist infection better. I find that manure
makes beatiful plants that stay healthy through the season and make
better tasting tomatoes, but tend to fruit later. No manure will
produce earlier fruits and plants that catch the blight more readily.
You can put manure in the garden now, but keep the leaves in a place
where they don't get too wet so they will mulch longer next season.

I also give the tomatoes a handful of wood ash per plant (Ca, K,
micros, and better taste), which I usually spread over the mulch at
planting time.
This said, this was a poor year for tomatoes, at least around here, a
cold, relatively gray summer. If it rains too much, tomatoes will
still catch blight. The peppers were also mediocre. There is nothing
you can do, it's the breaks. The many greens I grow were fine.