Tomato Planting Guide

Seed Sowing

Seed Bed – Sow the seeds thinly in 5 cm rows. Cover the seeds with fine sand, burned rice hull or carbonized rice hull after sowing.

Before Sowing, it is beneficial to drench the soil with 2 scoops of Nordox Copper Fungicide at 1 tablespoon per gallon of water.

Water seedflat or seedbed (or pots) to almost field saturation for three days.

After germination regulate the application of water.

Seedling Care

Pricking - Prick the seedlings 4-5 days after germination to seedling tray or into small pots.

Fertilizer Application For Seedling Stage - Four days (4) after pricking, apply 20-20-20 at 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. Repeat application at weekly interval.

Water the seedlings carefully with fine mist of water. Avoid toppling plants.

Hardening - Harden the seedlings one week before transplanting by gradually reducing the watering to slow down plant growth and strengthen the plant tissues to withstand transplanting shock.

Transplanting

From Seedbed -Water the seedbed thoroughly before transplanting to facilitate pulling of seedlings and to minimize root damage.

Basal Application - Apply 500 grams (1/2 liter empty can) per hole of well decomposed chicken manure with 1 table spoon (1015 grams) of 14-14-14 fertilizer. Cover the fertilizer with thin layer of soil to avoid contact with the roots. Transplanting is done any time of the day provided the soil is moist. During sunny days transplant late in the afternoon. Saturate the soil with water after transplanting.

Person assigned to pricking and transplanting tomatoes should be non-smokers to prevent Tobacco Mosaic Virus Infection. Washing hands with soap and water helps ion this respect.

Irrigation

During dry season, irrigate by furrow method. For wet soils, irrigate only to supplement the moisture already present in the soil to avoid wilting of seedlings.

Weeding

Manually pull out weeds then apply plastic mulching or rice straw mulch. Weeds serve as the bridge for pests and crowds out the crop.

Wiring, Trellising and Post Supports

For semi-determinate and indeterminate types, plant may need support during rainy season.  This is done to prevent the fruits, foliage and stem from contact with the soil.

Fertilization

 It is critical that the tomato plants get all the essential nutrients to guarantee good harvest. Complete fertilizer with supplemental trace elements is important. Although the nutrients are presumed to come from the soil, fertilizing plants with nitrogen fertilizer boosts the vegetative growth creating an induced need for other nutrients.

Basal Fertilizer application may be done 2-3 inches away from the base of the plant. Direct application to the roots may cause burning.

Foliar Fertilizer may be used to augment basal fertilizer application to increase yield.

For heavy feeding systems, there is a need to apply Calcium (as Calcium nitrate) and Magnesium (as Magnesium sulfate). Although both elements are presumed to come from the water, extra growth from heavily fed plants creates an extra need to secure productivity. Calcium nitrate and Magnesium sulfate should not be applied at the same time. Sulfate from magnesium will render the Calcium useless but Calcium nitrate and Magnesium nitrate may be used together.

Calcium nitrate may be used as soil drench at 1 tablespoon per gallon 15 days after transplant while it might be safer for the Magnesium sulfate to be used as foliar spray at 1/2 tablespoon per gallon.

Management of Insect Pests and Diseases - Apply insecticides and fungicides as soon as pests and diseases are detected. Chemicals to be used for control and application rates will depend on the prescribed doses on the label.

Pests and Diseases - Tomatoes are attacked by many diseases and insect pests. Of about 60 pathogens that attack tomatoes, 15 are considered to be major diseases in the hot and humid tropics.

Bacterial diseases - Bacterial wilt (Psuedomonas sp.) and Bacterial spot (Xanthomonas campestris) are devastating and is considered to be a production systemic defect. The main causes are poor air circulation, over feeding with nitrogen without the corresponding Calcium application, mechanical stress and overcrowding. Bacterial diseases may not be controlled by antibiotics but by changing the physical and mechanical attributes that causes them.

Fungal diseases - Black Early Leaf Blight (Alternaria solani); late Blight (Pseudocercospora sp.); Soft Rot (Phytopthora infestans); Leaf mold (Cladosporium fulvum); Powdery mildew (Liveilula taurica); Southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsii); Target spot (Corynespora calsicola); are all devastating. Different fungicides were developed to manage this diverse group of organisms.

Viral Diseases: (Tomato mosaic, Cucumber Mosaic, Tomato yellow leaf curl, Tomato yellow dwarf, Tomato spotted wilt). Depending on the virus, transmission is through insect vectors such as aphids, whiteflies and thrips. Early control of the insect vectors and general field sanitation can serve well to control viral diseases.

Insects: Polyphagus tomato fruit worm (Helicoverpa armigera) is one of the most destructive, causing as high as 70% yield loss due to fruit boring. Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is a serious pest, not only because of its foraging on the tomato plants but also because it acts as a vector of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Thrips (Frankiniella occidentalis) act as vector for tomato spotted wilt virus. Modern insecticides were developed to address to these problems.

Harvesting

Fresh market tomatoes are often harvested at the mature-green stage and ripened in transit or in storage before they are marketed.

For more information regarding the specific fertilizers, pesticides, Tomatoes and Vegetable growing, please contact Allied Botanical Corporation @ 4376606 to 08 and 9110836 or check out website: www.alliedbotanical.com