Late Season Tomato Planting

June should be full of large green tomatoes on your tomato plants. They will soon ripen and play out as we head in to July. Therefore, if we do a little planning and planting now in June, we will have vine ripened homegrown tomatoes up until the first frost in October. Late season tomatoes, aka Fall tomatoes, are usually more sweet and tender.

We planted some of our Organic Mortgage Lifter tomato plants on June 15th. Now is the time, with the first of July being the end of the time, to plant the wave of late summer and fall producers in Middle Georgia. We knowingly choose a soil challenged area of our garden to test some tomato care principles. Your date for the last planting in your area should be determined by the date of the first frost. Refer to a First and Last Frost Table and calculate back according to the day to maturity. We often refer to Victory Seeds Table for our frost information (http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/ga.html).

WATERING: We stood a 28" piece of 1-1/4" PVC pipe with 1/8" holes spaced 1" apart for the bottom 12" of the pipe in a hole about 18" deep. This will insure deep watering takes place during the hot Georgia summer.

MULCH: After digging the hole that measured approximately 6" by 18", we place a tablespoon of organic gypsum in the bottom of the hole and covered it with at least 2" of organic compost. The amount of compost depends on the height of the tomato plant to be planted. The remainder of the hole was filled with compost, composted horse manure and top soil. this gives the tomato plant a 6" diameter by 18" deep hole filled with composted material and a bottom or deep watering source. We will experiment with the amount of water and the frequency using the deep watering PVC device. The PVC also provides nice initial plant support.

We will cover more of this late summer tomato planting wave as we progress to insure the fruit ripens and is harvested before the first frost. 'First frost,' what a cooling thought on these Summer days of 90 plus degrees.

Organic Heirloom Mortgage Lifter Tomato Plants

The Mortgage Lifter tomato was developed in the early 1930's in Logan, West Virginia by a radiator repairman, M.C. "Radiator Charlie" Byles. Without any experience in breeding, he made a successful cross of four of the largest tomatoes he could find - German Johnson, Beefsteak, an Italian variety, and an English variety. Radiator Charlie sold the first seedlings of his new tomato in the 1940's for one dollar each to customers who drove up to 200 miles for his famous plants that bore tasty tomatoes averaging two and a half pounds. With these sales, Charlie managed to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in only six years, and so the tomato was named Mortgage Lifter.

This large, meaty, mild-flavored tomato has few seeds and is the perfect tomato-sandwich tomato. Indeterminate plants bear pinkish-red, two and a half to four pound tomatoes all summer long. Sow one-quarter inch deep in flats or pots, keeping the soil mix moist, not soggy. When several leaves have developed, harden off seedlings and transplant eighteen to thirty-six inches apart in the garden.

Our Mortgage Lifter plants were germinated from certified organic seeds in organic seed soil. They were watered with rain water. Then transplanted into their 4" pot filled with organic potting soil. They were fertilized with organic fish emulsion, organic Plant-Tone and organic Bone Meal while being watered with rain water.

NITROGEN – contains proteins and is a food source for compost piles (grass clippings, green vegetable matter), and it stimulates green growth in plants. Sources are blood meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, fishmeal, and fish emulsion. Go easy on the Nitrogen with Mortgage Lifter Tomato Plants.

PHOSPHORUS – stimulates root growth and promotes fruit and seed maturation. Good sources are rock phosphate or bone meal. Deficiencies are indicated by purple leaves, brittle roots, skinny stems and late fruit set and maturity.

POTASSIUM – promotes plant vitality and disease resistance. Sources are Greensand, also known as Glauconite, sulfate of potash, wood ashes, or Sul Po Mag. Deficiencies are indicated by an irregular yellowing of lower leaves, and poor root growth.

CALCIUM – important for plant cell wall integrity, root development and leaf growth. Low levels show up as deformed new leaves and branches, weak stems and roots. A good source for calcium is gypsum, which can also low the alkalinity of the soil.

MAGNESIUM – essential for chlorophyll and green leaf development. Pale green leaves with green veins are a sign of deficiency. Adding dolomite lime to raise pH in acid soil often corrects this deficiency. In an alkaline soil you can add Magnesium Sulfate.

Blossom-end rot ........is a problem we encounter here in the hot, humid southern summers. It is characterized by a large, black, sunken-in spot at the bottom or blossom-end of the tomato. I've learned that the condition is caused, in part, by low calcium levels in the plant. However, the calcium level is not the only culprit. Irregular watering habits are the main culprit. For moisture fluctuations reduce the ability of the tomato plant to take in and distribute calcium in the plant itself and in the fruit.

Here are some ideas to help control and prevent blossom-end rot:

• Keep the soil pH between 6.2 and 6.8 and have plenty of calcium available in the soil by supplementing with dolomite limestone or gypsum. Gypsum is a good source of calcium while lowering the alkalinity of the soil.

• Mulch! I am long a disciple of deep mulch throughout the garden. This will help keep moisture levels more even throughout the growing season.

• Go easy on the nitrogen. Normally considered a plant wonder-food, too much can cause insufficient calcium absorption.

We started Mortgage Lifter seeds to enable a mid summer planting (June 1st) and a last planting (July 12th). This will provide consist fresh fruit up to the first frost which is October 25 for Macon and Atlanta (http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/ga.html).

There will be more on the necessity of pruning as we prune our own plants.

Dates to Remember

First Planting Date in the Griffin, Georgia Area: May 3. The soil must be 50 degrees for outside planting. Our plants will mature around Palm Sunday.

Last Planting Date in the Griffin, Ga. Area: July 12. The indeterminate Mortgage Lifter will produce until the first frost.

Contact information:

Down the Lane Creatives

Email: downthelanecreatives@gmail.com

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