Question
live in brentwood, ca.  73 yrs. young.  love growing tomatoes.  what do you
suggest?  had heart attack  

Answer
Alvin, tomatoes need at least 8 hours of full sunlight for optimum growth and production. They also need a very fertile soil with a neutral ph level of 7.0.  So make sure your bed is in a sunny spot with good soil and drainage.

The best way to prepare your soil is to add as much organic matter as possible. These amendments would include aged manure, compost, and peat moss. By enriching your soil with organic materials, you will improve the tilth of the soil, balance your ph level, increase the moisture retention, and ward off disease and pests. But most importantly, you will decrease the need to fertilize since organic matter continually feeds the soil throughout the growing season. Plants grow better, have more resistance to disease, and produce a much larger harvest than those plants only fed with commercial fertilizers. I would also recommend growing in raised beds to improve drainage.

You can grow as many different varieties as you like since tomatoes do not suffer from cross-pollination. My favorite varieties include Big Beef for large tomatoes, Big Boy for the medium-sized ones, Sweet Million and Baby Girl for cherries, and Roma for paste tomatoes. Regardless of what varieties you decide to grow, just make sure that you space the plants a minimum of 2 feet apart.

For staking, I use metal cages for my plants. This eliminates the need to tie the plants when using a wooden stake, and the need to prune suckers. I use concrete mesh, cut it every 10 frames, form a cylinder by bending the ends to secure it, and cutting the bottom ring to lengthen the stakes at the bottom. You can then push the cylinder directly into the soil. The weight of this cage will prevent it from falling over, but some gardeners choose to tie it to a wooden stake as a precautionary measure. You can also find pre-fabbed metal frames at most gardening centers.

Finally, you can supplement feeding every 14 days with either an organic ferilizer such as fish emulsion, or use a concentrated synthetic fertilizer high in phosphorus. Avoid using fertilizers high in nitrogen since they tend to promote lush foliage at the expense of a good harvest. Also, tomatoes need a minimum of 1.5" of water per week. Less will stunt their growth, and too much will saturate the roots, inhibiting them from drawing in oxygen and nutrients. That is why I strongly recommend supplementing your soil with as many organic amendments as possible.

I hope this answered your question. Good luck, and please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike