When your tomatoes don't ripen
Most gardeners know that you have to pinch out the suckers from tomato plants (left photo). Sometimes it is necessary to do more pruning on tomato plants when the fruits ripen. Tomatoes get red quickly in full sunlight but take a long time in the shade, even under hot conditions. They also don't get very sweet without direct sunlight. Tomato fruits first grow lower on the plant, later they appear in the top. When your tomato plant has formed fruits, you can remove the leaves and branches that shade the tomatoes. Tomato plants are fast growers and they can easily do without these leaves.
Tomato grafting
Tomato grafting is done by growing an upper part of a tomato species on a rootstock of another tomato species. The rootstock is chosen for vigorous growth of the roots and resistance against soilborne pathogens. The upper part is chosen for good fruit characteristics.
Grafting of vegetables began at the end of the 1920s in Korea and Japan and has since spread throughout Asia and Europe. Presently 81% of Korean and 54% of Japanese vegetable cultivation uses grafting.[1]
Preserving tomatoes in salt
Blanch the tomatoes two minutes in boiling water and then cool them in cold water. Pack the tomatoes in sterilized jars, add a tablespoon of sea salt for a 500 ml jar. Fill up the jars with boiling water within a quarter inch of the top. Put the open jars in a water bath of 90 C (194 F) for 22 minutes to sterilize them, then put the lids on and take them out.
Gallery
Close-up of tomato flower
Tomato seeds, cherry, Maja
See also
References
External links
- [http://www.examiner.com/article/blossum-end-rot-on-tomatoes-1 Blossom end rot on tomatoes}
- Tomato Wikipedia
