IN THE GARDEN: Tomatoes

TomatoMania.

What better way to describe the phenomenal number of possibilities to plant this month?

2009 is turning out to be a banner year for tomatoes. Given that their just-plucked-from-the-garden taste simply cannot be matched by store-bought varieties, they’ve been the runaway favorite home-grown produce for years. But now there’s an additional push, accompanying the surge in popularity of growing all kinds of vegetables in home gardens.

Whether at a nursery, home center or even local drugstore, countless varieties beckon, all healthy, proud, lined up and ready to plant. Grow your tomatoes from seed and you’ll find even more choices.

The great thing about such a vast selection is that you’re bound to find the perfect type. Along with size, shape and color, consider whether you want to eat your tomatoes fresh, in sauces or preserve them; and harvest the fruits all at once or stagger your pickings into fall. Also, take into account disease resistance and how much space in the garden you can reasonably provide. It’s easy to leave the nursery with an armload, then be squeezed at home.

Getting started

Tomatoes grow in one of two ways: determinate or indeterminate.

Determinate tomatoes reach a set size, then stop. They bear the bulk of their fruit within a short window: generally 10 to 14 days. They’re a good bet if you plan to preserve your tomatoes. They’re often labeled as bush tomatoes and are said to stand on their own. However, in my garden, we put cages on all our determinate plants. Otherwise, they tend to collapse under the crush of fruit.

Indeterminate varieties keep growing and producing for months. They’ll sprawl, flower and fruit until they succumb to frost, rain or sheer exhaustion. Stake or cage these plants as well. If you don’t, they, too, will flop and rot.

Size matters

While passionate tomato lovers may argue the finer distinctions between various types, I define tomatoes by size: beefsteak, large to medium fruit, small fruit and paste.

Beefsteak tomatoes are indeed beefy, weighing in at a pound or more. A single slice easily covers a sandwich or burger. Just about all beefsteaks are indeterminate, which makes them ideal for harvesting all summer long. They’re so juicy, they wouldn’t be good for canning anyway. Most are red, or pinkish-red, and many produce lobes as they swell.

Modern types include Big Beef, a meaty All-America Selections winner, and Beefmaster, which bears smooth, relatively seedless fruit weighing up to 2 pounds. The heirloom Brandywine comes in several versions: the pink variety bears fruit up to 1 and a half pounds, while the red version, which forms deeper lobes, bears fruit up to 1 pound. The red’s lobes reveal interesting, ribbed “shoulders” when sliced.

Large to medium fruits vary widely, with both determinate and indeterminate types; smooth and lobed fruits, and colors ranging from red to yellow, orange, pink, purple and striped.

Better Boy is one of my favorites, year in and year out. It’s a traditional smooth, red, disease-resistant indeterminate variety with an incredibly flavorful taste.

Big Boy and Champion, both indeterminates, along with Celebrity, a determinate, are good red bets as well. Also, look for Early Girl, which is among the first to produce. There are two forms: the standard Early Girl is an indeterminate; Early Girl Bush is a determinate. Although Early Girl tomatoes are on the small side, they’re tasty in sandwiches, salads and sliced thick with layers of fresh mozzarella and basil.

Lemon Boy is a prolific yellow indeterminate. The paler tomatoes don’t seem to be quite as sweet as the reds, but they still have an intense, refreshing flavor. Cherokee Purple and Black Zebra are indeterminate heirlooms that bear smooth, dark fruits splashed with purple and green stripes.

Small tomatoes include the cute little cherries and miniature pears, and are generally indeterminate. Indeed, the volunteers that occasionally appear in random crevices in my garden seem to ramble on forever. They’ll fit into smaller places than traditional, full-size tomatoes. They’re great in hanging baskets, whiskey barrels and even those strange new upside-down tomato containers and socks so feverishly hawked on late-night television and the backs of magazines.

Tiny Tim is about the smallest cherry tomato. One of the few determinates, it’s so small that it will grow in a 6-inch pot, reaching 18-inches tall and bearing marble-sized tomatoes in just 60 days.

One of the most prolific red cherries is Sweet 100, an indeterminate named for its potential to bear 100 tomatoes on each long-stemmed cluster. With five to 10 clusters per plant, that’s a whopping 500 to 1,000 tomatoes. Sweet Million is an improved version of Sweet 100. Care to guess how many it will produce?

Another delightful small tomato is Yellow Pear. The indeterminate, bite-sized miniature is terrific for tossing in salads or topping

pasta. But many of my Yellow Pears don’t make it out of the garden, as they’re perfect for munching while pulling nearby weeds.

Paste tomatoes are the standard for canning, freezing and creating sauces. Roma, a longtime standard, bears few seeds and lots of pulp. Viva Italia is a full-flavored new determinate with solid flesh and a higher natural sugar content.

Getting growing

Despite their many shapes and sizes, all tomatoes thrive in the same growing conditions.

Sunshine is key — at least six hours a day.

Loose, fertile soil is important, too, as is a steady source of water.

Most tomatoes should be spaced at least 2 feet apart. Cherries and little plums can go closer, while the bigger, indeterminate varieties should be about 3 feet apart.

Tomatoes are one of the rare plants that you can plant deep.

Some folks strip the first few sets of leaves, then plant to that level. If your plants are top-heavy, you can even lay them horizontally in a shallow trench, then bend the stems up out of the earth after the second or third set of leaves.

The idea is that the plants will send out new roots from their stems — provided their stems are buried. By planting deep, you’re promoting extra, sturdy roots to support the rapid growth above ground.

Regardless of your technique, toss in a slow-release, general-purpose fertilizer, followed by a handful of soil before you put your plants in their holes.

Also, install a tomato cage around each plant, or drive a tall, sturdy stake into the ground. Even the bush types may need support as their supple branches begin to sag under the weight of developing fruit.

Early on, water your plants every few days to keep the soil damp. As more leaves — then blossoms — appear, stretch the intervals between waterings.

Too much watering can result in healthy looking plants, but watery, bland tomatoes. As summer continues, I gradually stress my plants almost to the point of wilting between waterings to intensify the flavor of the fruit.

Other Terms and Considerations

Hybrid tomatoes are modern varieties that have been bred for certain characteristics and to resist disease. The letters “V,” “F,” “N” and/or “T” after a name mean that that particular tomato will tolerate verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, nematodes and/or tobacco mosaic virus, all of which are menaces. Super Bush VFN, for instance, resists all three.

Because of their breeding, hybrids are not true to seed. So, if you save the seed for the following year, the new plants may not resemble their parents.

Heirlooms, on the other hand, are true to seed, and have been passed down from one generation to the next. Among the most famous is Pink Brandywine, whose lineage dates to the 1800s.

There are also early-, mid- and late-season plants. Select a range for more months of juicy delight.

As for color, I like to grow as many different red, yellow, gold, orange and purple varieties as will fit into my garden. They’re fabulous alone or mixed together.