Tomato-tone | Espoma Organic

The Best Heirloom Tomatoes to Grow

February 22, 2016/in Vegetable Gardening

Have you wondered why heirloom tomatoes taste so much better than those conventional ones from the store?

Conventional tomatoes have been bred for long shelf life, disease resistance, high yield and even for their looks! Some say all the flavor and taste has been bred out of them, too.

So whether you say to-may-to or to-mah-to, we’re here to help you choose the perfect heirloom tomato variety for you.

What is an Heirloom Tomato?

Heirloom tomatoes come from seeds that have been handed down from farmer to farmer for generations for their special characteristics and varieties must be 50 years old at least. Because of this, heirloom tomatoes have minimal disease resistance.

Heirloom varieties are open-pollinated–meaning that the seeds you collect will produce plants almost identical plants year after year. That’s key to their survival.

Many heirlooms have been passed down generation to generation. Seeds, once considered valuable property, traveled country to country in pockets or through letters. Varieties come from Central America, Russia, Italy, Japan, France, Germany and Kentucky. Here are a few of our favorites.

Best Heirloom Tomatoes to Grow

Pink Brandywine– This is hands-down the yummiest and most popular heirloom. Dating back to 1885, these tomatoes ripen late in the season, but delight with huge tomatoes with even bigger flavor. Plus, Pink Brandywine tomatoes grow well in containers.

Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 85-100 days
Taste and Texture: Intense, full flavor with a rich, velvety texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 4-9’
Spacing: 24-36” apart
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Black Cherry – This black, heirloom cherry tomato is somewhat disease resistant and easy to grow – even in containers. The truly striking color makes these cherry tomatoes an instant conversation (or kabob!) starter.

Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 65-75 days
Taste and Texture: Sweet meets smoky flavor with a meaty texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 5-8’
Spacing: 24-36”
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Cherokee Purple – Cherokee purple tomatoes may look eccentric, but boy, do they taste good! Believed to be passed down from Cherokee Indians, this variety produces significantly more tomatoes than other heirlooms.

Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 75-90 days
Taste and Texture: Sweet, juicy and savory with a thin skin
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 4-9’
Spacing: 24-36”
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Striped German/Old German – This sizzling red and orange tomato looks like a work of art. Slice it open, and you’ll be delighted by its intricate texture and pattern. Also called “Old German,” this sunny tomato produces huge beefsteak tomatoes. It does need constant, proper care to thrive.

Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 75-85 days
Taste and Texture: Incredibly juicy with a faintly tart flavor and meaty texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 4-8’
Spacing: 24-36”
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Wapsipinicon Peach – Bright in color and flavor, these tiny, fuzzy yellow tomatoes make the perfect snack. Named for the Wapsipinicon River in Northeast Iowa around 1890, Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes are resistant to rot and field blight. Plus, they are quite prolific!

Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 75-80 days
Taste and Texture: Sweet flavor with little acidity and fuzzy, thin skin
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 4’
Spacing: 24-36”
Staking: Recommended – Cage or stake

Why Should I Grow Heirlooms?

We believe the flavor of heirlooms is so superior that no garden would be complete without them. Try a variety this year, and we’re sure you will agree. You will be tasting a little bit of history all summer long.

When you’re organic gardening, be sure to feed tomatoes lots of Tomato-tone during the growing season.

See our guide to growing tomatoes here

Where to Buy

Our Favorite Tomato Varieties: Hybrids

February 19, 2016/in Vegetable Gardening

With over 7,000 varieties, picking the right tomato to grow can seem overwhelming. If you want your tomato to have it all — flavor, disease resistance, texture and more – try modern, hybrid tomatoes.

The term hybrid means tomatoes are bred from two different varieties to get the best traits from each parent. Kind of like you!

Hybrid tomatoes are bred for traits such as long shelf life, disease resistance, high yield and even for their looks. After WWI, hybridization made tomatoes easier to grow, sell and transport to restaurants and grocery stores across the county.

These hybrid varieties can be just as tasty as heirlooms. Especially when fed organically with plenty of Tomato-tone during the growing season.

The Best Hybrid Tomatoes to Grow

Better Boy Tomato

Better Boy – A Guinness Book of World Records champion, yielding nearly 350 pounds of tomatoes from a single plant over one season, Better Boy really is better! This disease-resistant, flavorful and easy-to-grow tomato is a classic with the perfect balance of acid and sugar.

Disease Resistance: F, V, N, T
Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 70-75 Days
Taste and Texture: Beefsteak
Light: Full Sun
Plant Size: 5-8’
Spacing: 36”
Staking: Yes – cage or stake

Early girl tomato. Photo courtesy of Mika Matsuzaki

Early girl – If you want tomatoes ASAP, this is the plant for you. This disease-resistant and flavorful plant is a favorite of many gardeners. Its little sister, Bush Early Girl, is perfect for growing in containers.

Disease Resistance: F, V
Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 50 days
Taste and Texture: Meaty with a great aroma
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 6-8’
Spacing: 36”
Staking: Yes – cage or stake

Juliet Tomato

Juliet – Referred to as a mini roma because of its shape, Juliets are sweet, crack-resistant tomatoes. Long vines continue setting fruit all summer long and can withstand hot temps.

Keep in mind that if you grow hybrids, you’ll have to buy new seeds each year. Seeds from a hybrid tomato are not as strong as their parents.

See our guide to growing tomatoes here

Where to Buy

Grow a Rainbow of Tomatoes

February 19, 2016/in Vegetable Gardening

When growing tomatoes in your organic garden, you probably envision swathes of red. However, tomatoes were not always red. The earliest varieties were yellow and orange.

So whether you say to-may-to or to-mah-to, we’re here to help you choose the perfect non-red tomato variety for you.

Best Non-Red Tomatoes to Grow

You can grow tomatoes in nearly every color of the rainbow.

Yellow Pear Tomato

Yellow Tomatoes

Golden Nugget – These sweet tasting tomatoes love cool weather and can withstand the heat. Looking more like tangerines than tomatoes, Golden Nuggets ripen early and produce lots of fruit.
Yellow Pear – Tangy, beautiful and tiny, Yellow Pear tomatoes look charming in salads or as snacks. A favorite of chefs, these dynamic tomatoes love to sprawl, so contain them with a cage or stake.
Wapsipinicon Peach – Bright in color and flavor, these tiny, fuzzy yellow tomatoes make the perfect snack. Named for the Wapsipinicon River in Northeast Iowa around 1890, Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes are resistant to rot and field blight. Plus, they are quite prolific!

Sungold Tomatoes

Orange Tomatoes

Sungold – This treat of a tomato is one of the garden’s sweetest. Their bright tangerine-orange color adds a ray of sun to the garden. Plants produce a ton of fruit throughout the entire season. And with their tendency to crack, you won’t find these beauties at any grocery store.
Striped German – This sizzling red and orange tomato looks like a work of art. Slice it open, and you’ll be delighted by its intricate texture and pattern. Also called “Old German,” this sunny tomato produces huge beefsteak tomatoes. It does need constant, proper care to thrive.

Green Tomatoes

Green Zebra – The result of several heirloom tomatoes bred together, these tomatoes can handle rough growing conditions and resist cracking. They have a mellow, sweetish-tart taste with a relatively firm texture. But they are susceptible to blossom-end rot.

Great White Tomato

White Tomatoes

Great White – The best white tomato out there, the Great White produces 1-2 pound tomatoes in a unexpected color with few seeds. It tastes mild and sweet with lots of juice and a meaty, creamy texture. Plus, it’s drought and crack resistant, so it thrives in hot climates.

Go forth, and grow! When you’re organic gardening, be sure to feed tomatoes lots of Tomato-tone during the growing season.

And if you’re looking for more info on tomatoes, such as growing heirloom tomatoes, hybrid tomatoes or growing tomatoes for beginners, please visit our Organic Tomato Gardening Guide:

See our guide to growing tomatoes here

Where to Buy

Five Questions to Ask Before Growing Tomatoes

February 18, 2016/in Vegetable Gardening

Know Your Tomatoes: To find just the right tomato for you, answer these five questions before deciding what tomato varieties to grow.

1. How important is disease resistance? Modern, or hybrid, tomatoes are bred to resist diseases. Heirloom tomatoes, on the other hand, are mostly untouched, and can be more susceptible to diseases.

On the plant tag or seed packet, check the letters after the variety name to see how what diseases and pests they can be resistant to. Look for the V and F since they’re the two most common tomato diseases.

Here are the most common tomato codes to look for in order to protect your plants:

V = Verticillium Wilt
F = Fusarium Wilt
N = Nematodes
T = Tobacco Mosaic Virus
A = Alternaria

2. Determinate or indeterminate? Do you want your tomatoes to ripen all at once or all season?

Determinate tomatoes (DET), or bush tomatoes, ripen all at once. Within a week or two, you’ll have one, huge crop of tomatoes. Then, they’re done!

Indeterminate tomatoes (IND), or vine tomatoes, produce tomatoes all season until the first frost.

3. How long is the time to maturity? This number lets you know how long before your tomato seedlings produce their first crop. Some tomatoes mature in 50 days while others take 90 days. Consider how long your growing season is – and when you’d like to bite into that first, homegrown tomato.

4. What flavor and texture do you prefer? The most fun question to answer! Choose acidic or sweet, mealy or meaty and firm or soft skin. Many varieties even list the best uses – sauces, salsa, salads or snacks.

And always remember, feed tomatoes lots of Tomato-tone during the growing season.

5. What’s the difference between heirloom and hybrid tomatoes?

Heirloom tomatoes come from seeds that have been handed down from farmer to farmer for generations for their special characteristics and varieties must be 50 years old at least. Because of this, heirloom tomatoes have minimal disease resistance. Popular varieties include Black Cherry, Brandywine and Cherokee Purple.

Hybrid tomatoes, sometimes called modern tomatoes, are bred from two different varieties to get the best traits from each parent. Traits can include disease resistance or thick skin. Seeds from hybrid tomato plants are essentially sterile since they’ll never be as strong as the parents. Popular varieties include Roma, Early Girl and Beefsteak.

Grow both hybrids and heirlooms to find out which ones you like eating best.

See our guide to growing tomatoes here

Where to Buy

The Easiest Tomatoes to Grow

January 29, 2016/in Vegetable Gardening

Depending on what you’re making and where you live, some tomatoes really are better! With more than 7,500 varieties, you have to know exactly what you’re looking for.

So whether you say to-may-to or to-mah-to, we’re here to help you choose the easiest tomato variety for you.

Cherry Tomatoes are the easiest tomatoes for beginners to grow. They produce crop after crop and have very few problems! Here are a few of the best.

Super sweet 100 tomatoes.

Super Sweet 100

The name says it all – these are sweet and easy. Just one plant can bear more than 1,000 tomatoes. Super Sweet 100s grow in long strands or clusters of more than 100 tomatoes. You’ll have thousands of tomatoes that are high in Vitamin-C by the end of the season.

Disease Resistance: V, F and N
Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 60-70 days
Taste and Texture: Super sweet and juicy with a firm texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 8-12’
Spacing: 18-36” apart
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Napa Grape

This classic tomato tastes and looks just like its bigger rivals, but has a higher sugar content than any other grape tomato. Known to be one of the tastiest tomatoes out there, the Napa Grape produces sweet tomatoes that taste yummy in salads or as snacks.

Disease Resistance: Very disease resistant
Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 65 days
Taste and Texture: Sugary with a firm texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 4-6’
Spacing: 24-36” apart
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Golden Nugget

These sweet tasting tomatoes love cool weather and can withstand the heat. Looking more like tangerines than tomatoes, Golden Nuggets ripen early and produce lots of fruit.

Disease Resistance: V and F
Growth Type: Determinate
Time to Maturity: 55-65 days
Taste and Texture: Balanced, mild with a hint of sweetness and a thin skin
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 2-3’
Spacing: 18-24” apart
Staking: No

Yellow Pear Tomato

Yellow Pear

Tangy, beautiful and tiny, Yellow Pear tomatoes look charming in salads or as snacks. A favorite of chefs, these dynamic tomatoes love to sprawl, so contain them with a cage or stake.

Disease Resistance: Not susceptible to blossom end, but can develop early blight
Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 75-80 days
Taste and Texture: Tangy yet mild with a slightly firm and mealy texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 6-12’
Spacing: 24-36” apart
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Sun gold tomato

Sun Gold

These orange tomatoes taste like tropical fruit and thrive in hot, sultry climates. Grown in long clusters of 10-15 tomatoes, Sun Golds produce fruit well into fall. Plus, these cherry tomatoes can be grown in containers.

Disease Resistance: V, F and T
Growth Type: Indeterminate
Time to Maturity: 55-65 days
Taste and Texture: Sweet and fruity taste with a firm, crisp texture
Light: Full sun
Plant Size: 5-10’
Spacing: 24-36” apart
Staking: Yes – Cage or stake

Go forth, and grow! When you’re organic gardening, be sure to feed tomatoes lots of Tomato-tone during the growing season.

See our guide to growing tomatoes here

Where to Buy

Fall into Fall. Easy Ways to Transform Garden

August 18, 2015/in Lawn, Vegetable Gardening

Those dog days of summer are hot, hot, hot. But, the end is surely in sight!

Yes, that means cooler weather is on its way. Fall will settle in soon — especially if the “Back to School” ads are any indicator.

Get your garden ready for the coming season. Stick with us, and you could be eating fresh lettuce in October — maybe even November!

Help Your Garden Fall into Fall

Enchant the Plants. Plant fall veggie starts or transplants You can even sow seeds directly into the garden. Choose fast-growing, frost-tolerant plants such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, beets, carrots, green onions, lettuce and spinach.
Do the Can-Can. If your harvest is maturing faster than you can eat it, store it! There are many ways beyond canning to stockpile your fresh produce for winter. Try making jams or pickles. Freeze raw fruit, veggies or herbs. Make tomato sauce, or slow-roast them.
Boost your Keep annual flowers blooming as long as possible! The trick? Apply Espoma Organic’s Flower-tone often!
Ahead with Red. Tomato plants not performing anymore? Or have lackluster leaves? Feed ‘em Tomato-tone to help them pull through until the first frost.
Divide in Stride. Divide and transplant spring-flowering and other dormant perennials. To reduce stress, do so during the coolest part of the day, and don’t skimp on the water!
Finish with Gusto. Deadhead flowers to keep them flowering. Also, keep pinching off those suckers on tomatoes! They can create a heck of a mess later on.
Bury the Bulb. While you’re tidying up, plant those dreamy, spring-blooming flower bulbs.

Ah, the garden will soon be ready for fall. For now, though, the summer sun is still shining! Kick back, relax and enjoy every last drop of summer.

Feed Tomato and Pepper Plants Now

June 10, 2015/in Fruits & Vegetables, Spring Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

By now you’ve planted your organic tomatoes and peppers! These homegrown veggies should be starting to flower — which means fruit isn’t far behind.

Now, it’s time to sprinkle a little magic.

The trick is to feed veggies monthly with an organic fertilizer. Tomatoes and peppers have big appetites, so they need plenty of organic food. Since plants get all their nutrients from the soil, their all-you-can-eat buffet runs out quick. Feed them right, and they’ll burst full of fresh produce.

Create a Balanced Diet:

Go Organic. Since you’re eating this food and feeding it to your friends and family, you’ll want to ensure it’s the cleanest and healthiest possible. Choose an organic fertilizer.
Take it slow. Chose a slow-release organic fertilizer. Artificial, rapid growth results in tall, lanky plants. Slow-release, organic fertilizers actually improve the soil as they break down.
Plants need vitamins, too. Find a balanced food with calcium to help prevent blossom rot. Espoma Tomato-tone has 8% calcium! Be careful that you do not use too much nitrogen which will result in a lush, green plant with very little fruit.
More Magic. Tomato-tone also includes Bio-tone®, a blend containing more than 3 million beneficial microbes. Sounds cool, right?

Don’t take it from us — Veggie Gardener had this to say:

“Bio-tone works magic with this fertilizer. These beneficial microbes do the dirty work of creating big and healthy plants which in turn grow large, plump, and juicy tomatoes. Beneficial microbes support good root growth by helping the roots absorb nutrients from the soil. Well producing tomatoes, or any plant for that matter, starts with a healthy and strong root system. Since I started using Tomato-tone, my tomato plants have grown faster, stronger, and produced more tomatoes.”

Ok, you get it. Fertilizing tomatoes and peppers is like sprinkling them with magic dust that makes them grow bigger, better produce. Now get growing.

Tips for Feeding Tomatoes and Peppers:

Measure out the fertilizer according to instructions on bag.
Feed single plants with 3 tablespoons of Tomato-tone. For rows of plants, apply 1 cup on each side per 5 feet. Feed potted plants 1.5 teaspoons per 4” pot diameter. More details here.
Sprinkle Tomato-tone starting approximately 6” from the base of the plant.
After feeding, water well.
Feed tomatoes and peppers every month during the growing season.

Feeding tomatoes and peppers takes just a couple of minutes and drastically increases your harvest.

To feed your family lots of organic, homegrown veggies this summer, you’ll need to first keep your veggies well-fed! Get ready for the biggest, yummiest tomatoes and peppers you’ve ever grown.

Where to Buy

While you’re at it, take a selfie with your Tomato-tone! Tag us in the picture with @Espoma.

Guide to Growing Organic Tomatoes

May 18, 2015/in Fruits & Vegetables, Spring Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

If there’s one vegetable that needs to be in your organic garden, it’s tomatoes! Juicy, red tomatoes are the taste of summer.

In a salad, drizzled with olive oil, sliced with fresh mozzarella or even eaten like an apple, homegrown tomatoes make every summer meal taste better.

Like all homegrown food, they’re picked when they’re the juiciest and most flavorful. And since you care for tomatoes all season, you appreciate the care and work it takes to ethically raise them. You know without an inkling of doubt that these tomatoes are organic, packed with nutrients and 100% free of harmful pesticides.

Plus when growing your own tomatoes, you get to pick exactly the kind you want! There are over 10,000 different types of tomatoes, in nearly every size and color.

To pick the tomatoes best for you, decide if you’d like to snack on tomatoes throughout summer. These are known as Indeterminate. Or if you’d like your crop to ripen at once at the end of summer, select determinate.

Also, think about how you’d like to use your tomatoes. Will you use them in lots of fresh recipes or can and preserve and save them for winter? See our favorite tomatoes below to pick the one right for you!

Best Tomatoes to Eat All Summer (Indeterminate)

Best Tomatoes for Sandwiches: Brandywine– The original scrumptious beefsteak, and all other beefsteaks
Best Tomatoes for Early Harvest: Early Girl– Bright red in color and flavor
Best Tomatoes for Sun-Drying: Any Cherry tomatoes

Best Tomatoes for Canning and Sauces (Determinate)

Best Tomatoes for Sauces – Full-flavored Roma
Best Tomatoes for Canning –Viva Italia which are virtually seedless
Best Overall Tomatoes: Rutgers– Abundant, uniform tomatoes that are perfectly tasty

Pick one (or a couple) tomato varieties and get planting! Follow along below or check out how not to be a couch tomato with these tips.

Since tomatoes love the sun, they need a spot that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.

Then, boost your soil. Mix in 3” of homemade compost or organic Garden Soil into the top 6” of your soil.

While you’re at it, mix in 9 cups of Espoma’s Tomato-tone per 50 square feet. For single plants, use 3 tablespoons of Tomato-tone per plant.

An organic plant food like Tomato-tone provides tomatoes the nutrients they need to grow big and plump. Since this is a slow-release, organic fertilizer, Tomato-tone never forces rapid growth, which reduces tomato yield.

Now dig a hole larger than the tomatoes’ original container. Look at the plant tag to see how far apart each tomato plant should be.

Situate the plant in the hole so its lowest leaves are below the soil level. Go ahead and pinch those lower leaves off.

Then fill the hole with amended soil or Espoma’s Organic Garden Soil.

To set your tomatoes up for success, stake them now to increase air circulation and sunlight exposure.

You can support them with a tomato cage, trellis or container. Or hammer 6-8” stakes 1’ into the ground about 3-6” away from the plant. When tomatoes begin blooming, tie them to the stake.

Right now though, all they need is some water! For the next few days, water tomatoes generously. Then, give tomatoes about 2” of water around their base each week.

In addition to watering, feed your tomatoes an organic tomato food each month. Organically fertilizing tomatoes with Tomato-tone produces larger, plumper tomatoes all season.

In 3-5 weeks, add 2-3” of mulch to reduce water consumption.

It won’t be long now until you’re biting into the first, fresh tomato of the season!

Share this post if you LOVE growing tomatoes!

Tag Archive for: Tomato-tone

The Best Heirloom Tomatoes to Grow

Our Favorite Tomato Varieties: Hybrids

Grow a Rainbow of Tomatoes

Five Questions to Ask Before Growing Tomatoes

The Easiest Tomatoes to Grow

Fall into Fall. Easy Ways to Transform Garden

Feed Tomato and Pepper Plants Now

Guide to Growing Organic Tomatoes

Espoma. A Family Tradition Since 1929.