Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Petunias can be planted now. Their bright flowers will bloom all summer in hot, sunny locations and they will take a light frost.

• Plant summer-flowering bulbs now. Glads, dahlias, callas, cannas and lilies will bloom this summer if planted soon.

• Fertilize established roses now and begin spraying them for insect and disease problems. Neem oil is a very effective, less toxic spray that works against both insects and diseases.

• Enjoy the bright yellow colors of goldfinches outside your window by putting up thistle feeders for them.

• When you plant your tomatoes, put a handful of bone meal in the bottom of the hole to help prevent blossom-end rot on the fruit later on.

Delicious, Homegrown Tomatoes

There are still a few things in the world you cannot buy: one of them is the full flavor and juicy texture of a vine-ripened tomato. Perhaps that is why the tomato is the most widely grown vegetable in American gardens.

Mendocino County has many different climate zones. Inland we have areas like the Willits valley where summer nights are generally cool, with temperatures often falling into the 40’s, which slows down the growth of warm-season crops like tomatoes and peppers. We have a short growing season here because spring frosts can occur through May, and a killing frost usually arrives in October.

Ukiah is a different story with warmer summer nights and a longer growing season. By choosing the right varieties for your local climate, you can count on delicious, juicy tomatoes this summer.

Short-season varieties like ‘Early Girl,’ ‘Champion,’ ‘Heartland,’ ‘La Roma,’ and ‘Oregon Spring’ are popular in the Willits area. You can always try a few of the longer-season varieties like ‘Beefsteak,’ ‘Beefmaster,’ ‘Brandywine,’ ‘Cherokee Purple,’ and ‘Giuseppi’s Big Boy’ if you have a good, warm spot for them.

Then there are the midseason favorites like ‘Ace 55,’ ‘Better Boy,’ ‘Big Beef,’ ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Park’s Whopper’. Planting several different types will give you lots of delicious fruit for fresh-eating and canning.

Tomatoes are divided into two types. Determinate varieties grow on strong, stocky bushes that don’t need staking. All the fruits on a plant ripen at about the same time, making these good canning tomatoes. ‘Ace 55,’ ‘Celebrity,’ ‘Homestead,’ ‘Heartland,’ ‘La Roma,’ ‘Patio,’ and ‘Oregon Spring’ are determinate varieties.

Most tomatoes grow on vines, and these varieties are called indeterminate, which means that they would keep growing indefinitely, if frost didn’t kill them. They need strong stakes or cages to hold the plants up off the ground.

For variety, be sure to include yellow and orange tomatoes in your garden. Many of them are low in acid, which some people prefer, and all of them are colorful in salads. ‘Golden Jubilee’ is the standard, low-acid tomato. But try ‘Lemon Boy’ for its bright, lemon-yellow fruit and ‘Hillbilly’ or ‘Pineapple’ for a red-and-yellow slicer that is sweet and fruity. ‘Green Zebra’ is a small green-striped fruit with a tangy flavor.

“Cherry” tomatoes are nice in salads. Try ‘Yellow Pear,’ with small, pear-shaped fruit, and ‘Sungold,’ a bright apricot-orange with tropical flavor. ‘Black Cherry’ is sweet and rich-flavored, and ‘Jelly Bean’ has grape-shaped fruits with sweet flavor. ‘Large Red Cherry’ and ‘Chadwick’s Cherry’ are large cherry tomatoes and ‘Supersweet 100’ bears large clusters of small, sweet red fruit that are disease resistant.

Good paste tomatoes are seedless (or nearly so), meaty, and on the dry side. Look for ‘Roma,’ ‘La Roma,’ ‘San Marzano,’ or ‘Myona’ for sauces and sun-drying.

Many of these varieties are considered heirlooms: open-pollinated varieties that are over 50 years old. These include ‘Black Cherry,’ ‘Brandywine,’ ‘Chadwick’s Cherry,’ ‘Cherokee Purple,’ ‘Giuseppi’s Big Boy,’ ‘Hillbilly,’ ‘Mortgage Lifter,’ ‘Pineapple’ and ‘Yellow Pear.’

Tomatoes are such an important ingredient in so many types of cooking. Don’t be without your home-grown favorites this summer.

• The “Wave” petunias make wonderful hanging baskets for full sun. They come in purple, bright pink, reddish-purple and pale “misty lilac.” They can also be used for a colorful summer ground cover.

• Hang codling moth traps in apple trees to reduce the number of wormy apples in your harvest this year. Be sure to use a fresh pheromone (attractant).

• Attract hummingbirds to your patio this summer with hummingbird feeders, so you can enjoy their iridescent beauty and charm.

• Thin fruit trees now while fruits are still small. Thin apples to 6 inches apart and peaches to 4 inches apart. On Asian pears leave 1 fruit per spur.

Tomato Troubles

As this very unseasonable weather continues into the first week of June, you may be finding that your tomato plants are showing signs of distress.

Tomatoes are warm season vegetables and they do not like damp, cool soil. They are injured at 41° F, and the ideal temperature range for tomatoes is 65 to 70°F. However, tomatoes will give acceptable results when the temperature ranges from 50°F at night to 85°F during the day.

The combination of wet soil or compost and cold temperatures, give tomato plants a hard time. If they are subjected to frost, it can damage the cell walls of growing tomato plants and may cause wilting and death of the plants.

Phosphorus deficiency is also a problem with cold weather on young tomato plants. Tomatoes need phosphorus for healthy development. Phosphorus is abundant in our soils but may be unavailable to the plant when the soil is too cold. When this happens, the leaves of tomato plants may turn purple and have purple veins.

Once the soil warms up, phosphorus is available to the plants and the problem corrects itself. You can use plastic mulch to warm the soil or other types of row covers or “Walls-O-Water”. Wet and cold soil makes it difficult for plants to absorb nutrients, so they may turn yellowish as well.

Tomato plants do not like rain on their leaves – especially when the weather is cold. The combination of low temperatures and wet conditions will cause problems such as fungal disease including tomato blight, or at the very least, lower the resistance of your plants so that they are vulnerable to many of the problems that cause poor results.

Most of the non-pest problems caused by cold, wet weather include rolled and deformed leaves, especially the lower ones, and yellowing leaves with reddish veins.

Cold weather will often stunt tomato plants, as well as other summer vegetable plants, so keep them indoors when it is wet during the day. Set plants outdoors on warm days but don’t leave them out at night until the weather warms up a bit.

Once warm weather arrive, many of these problems will correct themselves. So don’t despair, but do take care of your plants so they will be ready to go when the weather straightens out.

• Mother’s Day is the perfect time to give a gift of a living plant. Roses, lilacs, hanging fuchsias and ivy geraniums or even a delicate African Violet will be sure to please her.

• Gladiolus make wonderful cut flowers throughout the summer. Plant some every two weeks for continuous blooms.

• Plant the vegetable garden this month, but remember that late frosts can still nip tender young plants.

• Colorful Gerberas with their large, daisy flowers are a standout in containers. Water them infrequently and give them plenty of sun for flowers all summer.

• Wisterias are large, vigorous vines that are blooming right now with their long clusters of purple, pink or white fragrant flowers. Give them a strong arbor to climb on.

Delicious, Homegrown Tomatoes

There are still a few things in the world you cannot buy: one of them is the full flavor and juicy texture of a vine-ripened tomato. Perhaps this is why the tomato is the most widely grown vegetable in American gardens. There are varieties which will grow wherever there’s at least 6 or 8 hours of warm sunshine a day.

Admittedly, Willits isn’t the best tomato-growing area, but by choosing the right varieties for your situation, you can count on delicious, juicy tomatoes by late summer. We have a short growing season here because spring frosts can occur through May, and a killing frost usually arrives in October. In addition, the summer nights are generally cool, with temperatures often falling into the 40’s, which slows down the growth of warm-season crops like tomatoes and peppers.

For these reasons, short-season varieties like ‘Early Girl’, ‘Champion’, ‘Heartland’, ‘La Roma’, and ‘Oregon Spring’ are popular. You can always try a few of the longer-season varieties like ‘Beefsteak’, ‘Beefmaster’, ‘Brandywine’, ‘Cherokee Purple’, and ‘Giuseppi’s Big Boy’ if you have a good, warm spot for them.

Then there are the midseason favorites like ‘Ace 55’, ‘Better Boy’, ‘Big Beef’, ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Park’s Whopper’. Planting several different types will give you lots of delicious fruit for fresh-eating and canning.

Tomatoes are divided into two types. Determinate varieties grow on strong, stocky bushes that don’t need staking. All the fruits on a plant ripen at about the same time, making these good canning tomatoes. ‘Ace 55’, ‘Celebrity’, ‘Homestead’, ‘Heartland’, ‘La Roma’, ‘Patio’, and ‘Oregon Spring’ are determinate varieties.

Most tomatoes grow on vines, and these varieties are called indeterminate, which means that they would keep growing indefinitely, if frost didn’t kill them. They need strong stakes or cages to hold the plants up off the ground.

For variety, be sure to include yellow and orange tomatoes in your garden. Many of them are low in acid, which some people prefer, and all of them are colorful in salads. ‘Golden Jubilee’ is the standard, low-acid tomato. But try ‘Lemon Boy’ for its bright, lemon-yellow fruit and ‘Hillbilly’ or ‘Pineapple’ for a red-and-yellow slicer that is sweet and fruity.

“Cherry” tomatoes are nice in salads. Try ‘Yellow Pear’, an heirloom variety with small, pear-shaped fruit, and ‘Sun Gold’, a golden cherry-type with delicious flavor. ‘Black Cherry’ is sweet and rich-flavored, and ‘Juliet’ and ‘Jelly Bean’ have grape-shaped fruits with sweet flavor.

One of the most common tomato problems is “blossom end rot.” It leaves a hard, brown splotch on the bottom of the fruit. It is caused by sudden changes in soil moisture, or lack of calcium. Watch your watering practices and be sure to throw a handful of bone meal in the bottom of each hole at planting time.

Tomatoes are subject to two serious diseases: Verticillium wilt and Fusarium wilt. They cause the leaves to yellow and drop off from the bottom up. The best way to avoid problems is to “rotate your crops” by planting your tomatoes in a different part of the garden each year. If you have had trouble in the past, look for disease-resistant varieties, designated by the letters V and F after the variety name.

Try planting 3 or 4 different varieties of tomatoes this year. Plant mostly the “tried and true” varieties and then try something new. You just might find that perfect tomato this year.