Since tomatoes are probably the most popular vegetable grown in the home garden, we are receiving many calls to our office from people with questions about which types to put in and how best to care for them.  The large number of tomato varieties can be confusing, but if you’re willing to experiment a little, there is just nothing like the flavor and quality of a home-grown, vine-ripened tomato.  To clarify a bit of confusion about whether tomatoes are fruits or vegetables, they are actually a fruit of the tomato vine plant, much like cucumbers, squash, peas or beans are the fruit of those vines.

Tomatoes require relatively little space for cultivation; one plant, if properly cared for, will yield approximately 10-15 pounds of fruit.  There are early, mid and late season tomatoes which can give you a harvest over a long period of time during the growing season.  In addition, tomato plants are classified as either determinate or indeterminate.  Determinate plants grow to a certain size, set fruit and then gradually start to decline; most of the early-season tomatoes are determinate.  Indeterminate plants just keep growing until they die, usually with a first frost or when a disease strikes; standard-sized tomatoes like beefsteak are indeterminate.  Both types will need to be supported in order to keep the fruit off the ground to prevent rot.

If you buy tomato plants, you will notice a lot of letters on the label, which tell you what disease resistance is bred into the plant.  "F" means it is resistant to Fusarium wilt, "V" to Verticillium wilt, "N" to nematodes and "T" to tobacco mosaic virus.  The more letters on the label, the better.  The first two especially can destroy an entire tomato crop.

Don't put your tomato plants in the ground until the soil warms to about 70˚, usually about a week or so after the last frost (normally April 15 for Placerville).  Use a dilute liquid fertilizer around each plant and keep the soil moist for the first 3-4 weeks, then only when the soil dries to a depth of 2-3".  Depending on the weather and your soil type, this could be one to two times per week to every ten days to two weeks.  Drip irrigation or soaker hoses are the best choices for watering because you want to avoid wetting the foliage.  Side dress your plants with a nitrogen fertilizer when fruit first sets and then every four to six weeks thereafter; always remember to water the fertilizer in well after applying it.

Of course, there are always pests and diseases that attack tomatoes.  Hornworms are the pest that many associate with tomatoes; these are very large, green caterpillars with a distinctive "horn" on their rear ends.  They can eat entire leaves and the fruit will show gouged-out holes.  Hand-picking is the best method of control, but you can also use Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) which is a bacterium sold under several brand names; it is quite specific in its action against certain caterpillar pests, but non-toxic to other forms of insects.  Snails and slugs can also be a problem, but staking your plants off the ground will help control these as will hand picking.  Blossom end rot is a physiologic condition where the tomato fruit has a brown-black bottom; it is usually the result of calcium deficiency in the soil and uneven water balance, so amending your soil with calcium and maintaining consistent soil moisture will help prevent this problem.

So, which varieties are you going to plant?  Everyone has a favorite, but 'Early Girl' remains a standout because as its name implies, it is an early-season, standard-sized variety, is indeterminate and has wonderful flavor.  If you like cherry tomatoes, 'Sun Gold' has a wonderful sweet taste, is orange-yellow in color and indeterminate in type.  There are many, many more varieties to choose from, so don't limit yourself to just these two.