PLANT IT
Mix it up for healthy crop
March 13, 2010
Sonia Day
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Tomato seedlings Lycopersicon esculentum
Last year was rotten for tomatoes. Literally.
Thanks to lots of rain and little sun, mine, like almost everybody's, got hit by late blight. This nasty affliction turns tomatoes into a soft, smelly, inedible mess – and it's incurable.
And this year? Well, I'm an optimist (you have to be, living in this country) and if you want to start your own seeds, now's the time.
I've been chided in the past for suggesting mid-February as a start date for tomatoes and, mea culpa, my critics were right. In our climate, it's best to wait till mid-March, because the seedlings take about six weeks to grow big enough to plant outside – and we can't do that till our interminable frosts end.
Tomato seeds are great for beginners, because they're so easy.
Just use a sterile seed starting mix (from a garden centre) and follow the instructions on the seed packet. Most sprout quickly.
It's always worth the effort. One of summer's sweetest pleasures is surely popping a homegrown cherry tomato, still warm from the sun, in your mouth.
And those oh-so-trendy heirloom tomatoes? Well, caution, folks. I've found they are more susceptible to fungal diseases than newer hybrid kinds.
Remember, too, that the spores of late blight hang on in the ground, year to year. If we get another rainy summer...who knows? The eco-freaks may tut-tut, but I think it's best to hedge our bets and plant several kinds – modern hybrids, which cope better with diseases all round, as well as heirlooms.
Heirloom tomatoes are part of a talk I'm giving at Canada Blooms on Wednesday, March 17 at 3 p.m. You can also find down-to-earth, realistic advice in my new book, Incredible Edibles, 43 Fun Things to Grow in the City, which has just published by Firefly.
www.soniaday.com
Toronto Star