Garden Detective: How to grow tomatoes

Tomatoes are by far the most popular edibles grown by home gardeners, but they're not the easiest. Here are five important keys to success:

Give them lots of sunlight

Choose the sunniest spot in the yard - one that receives at least eight hours of full sunlight each day. If you don't have that luxury, plant tomatoes in containers and move them around as necessary to be sure they get that requirement.

Check the soil

Plants produce the most tomatoes when the soil has a pH in the 6.0-to-6.8 range. If your soil is more acidic, incorporate dolomitic limestone, which contains calcium and magnesium, into the top 3 or 4 inches of soil. Tomatoes planted in clay and loam give the highest yields, but sandier soils will produce fruit more quickly.

Water consistently

Consistent watering is mandatory for a healthy tomato yield. Plants that receive adequate water one week and very little the next - or vice versa - will likely have cracked fruit or, worse, succumb to the dreaded blossom end rot, a disease marked by a mushy, sunken area where the fruit meets the stem. Be sure they get about an inch of water, including rain, each week. Water the soil, not the leaves. Apply mulch to help keep the soil moisture even. It will reduce weeds, too.

Support the plants

Aside from bush varieties, most tomato plants require some sort of  support. Options range from sophisticated hinged wire cages to bamboo tepees to broken broom handles and twine. Guess what? They all perform the same function. Choose according to your budget, aesthetic requirements and the effort you're willing to expend. On the simpler end of the scale, broom handles and simple stakes will require occasional tying. Be sure to install support at planting time, or shortly after. If you wait until plants are big, staking will risk underground root injuries.

Use fertilizer

When the first tomatoes appear on the plant, apply about a half-cup of granular 5-10-5 fertilizer to the soil surrounding it. Reapply when those first fruits ripen.

quick tip!

To nix mosquitoes in your garden, clean gutters now, and don't let water stand in pools, birdbaths, tires or trash cans.

The LI Tomato Challenge

Q I was wondering if Newsday is going to have another Great Long Island Tomato Challenge this year. If I have a contender, where and when should I bring it? -- Harold Politano, Deer Park

A I've gotten nearly a dozen e-mails just like yours, Harold, and I don't even have flowers on my tomato plants yet. So, yes, back by reader demand, the second annual Garden Detective Great Long Island Tomato Challenge will take place at 7 p.m. Aug. 22.

Give your plants lots of TLC over the summer and bring your heaviest fruit to Newsday headquarters (235 Pinelawn Rd. in Melville) for an official weigh-in. I'll be on hand to weigh each tomato personally, a photographer will capture the moment, and light refreshments will be served.

Winner gets a handshake, my admiration and their story and picture in an upcoming issue of Newsday and on the Garden Detective blog - oh, and the satisfaction of being crowned Tomato King or Queen.

In the meantime, keep your stories, tomato-growing strategies and photos coming to me at jessica.damiano@ newsday.com.

To watch a video of last year's contest and get an eyeful of the winner, visit newsday .com/gardendetective and select Great Long Island Tomato Challenge 2007 from the list of categories on the right side of the page.