Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants

TOMATOES, PEPPERS AND EGGPLANTS Dennis Morgeson Agent for Horticulture Education Washington County

OVERVIEW • Site requirements • Varieties • Growing needs • Bugs • Diseases

WHY DO WE LOVE THEM? • Easy to grow • Eaten raw or cooked • Grown in limited space • High yield • Low in calories • High in Vitamin C • Great Variety

GETTING STARTED – SEEDS VS. TRANSPLANTS Why Start From Seeds?

Lots of varieties Many heirlooms Must be able to grow quality transplants to be worth the time, trouble

GETTING STARTED - TRANSPLANTS

• Transplants: Ready to Go Can purchase at planting time • Limited varieties

QUALITY TRANSPLANTS • Short, stocky plants • Dark green color • Sturdy stems the size of a pencil • No disease, insects • No fruit or flowers

DAMPING OFF • • • •

Sudden seedling death Caused by soil borne fungi Favored by cool, wet soil Fungi attack under soil or at soil line • As seedlings grow, decrease moisture at soil surface to discourage fungi growth

SITE REQUIREMENT • • • • •

Warm season crop – plant after frost Full sun location for best fruit set Well-draining soil Soil pH of 6.2-6.8 Not in a location where tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or related plants were grown last year • Avoid black walnut trees - juglone

VARIETIES • Determinate (tomatoes) • Reach specific height • Stop growing • Flower and fruit at growth tip • Fruits for a short period • Good choice for canning/processing

VARIETIES • Indeterminate • Increases in height through the season • Flowers and fruit produced throughout season (must keep fruit picked for peppers and eggplants to continue to produce) • Spreads harvest out over longer period

DISEASE RESISTANCE • When selecting, look for cultivars with disease resistance: V = Verticillium wilt F = Fusarium wilt N = Nematodes

BIG BEEF VFFNTA HYBRID Big Beef VFFNTA Hybrid #3310 1994 ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS AWARD. One of the finest ever hybrids yet for home gardeners. Impressive yields of extra-large, 10 to 12 oz. smooth tomatoes with real old-time flavor. Its virtues include great disease resistance, early harvests and fruit that stays enormous even at the end of a long season. Indeterminate. 73 days.

PLANTING • Spacing: 1 ½ to 2 feet apart – small bush types (generally adequate for most peppers and eggplant) • Larger plants – 3 to 4 feet unstaked • Staked plants – 2-3 feet apart • Caged plants – 3-4 feet apart • Between rows – 4 feet • I like to cage peppers and eggplants as well

PLANTING • Can be set deeper due to stem rooting (tomatoes) • High phosphorus starter fertilizer at planting – 6-10-4 or 5-10-5 • Water well at planting • Set cage or stake at planting time

TRAINING • Caging: • Supports all sides • No suckers removed • Fewer cracks, sunburn • Fewer green shoulders • Lots of sizes or make your own

TRAINING • Staking: • Keeps plants off ground • Requires stakes, twine • Pruning, desuckering?

• Periodically tied up further on stake and twine • Desuckered plants produce fewer, larger fruits • No need to sucker or tie up eggplants and peppers if caged

FERTILIZING • At planting with a high phosphorus starter fertilizer • When first fruit is golf ball size – 1 Tablespoon urea in a 6 to 10 inch circle around each plant or • 1 pound urea per 100 foot of row • Repeat at 2 weeks after picking first ripe fruit and • 6 weeks after picking first ripe fruit

WATERING • Water thoroughly at transplant • Need 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week

MULCHING • Prevents weed germination • Moderates extremes in soil moisture • Moderates soil temperature • Aids in disease control by reducing splashing water • Black plastic?

WEED CONTROL • Weeds greatly reduce total production • Compete for water, nutrients, sun, space • Harbor disease and insect pests

WEED CONTROL • Purchase weed-free seed • Prevent weed seed-set • Avoid un-composted manure • Keep borders clean • Avoid infested soils • Avoid weedy transplants

WEED CONTROL TIPS • By hand in small areas, use repeatedly • Mulch when possible • Limited use of chemical control, use in combination with hoeing and mulch • Herbicide drift can harm sensitive plants in the same area • Pre-emergence - before seeds germinate • Post-emergence – after weeds are actively growing

HARVESTING TOMATOES • Vine-ripened – fully finished on vine • Pink stage – finish off the vine • Over 86 degrees – “red” won’t develop, fruit are yellow-orange • Harvest all including green before frost

HARVESTING PEPPERS • Peppers can generally be picked at any stage for flavor however it is best to allow them to achieve normal size • Most all peppers will start out green and will turn yellow, orange, purple, or red when mature • If you want to dry peppers for storage allow to mature on plant

HARVESTING EGGPLANT • The key to harvesting eggplant is to NEVER allow them to become over mature!!!! The seeds will mature and become hard like a pepper seed however they aren’t easy to remove like in peppers.

• Eggplants do come in different colors and generally will mature to a similar color as when they are small…..however…..

ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS DISORDERS

Blossom-end Rot: •Dry, black, leathery scar at end opposite stem •Calcium deficiency from extremes in soil water •Most serious when hot, dry •Mulch and irrigate

Blossom Drop

•Caused by temp. extremes •Fruit set when night temps are 55 to 75 degrees •No fruit set = blossom drop •“Blossom Set” – may cause misshapen fruit & not effective in high temps.

Fruit cracking •Occurs during rainy hot weather above 90 degrees •Occurs after long dry periods then rain •Radial cracks form •Unlikely in peppers and eggplants

Sunscald: •First as white, yellow patch •Patch blisters, dries •From poor foliage cover from disease or pruning

Blotchy ripening:

•Uneven color develops from cool temps, root stress •low potassium

Poor fruit set: •

temperature extremes

•

dry soil

•

shade

•

excessive nitrogen applications

DISEASES Early Blight: •Leaves with dark brown spots with concentric rings •begins on lower foliage and moves up •Leaves shrivel and die •Plants defoliate leaving poor fruit set, sun-scalded fruit

DISEASE RESISTANT EXAMPLE • Tomato Better Boy Hybrid Lycopersicum Better Boy Hybrid Indeterminate vines just keep producing!

• Big Yields of Big Fruits -- The Classic Favorite!

Fruits weigh in at 10 ounces or more, crammed with flavor.

• 70 days from setting out transplants. Indeterminate. A trusted favorite for many years, Better Boy is a great performer with big hybrid-quality yields of succulent, juicy yet meaty tomatoes. A good all-around choice, the plants are resistant to Verticillium Wilt, Fusarium Wilt Race 1, and Nematodes.

• Start seeds indoors 5 to 6 weeks before the last frost date. Plant outdoors when danger of frost is past and night temperatures consistently remain above 55 degrees F. If an unexpected late frost is forecasted, protect young plants with plastic sheeting or other cover. Set plants 2 to 2 1/2 feet apart.

Pkt is 30 seeds.

EARLY BLIGHT CONTROL

• Maintain proper fertility • Spray foliage at first sign of disease with: chlorothalonil, maneb, mancozeb, fixed copper • Apply fungicide weekly as needed • Make second planting in midsummer • Buy resistant varieties when possible

Verticillium Wilt

Fusarium and Verticillium Wilt Leaves wilt, turn yellow and fall, often on one side of plant then other Inner vascular tissue is dark, brown Verticillium when cool Fusarium when warm Fusarium Wilt

FUSARIUM, VERTICILLIUM CONTROL

• Use varieties labeled as resistant with “V” or “F” Use crop rotation practices, especially if you have had a previous problem (explain)

Late Blight •fruit develops dark brown or greenish blemishes •blemishes present on stems •found in cool, wet weather •dead areas on leaves with mold undersides

LATE BLIGHT CONTROL

• Maintain proper fertility • Spray foliage at first sign of disease with: chlorothalonil, maneb, mancozeb, fixed copper • Apply fungicide weekly as needed • Use disease-free transplants • Control late blight in potatoes

OTHER POSSIBLE DISEASES Septoria Leaf Spot

Anthracnose

Leaf Mold

Bacterial Speck

EGGPLANTS ARE BUG MAGNETS!!!!

Flea Beetles Love All Solanaceous Crops But The First To Go Will Be Eggplant Control: Sevin, Malathion, Insecticidal Soap (Exclusion?)

PESTS

Tomato Hornworm: •Large, 4” worms with horn on end •Eat foliage, fruit •Use handpicking or Bt

Cutworms: •Cut off plant close to soil in early season •Use a cardboard collar at planting

Stink bugs: •Suck juice from plant and cause white spots to develop just below fruit skin •Generally only a few fruit are affected….but……

•Malathion is the best insecticide for control

Root Knot Nematodes •Microscopic worms •Causes plants to be stunted, yellow, wilt •Feed on plant roots •Use resistant varieties noted by “N” on tag

TROUBLE SITES? • Use containers to grow a large amount of tomatoes in a little space • Large containers work best

WHAT YOU ARE TAKING HOME Hybrid Tomatoes:

Better Boy VFNASt Big Beef VFFNTASt Italian Goliath VFFNTA

WHAT YOU ARE TAKING HOME Open Pollinated/Heirloom Tomatoes 1 1. Gardeners Delight Cherry 2. Kentucky Beefsteak

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3. Pineapple 4. Brandywine 3 4

WHAT YOU ARE GETTING 1 Peppers 2

1. Golden California Wonder 2. Boris Sweet Banana 3 3. Mucho Nacho Jalopeno 4. Sweet Goliath Hybrid

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QUESTIONS?