Tomatoes are a popular choice for home gardeners, often producing an abundant harvest that can be enjoyed fresh or preserved for later use. In Central Alberta, growing tomatoes can be a rewarding challenge due to the shorter outdoor growing season. Whether grown in a greenhouse, garden bed, or container, the following tips can help support healthy, productive tomato plants:

1. Avoid planting tomatoes and potatoes near each other in your garden spaces and ensure proper crop rotation. Both crops are from the Solanaceae family and are therefore susceptible to the same diseases such as late blight.

2. Water tomato plants consistently throughout the growing season to reduce the risk of blossom end rot.

3. Add a layer of mulch around your tomato plants to help regulate soil temperature and maintain consistent moisture. This can also help reduce blossom end rot and minimize fruit cracking before harvesting.

4. With fluctuating temperatures and rainfall, consider harvesting tomatoes before full ripeness to prevent cracking, splitting, and insect feeding.

5. Prune tomatoes according to variety. Determinate varieties (bush type) require pruning when the plants are dense, and air circulation needs to be improved. Indeterminate varieties (vining type) should be pruned often to remove suckers

For more information about growing tomatoes please visit the following resources: University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources and University of Maryland Extension. For more information about cracking vegetables, please visit this University of Maryland Extension resource. 

References:

University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources. (2021). Tomatoes. In Gardening. gardening.usask.ca.

University of Maryland Extension. (2023). Cracking of vegetables. In Extension.umd.edu. extension.umd.edu.

University of Maryland Extension. (2024). Growing tomatoes in a home garden. In Extension.umd.edu. extension.umd.edu.