How do I get my tomatoes to do well and produce in the south?

Question

We have had record highs in the south and my tomato plants are thin and not producing as much as I thought they would. I live in SC.

Answer 1

I live in Florida. I pull my plants out over the summer because if I can get fruit, they bake on the plant. I replant them in late August, early September.

It sounds less like a heat problem, then that you've let them get too "leggy". Pinch them back from the top, and reduce the plant to a more compact size. If you let them get too big, they put all the nutrients into plant and nothing into the fruit.

I've actually (before) built a PVC frame for over my tomatoes and woven sun cloth through it, so I can get plants all summer long. Just depends on how far you want to go. I've also moved them to the west side of my shed...between the shed and fence. They get enough light, but the sun isn't beating on them quite as much over the summer.

Good luck!!

Answer 2

I know this will sound strange, but it works. Feed your tomatoes birth control pills. See if you can get some samples from your doctor or a drug rep. Put one or two pills around the roots of each plant. You will have more tomatoes than you can give away.

It is sometimes difficult to tell when to/not to water tomatoes. When it is hot and dry, they wilt, and it is easy to think they need water every day. However, I slow soaking every three days is better than a quick water every day. If you water too often, the blooms will drop.

Answer 3

Good rich soil is a key. My dad, a Master Tomato grower, would put an old 3lbs coffee tin in the ground with holes in the bottom. Daily he would give them a drink in the cans...about a gallon.
He used concrete reinforcement wire to make cages and allow the plant to climb. His reached 8 feet and were glorious producers. We lived in S. ILL which is about 1 zone north of you.

OH YES.....mulch with dead leaves around the base....HEAVY....keep the water in and protects the plants. The way you control "leggy" is to pinch the runners....that also sends "more growth" to the remaining buds and little 'matoers....

Answer 4

i live in texas!and its already scorching here!watering them alot in this heat is a necessity!and i feed mine with a miracle grow feeder once a week!mine are doing great!i do my watering in the evening,because it gives them overnight to absorb it without so much evaporation!and i have so many tomatoes that i am having to give them to everybody this year!

Answer 5

Chicken s hit fertilizer. not too much though. and lots more water.