So You Wanna Grow BIG Tomatoes, Do You?

Ever wonder how champion tomato growers come up with tomatoes as big as cauliflowers year after year? Well, the editors of National Gardening maagzine did, too, and recently interviewed four expert home gardeners, including Gordon Graham of Edmund, Oklahoma, who grew the world's largest ever in 1987. It was a whopping 7-pounds, 12-ounces, and is listed in The Guiiness Book of World Records.

One recurring bit of advice jumped out at me when reading the tips. Big tomatoes always start with great soil! All plants, not just vegetables, will do much better if planted in properly prepared soil. I've had more than one trowel bend in my hands while trying to dig a planting hole in rock-hard soil. Sure plants will grow in bad soil, but they'll rarely thrive.

One of the expert growers digs a foot-deep hole for each tomato plant. He then fills it halfway with organic compost, lots of manure and a little 10-10-10 granular fertilizer. Another, triple-digs her 5-foot-wide raised beds as deep as two feet. She opens a trench, puts in a 6-inch layer of leaf compost, eggshells, manure and other organic matter, covers it with soil and then turns the mixture with a spading fork. Another swears by gypsum and manure "teas." You get the idea. Other tips include:

SUN. Like most vegetables, tomatoes need the hottest spot in the garden. We're blessed with hot summer weather in most parts of California, so this shouldn't be a problem except if you live right along the coast. Even there, avoid north or east-facing garden areas.

GIVE 'EM ROOM. Probably the most common error by novice home gardeners is planting too many tomato plants too close together. One to three tomato plants is all a household of four needs. Give plants at least four to five feet to grow. If space is a problem, grow up by utilizing stakes or already-made tomato cages.

WATER AND FERTILIZER. Tomato plants like to be kept fairly dry, especially once plants begin to flower and set fruit. While you should always water upon planting, a good rule to remember is to always water deeply. Instead of sprinkling plants every day, use a slow-running soaker hose to water deeply once or twice a week. As for fertilizer, feed diligently during the season with weekly applications of liquid fertilizer, including fish emulsion and manure "tea."

VARIETY. Grow a large-fruited variety, such as Beefsteak, Delicious, Big Beef, Big Rainbow, Dinner Plate and Giant Belgium. Most of these, with the exception of Beefsteak, usually will need to be ordered by seed through a mail-order catalog.

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