TOMATO PRODUCTION GUIDE

Tomato is very popular in the kitchen, the main ingredient in the preparation of a dish for the family. Tomato is not difficult to produce. It can grow even in containers, pots, rubber tires. It grows in many types of soil but best suited in compost soil.

The first step is to make seedbed, the wood box to plant the seeds for germination.  The size of the seedbed should be 50 centimeters long, 30 centimeters wide and 10 centimeters deep. Mix the garden soil with 2 parts compost soil and one part charcoal (burnt rice hull).

To kill harmful micro-organisms in the soil, place the mixture in metal container and heat it under the fire for 45 minutes then cooled. Place the mixture to the seedbed. Be sure that the soil has fine texture.

Make rows where to place the seeds 4 centimeters apart each other. Drill the surface 1 centimeter deep. Cover it with the mixture soil lightly but not to be pressed hardly for the seeds to germinate comfortably.

Spray the seedbed with water in handy sprayer to keep the soil moist but not too wet. Spray it early in the morning.

Transfer the germinated seeds or seedlings to another seedbed 10 days after its germination under the planting distance of 5 centimeters x 5 centimeters. Water the seedlings after the transfer to another seedbed to avoid stress. Try not to expose the seedlings directly to sunlight to avoid wilting.

Use starter solution to sprinkle the seedling after 3 days of transfer. The solution is made of 1 tablespoon ammonium sulfate (ammosul) per 1 gallon of water to assist the seedlings to have a firm stand.

Slowly expose the seedlings to sunlight early in the morning only. Spray the seedling with water in case there is sign of wilting.

Prepare the field. Plow and harrow alternately two to three times to make the soil to have better tilt.

Schedule the transplanting as it aged 4 weeks after germination. The distance between hills should be 40 centimeters. Water the transplanted seedling to loosen the soil and to avoid stress to the plants.

In transferring the seedlings to the prepared field, see to it that the roots is balled with clay soil slowly and carefully to avoid injury to the roots that may cause the  seedling to wilt. Water the plants consistently to avoid heat stress.

Start application of organic fertilizer composed of animal manure or compost materials 2 weeks before the replanting of seeds. Compost application of 1 liter per hill is most effective a day before or at the time of replanting.

Apply 15 grams of complete fertilizer (inorganic) 14-14-14 per hill at planting time. Slowly cover the fertilizer. See to it that the roots of the plant are away from the fertilizer to minimize the impact of sudden potency of the fertilizer to the roots of the plants.

At the same day, application of starter solution per plant is necessary. Side-dress each plant with 5 grams urea together with 5 grams muriate of potash after 30 days of transplanting.

Maintain cleanliness around the planting area. Keep the plants away from weeds. Spot weeding is useful to remove any germinated seeds to harm the plants.

Spray the plants with commercial pesticides (inorganic) if sign of pest’s infestation to the plants is visible but not during the flowering or fruiting stage. Application of organic pesticides is best during this condition.

Remove the plants affected by bacterial wilt to stop the spread of the infection. Schedule the application of fungicide to control sign of disease.

If the plants are in full fruiting stage, harvesting is to be done slowly to matured green to give time to ripe during the selling. Matured ripe tomatoes is not very competitive in the market as it can easily rot if not sold in due time.