Halleluiah, it’s tomato-planting time again! If you’ve grown tomatoes in the past, you most likely have your favorites. If not, just ask! You’ll find some pretty strong opinions regarding tomato choices.

One of the many features you will need to consider when choosing what type of tomato to grow is plant habit. The two main habit classifications are “determinate” and “indeterminate” and are based on fruit use, available growing space and length of growing season. Both habit classifications include fruit selections in a wide variety of color, size, shape and taste.

Determinate

Tomatoes from a determinate plant are produced earlier in the growing season, on terminal ends of a compact bush. This type of tomato generally reaches 3 to 4 feet in height and is easily supported with a tomato cage or may even be self-supporting. Due to its compact habit, it may even be grown in containers. Because all the fruit ripens at the same time, determinate tomatoes are an excellent choice if you plan to can your fruit or make sauce. Determinate classification includes popular varieties like:

“Celebrity” – an eating tomato
“Roma” – a paste tomato
“Patio” – a dwarf selection
“Baby Cakes” – a cherry tomato
“Carolina Gold” – extra large, yellow fruit

Indeterminate

Indeterminate tomato plants will fruit along the entire length of the stem over a longer period of time, in fact continually, until frost.  Smaller amounts of fruit ripening regularly throughout the growing season makes an indeterminate tomato plant and excellent choice if you can not cook or consume a large quantity of this perishable fruit all at one time. Indeterminate tomato plants are vines, requiring proper pruning and support, to reach their ultimate height of 8 feet or more. Indeterminate classification includes popular varieties like:

“Amish Paste” – heirloom, paste tomato
“Beefmaster” – extra large sandwich tomato
“Better Boy” – juicy but firm, compact vine with shorter internodes
“Black Krim” – deep color, rich flavor
“Chocolate Cherry” – cherry, chocolate red in color

Seeding:

If you are planning to seed a new lawn or overseed an existing lawn, it is best to seed as early as possible. It is important to get seed germinated and growing before trees begin to leaf out. This is especially true in shaded areas. Keep the area moist at all times until the roots become established, then you can gradually decrease the frequency of watering. The new grass can be mowed when it reaches a height of about three inches.

Rejuvenating a Weak Lawn:

Your lawn cannot live without air, water and nutrients. When a thick layer of thatch builds up, water and fertilizer may run off instead of penetrating the soil. Aerating and dethatching can help rejuvenate a lawn by restoring passageways to the soil. Late spring is an excellent time to dethatch cool-season grasses. Thatching rakes can be used.

Test your soil to determine the pH. We recommend a small handful of soil taken from a depth of 3 inches. At a pH of 6.8 to 7.0, nutrients are most readily available to turf grasses, and beneficial microorganisms are more active to decompose thatch.

Fertilize with Seed Starter Fertilizer and top dress with peat humus or cover with salt hay or Penn Mulch.

Crabgrass Control:

On established lawns that you are not overseeding, apply a fertilizer with crabgrass control in early to mid April. Straight Team products can be applied with separate fertilizers like Espoma Organic 18-8-6. Reapply Team in early to mid June for the second germination of crabgrass. Remember, crabgrass seeds start to germinate when the soil temperature reaches 50 to 58 degrees. Use corn gluten as an organic alternative for crab control on an established lawn.

On newly seeded lawns and those seeded in late fall or during the winter months, use a starter fertilizer with crabgrass control. You will need to reapply in four weeks because Tupersan is not as effective as Team. Apply a Team product in early to mid June.

Maintaining your lawn at a higher level, 4 inches, throughout the growing season will allow you to control crabgrass without the use of chemicals. Taller grass will shade out the crabgrass seed preventing it from germinating.

Insect Controls:

An early season application of Merit will provide effective white grub control for the growing season. This preventative method tends to give better results than applying insecticides when you notice damage as it then may be too late.