Re: Tomato culture

Peter E Lewis wrote:
> 
> Good morning, Middle Earth Gardeners
> Being new on this list, may I introduce myself, Peter Lewis, Cambridge UK, the
> nearest thing to Med. area in England - anmd quite close to the real thing. We
> are in the driest part of Europe north of the Pyremnees, 50 cm rainfall, and a
> lot of sun. We grow many Med. plants - Olives, Oleanders, Lemons, Callistemons
> etc etc. with success, so long as we take some cunning measures over winter.
> When we plant tomatoes, we plant a long-tom pot beside them, and only water
> them through the pot. This tends to drive the roots down rather than them
> scattering over the surface as they would like to do. It may be unnatural, but
> it works.

Hi Peter

When I was student (almost 50 years ago) I spent two very
happily-remembered summers in Cambridge working at the Potato Research
station. We had marvellous sunny weather almost all the time and I just
can't remember any rain!! Cycling to work from the Granchester road
along the Backs every day was a lovely experience I can still savour in
memory.

Your idea of deep watering of tomatoes, far from being unnatural
actually chimes very well with the situations I understand they grow in
at home. There is apparently virtually no rain throughout their growing
season, but lots of underground water, flowing down from the Andes, down
to which their roots delve. This also means they are not actually
accustomed to getting their leaves wet with watering or rain and a lot
of moisture on the leaves would probably encourage disease. Just to be
on the safe side I always water my plants at ground level rather than
turning a sprinkler on them. I don't worry too much about occasional
rain, which is usually heavy enough to give the leaf surfaces a good
wash and not encourage spores to settle on them.

Probably as anoutcome of these natural growing conditions, a well-grown
tomato plant should  develop two kinds of root -  fine feeders, which
grow in the upper soil and much coarser water-collecting roots which go
down deeper.

Each year in my glasshouse I grow one tomato plant for early fruit by
the ring culture method. The main part of the root system is in a
bottomless bucket full of tasty potting soil and this rests directly on 
a layer of pebbles mixed with peat. When the plant is in early growth
virtually all watering is directed to the base, so that the pot soil
gets its moisture by rising capillarly action. Only when flowering
starts is any water applied directly to the surface of the bucket, In
this way the plant is coaxed into producing proper water roots, which
will ensure a regular supply of moisture throughout the season even if
the surface dries out. Your watering outside tomatoes with the long tom
should achieve a similar result.

When the plant is finally discarded at the end of the season the two
root systems can be clearly distinguished.

Moira

Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, 
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
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