BILOWZ ASSOCIATES INC. is an award winning landscape architectural design firm with a proven philosophy: "Creating Design with Harmony & Balance."
Our company blog, Annie's Gardening Corner, takes a sneak peek at how we balance our own love for everything green + a place to find inspiration, garden ideas and landscape design tips.

To browse our award winning landscape design portfolios, click on our company website at WWW.BILOWZASSOCIATES.COM

Friday, June 4, 2010

Tomato Tip of the Week


With heavy rain predicted for Sunday, you should consider extra protection for your vegetables, particularly the tomatoes. Recent summerlike conditions have these warm season vegetables growing fast and furious. If you grow any of the heirloom tomato varieties like Brandywine and Rose, these plants can be highly susceptible to a host of diseases.

For preventive measures, you may consider spraying the plants with a fungicide to keep the foliage clean and healthy. We seldom spray but young plants require extra protection during intense growth periods. Especially with warm, humid, wet weather, diseases can run amuck.

Don’t want to spray? Another option is to cover your tomato plants with plastic during heavy rain events. This keeps the foliage dry and less apt to leaf diseases. Some local growers are producing substantial amounts of tomatoes under hoop houses for just this reason. It extends their season and prevents many of the weather-related diseases, therefore minimizing chemical applications.

Make sure your tomatoes are staked and are properly supported with ties. You may have a bit of a scramble before the weather but don’t procrastinate. Protect your crop. Take Laurie Colwin’s tip. “"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." Have a great weekend. Annie

Image of Brandywine tomato from the Internet
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© 2009 Ann St. Jean-Bilowz/Bilowz Associates Inc. (including all photographs, unless otherwise noted in Annie's Gardening Corner are the property of Bilowz Associates Inc. and shall not be reproduced in any manner nor are they to be assigned to any third party without the expressed written permission and consent of Bilowz Associates Inc.)