ORGANIC GROW
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moisture.Tominimisedisease,
alwaysusefreshpottingmix,
ratherthansoiloroldmixthat
hasbeenusedfortomatoes
oranyplantsfromthe
Solanaceaefamilyinthelasttwoyears.
Whenbuildingupnutrientsinyourpottingmix,
rememberpottingmixis notsoil.Don’taddlarge
amountsofcomposttothemix.It canclogupthe
drainagespaces,givingyourtomatoeswetfeet.Instead,
adda layerofcompostontopandnutrientswillslowly
leachintothemixwithoutcausingclogging.Worm
compostaddedinsmallamountswon’tclogthemix,nor
willbloodandboneororganicpelletisedmanures.You
don’tneedtoaddallofthese,justchooseone,theyare
allslowreleaseandwillgraduallyfeedyourtomatoes.Liquidfeeds
Liquidfeedsareidealforpots,boostingplantsthatare
alreadygrowingstrongly,whilenotaffectingdrainage.
Useseaweedsolutionfortraceelements,growth
boostingandbettertoleranceoftemperatureextremes.
Organic,off-the-shelffishextractfertilisersprovideall
themajorandminornutrientsandwillhelpplants
flowerandfruit.Watertheseoneveryfewweeks.
Banana skin tea is high in potassium so perfect for
encouraging fl owering and fruiting. Soak 10 banana
skins in 5L of water for 10 days, before using. Worm
leachate tea, compost tea and other weed or herb teas
are all worth using, too, as they all add a range of
nutrients, as well as benefi cial bacteria, fungi andothermicro-organisms.Alwaysdiluteliquidfeeds
tothecolourofweakteabeforeusing.
Foranypottedtomatoes,paycloseattention
towatering.Inveryhotweather,theymayneed
a drinkuptothreetimesa day.Tomatoesintraining
Larger-growingtomatoesneedregularpruningand
training,andareperhapsmosteasilytamedwitha
largemetaltomatotrainercage.Smallergrowingplants
onlyneedsmallerversionsofthesecages,whichcanbe
re-usedformanyyears,makingthemveryeconomical.
Determinatetomatoescanalsobemanagedwitha
strongcentraltimberstaketoholdthemainstemin
place.Fordwarftomatoes,useeithera centraltimber
stake,orseveralsmallerbamboostakesaroundthe
edgesofyourpot,tosupportthelowcandelabra-shaped
branchestheseplantsproduce,sotheydon’tsnapoff.
Tomatocagesalsoworkwellfordwarftomatoes.If
yoursiteis windy,it canbeusefultoattachtallerplants
toa fenceorsimilar,astheseplantscansometimesbe
blownoverwhengrowinginpots.Usesoftties,such
asoldpantyhoseorT-shirtscutintostrips,totieany
tomatoes,avoidingcuttingintothestems,particularly
instrongwindsthatmaymoveplantsabout.Dwa Tomato Projct
The Dwarf Tomato Project (DTP) is a co-operative
venture, led in Australia by Patrina Nuske-Small and
in the US by Craig LeHoullier. The DTP develops
modern heirloom cultivars which are crosses
between heirloom indeterminate plants, with
good flavours and colours, and dwarf plants with
uneventful fruits but compact growth. The project
started around 2005, and by 2017 had released
68 new dwarf cultivars. These new cultivars are
leading the way for small space tomato growing.
The Australian-bred varietieshavenamessuch
as ‘Kookaburra Cackle’, ‘MalleeRose’and
‘Kangaroo Paw’ in Green, Redor
Brown. All DTP cultivars are
pledged to the Open Source
Seed Initiative (OSSI), so
the plants will always stay
in the hands of gardeners
and farmers and can never
be patented or restricted
in their use.Selected seed suppliers
DwarfTomatoProject:dwarftomatoproject.net
EdenSeeds:edenseeds.com.au
RangeviewSeeds:rangeviewseeds.com.au
SeedFreaks:seedfreaks.com.au
SouthernHarvest:southernharvest.com.au
Tasmanian Natural Garlic & Tomatoes: tngt.com.auAbove: Tomato cages provide support for
smaller-growing tomatoes.
Left: Dwarf ‘Kookaburra Cackle’.PHOTOS: TOP: KAREN SUTHERLAND/LEFT: PATRINA NUSKE-SMALL.