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TomatoesTomatoes (Lycopersicon esculen-turn) are a favorite crop in thehome vegetable garden. Theygrow well in all districts of Vic-toria except some mountain areaswhere there are less than threefrost-free months.

They grow best in deep welldrained soil, as the plant has adeep and extensive root system.A good supply of water is neededthrough the growing season, but,on poorly drained soil, excessivewatering can quickly kill plants.

In the home garden, tomatoseedlings are transplanted whenthere is no danger of frost and thesoil has begun to warm up. Insouthern Victoria, October or

November is quite early enoughto plant out tomatoes and in thenorth, planting can begin in Sep-tember. A major cause of failureis due to planting out too early.Tomatoes flourish when tempera-tures are high.

Most home gardeners aim toharvest the first fruit by the endo f December. The old dwarf varie-ties KYI, Rouge de Marmande aresuitable for early planting, but the

quality of the fruit is not as goodas the newer varieties such asBurnley Metro and Burnley For-tune. Late varieties can be har-vested up until the end of May, infrost-free areas.

In the home garden not manyplants are needed to provide plentyoftomatoes, both for the table andfor bottling. It is better to growa few plants well, than to planttoo many and let them fend for

themselves.Five plants of each maturing

time should be enough for a familyof four people, although tenplants of the mid-season or latevarieties may be needed for a goodsupply for sauces and bottledtomatoes.

In the small home garden it isbetter to stake and tie all types oftomatoes, even those which are

unpruned by commercial growers.

Train tonlatoes b y removing tile laterals frorn tlze leaf axils. Trait1 large fr-rritvarieties, suclt as Grosse Lisse, to three leaders.

If garden area is limited tomatoescan be grown in pots. (See page38.)Insects and disease can causesevere losses, but regular spraying

or dusting right from the timeseedlings are planted out will keepthese troubles in hand.

VarietiesEarly crop :Burnley MetroKYI*Burnley FortuneRouge de MarmandeBurnley SurecropBurnley Gem*Mid-season crop :Burnley SurecropBurnley Gem*DaydreamGrosse LisseA p l l oRoma*

Late crop :Burnley BountySalads SpecialPotentate*

Unpruned bush types. Other

varieties require staking and pruing.

Plant tomatoes in a well exposarea of the garden so that thwill have sunlight throughout th

day.Avoid growing tomatoes in arewhich have been planted befowith tomatoes or with potatoecapsicums or egg plant. This wreduce the possibility of diseabuild-up. Tomatoes do well afta legume crop or in freshly brokeup ground. Choose an area of tgarden with good drainage.

Soil preparation and fertilisersDig the bed deeply to a full spadepth some weeks before plantiso that trash is well worked iand clods are broken down. Tbed should be brought to a reasoably fine tilth by planting timOrganic manure should also bworked in before planting, if nohas been applied for the previocrop.

Band 150 g of NPK 3 : 6 :complete fertiliser to the met

along a small trench100

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150 mm deep and then plant overthis band. To avoid fertiliser burnbe sure the fertiliser band isseparated from the roots of thetransplants by at least 50 mm ofsoil. This application can be madeto the side of the plant row, butthe placement below the plant ismost effective early in the seasonwhen the soil is cold.

Apply a side-dressing ofnitrogen fertiliser or fowl manureafter the first flowers have setfruit. Thirty grams of ammoniumsulphate or 15 g of urea to eachplant is sufficient. Fertiliser side-dressings should be lightly workedin around the plant and thenwatered.

Buying seedlings

Usually the small home gardenerfinds that it is more convenient tobuy a few plants than to growthem. Buy small plants which arewell hardened off. They have darkgreen leaves and stout bluish stems.Long, lank plants with light greenleaves, have not been hardened

do not stand the shock oftransplanting.

Some stores offer plants for sale

as early as July. Do not betempted to plant out too early.If you prefer to grow your own

seedlings, see page 29.

Scoop a hole deep enough to take theroots during transplanting.

TransplantingSeedlings should be transplantedinto the garden as soon as possibleafter you buy them or lift themfrom the seed bed. Scoop a holedeep enough to take the plant'sroots and plant so that the junc-tion of bottom leaves is just belowground level. Retain as much soilas possible around the roots whenremoving the seedlings from theseed flat or seed bed.

Unstaked varieties are plantedin rows about a metre apart and500 mm between plants. Stakedvarieties are planted with 900 mmbetween the rows and 450 mm be-tween plants. Water-in theplants with about a litre of wateror starter solution 50 g of NPK18 : 12 : 18 soluble complete

fertiliser to four litres of water.Hot caps and polythene row

covers can be used to protectearly plants against moderatefrosts and to warm up the soil.See " Growing Early Vegetables ",page 36.

Direct seedingLater tomatoes can be grown bysowing seed directly in the gardenbed in November and early

December. Tomatoes grown inthis way do not receive a setback.They may produce fruit as earlyas plants which have been trans-planted. Direct seeding is mostsuccessful on loam soils.

Prepare the drill row. Sow intoa moist seed bed with 6 to 8 seedsat each plant site. Push seeds inabout 5 mm and cover with a lightlayer of loamy soil. Mulch with

grass clippings. Make sure theseed bed is kept moist.The young seedlings are most

susceptible to insect attack, so keepthem well protected with insec-ticide spray or dust.

Thin out the plants, first leav-ing two or three strong plants andthen thin to one plant to eachplant site.

Pruning and staking

Immediately after planting staking

Prune t omdo e s by removing late(arrows).

varieties, place a light woodstake 1 . 8 to 2 metres long at eaplanting site. As the plant growit should be pruned and tiedthe stake.

Pruning is a simple operatrequiring the removal of the lategrowth which develops at points where the leaves meet stem. A natural branching of main stem usually occurs 150200 rnm ab'ove the ground.

Prune to train two leaders growing points per plant. Groing points should be pinched when the leaders reach the top

the stake. Large fruited variesuch as Grosse Lisse may trained to three leaders vigorous plants.

After pruning, tie the leadersthe stake with a broad piece material-such as an old stockiLoop the material around plant before tying it to the stato prevent the stem being rubbCheck the tie at regular intervto see that the stem is not pinch

and the sap flow is not restrict

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I types of tornatoes in the Ilornerden may be s toked.

Tiepie(to t

the 1rnder.r to (I s m k with rr broad:e of material. Loop the materialhe plant befor e tying it to t11e stake.112

WateringTomatoes are affected both bylack of water and too much of it.The rootzone, which can extend toa depth of 1 to 1.5 metres shouldbe kept moist throughout thegrowing season. In many Mel-bourne gardens the rootzone isrestricted by heavy layers of clay,

or even rock, and if a bed is over%atered the roots may be water-logged.

In the first month after trans-planting only one or two lightwaterings are needed, but as thebushes get bigger heavier irriga-tion is necessary. In hot sumrnerweather, a fully grown plant mayuse 25 mm of water in three days(that is the equivalent of 25 mmof rainfall).

Over-irrigation on poorlydrained soils kills the tomatoplants by drowning the root andencouraging root rotting fungusdiseases. Check the drainage bydigging down about 600 mm. Ifthere is still free-water, one weekafter irrigation reduce the amountof water applied.

Irregular watering aggravates adisease called " blossom-end rot ".This disorder is related to calcium

nutrition but is brought on bywater stress in the plant. I t isseen as a dark sunken discolor-ation at the blossom end of green-fruit. Poor root growth limits theamount of water which the plantcan take.

Mulching reduces the evapora-tion of water from the soil surface.It helps the penetration ofmoisture by preventing crustingand keeps the soil surface cool so

that the roots can grow near thesoil surface. Mulches also sup-press weeds.

Fruit set

Flowers often fail to set during thespring and early summer months.Low temperatures are the maincause of poor pollination but asthe nights become warmer and thetemperatures rise above 15OCfruit set normally improves.

High temperatures, abov38O C, also cause flowers to droThe effect of high temperaturmay persist for a week to tedays. Lack of soil moisture, posoil fertility, shading and pesand diseases can also reduce fruset.

HarvestingTomatoes ripen satisfactoriafter being picked if a pink colohas developed at the blossom enFor best quality, tomatoes shoudevelop a full pink color befobeing picked. In most areas it necessary to pick at this stage prevent Iosses of ripe fruit frodamage by birds.

Late in the season fruit can bpicked at the green mature stag

and stored in a dark, cool placThese tomatoes can be ripeneprogressively by holding at temperature between 18 an21 C which will give the fruit rich red color.

Ripe tomatoes will only hofor one or two weeks in refrigerator. Long periods refrigeration cause cold temperature injury and fruit breakdown.

Torrlato ~cc,rllirr,cv,grol~.rri r ~rtrpc F trip

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Turnips control of most insect pests.Maldison can be used within a

Turnips (Brassica r apa) are week of harvest,useful additions to the familymenu during the winter. s wed etlirnips (Brassica napo-brassica)are more popular in Victoria, andwhen well grown and well cooked,make an excellent vegetable.

Turnips grow rapidly in late

simmer and early autumn and theyare ready to harvest in six to nineweeks. Swedes are sown by theend of February in southern dis-tricts, although, in hill areas,January sowings give best results.If sown too early in the winter orearly spring, cold temperatures cancause bolting. However, in sandymarket garden areas, swedes aresown in July and August.

Late summer and autumn sow-ing~of white turnips can be madesix to eight weeks later than sow-i n g ~of swedes. Spring sowingscan be made at about the sametime.

Turnips yield well in most soils pro-Soil requirementsand ferti1iseE4 vided they receive adequate water andTurnips need a richer soil than fertiliser.other ^root crops, and there is nodanger in using large amounts oforganic manures. They are not a

true root crop

-

the turnip is aswollen stem. A mixed fertilisershould be applied as well as theorganic manure, using about 30 gof NPK 5 : 8 : 4 completefertiliser to the square metre.Lighter applications can be used ifturnips follow a crop which hasbeen heavily fertilised.

Sowing and cultivationSow white turnips in drills 300 mm

apart and thin to 75 mm whenthey have two leaves. Late thin-ning produces poor bulbs. Fo rSwede turnips allow 350 mm be-tween rows and thin to 150 mm.

Do not sow large quantities atany one time, as when too mature,swedes and turnips have a strongflavor.

Pest and diseases controlprograms are similar to those for

cabbage. Maldison gives good

Watercress -Watercress (Nasturtium officinalis often found growing wild istreams, but running water is noessential. It can be grown in moist trench.

Watercress can be grown fromcuttings, root division or seed. Anpiece will strike readily in we

ground. Take out a trench 600 mmwide and 300 mm deep in a shadposition. Dig in a 150 mm layeof rotted manure and firml

trample the bottom of the trenchFill in 75 to 100 mm of soil othe top of this, and fill the trencwith water 24 hours before sowinor planting.

Watercress seed is sown ispring or autumn, and cuttings odivisions may be planted durinthe spring and in the autumn. Athe stems grow to 150 to 200 mmhigh, cut off the top 75 to 100 mmfor use as a salad. Past this stagwatercress is hot and stringy.

The bed should be reneweevery year, otherwise the stembecome coarse and woody. Thtrench must be flooded at leaonce a week during growth. will then yield throughout the yea