Ripening Fruit Starting in mid-August, blossoms on large-fruited varieties will not mature and ripen before the end of the season. Remove blossoms and small fruit to encourage ripening of the remaining tomatoes. Reduce or stop watering about mid- to late-August to stress the plant and encourage ripening.
You don't stop watering unless it rains enough to keep the plants healthy.
Water plants regularly while flowering and setting fruit, dry soil can slow ripening or damage plants. Provide 2 inches of water a week or enough to keep the top 6 inches of soil moist, in one or two deep weekly watering.
Reducing water, even to the point where a little stress (slight wilting) shows before you water again, can push the plant to ripen its fruit. Watering this way also will stop the plant from producing new fruits, which is good in regions with shorter growing seasons, because the late ones won't have time to ripen.
What are the signs of overwatering a tomato plant? Plants looking smaller and less healthy. Soil is saturated for extended periods. Seeds aren't sitting in saturated soil for extended periods. Soil is just as saturated a week after watering. Plants look sickly. Roots don't grow as deep. Root rot/fungal infections.
Watering tomato plants every day will prevent them from developing a strong root system and sitting in wet soil is an invitation for root rot and other soilborne diseases. When you water, do not wet the plant leaves.
Tomato plants recover quickly from overwatering, usually in one to two weeks with treatment. How often should you water tomatoes? In the garden, water tomato plants deeply at the soil level once a week or twice weekly during hot weather depending on rainfall.
Some gardeners recommend you “pinch off” the flowers on your tomato transplants during their first weeks of growth, claiming that removing early blossoms: Directs more energy into establishing a strong root system. Results in a larger, sturdier, and potentially healthier tomato plant.
Peppers and tomatoes need lots of water to endure the summer heat. Aim for 2 to 3 inches per week for vegetables planted in the ground. In easy-to-access spots, a watering can will get the job done.
Vine crops are heavy water feeders, so you should constantly check soil moisture. Cucumbers need about one inch of water from rainfall or irrigation each week during the growing season. Always soak the soil thoroughly when watering. Water sandy soils more often, but with lower amounts applied at any one time.
First, never plant tomatoes (or potatoes) in the same soil two years in a row. Their presence attracts root knot nematodes, which are not a problem the first year, but as their population builds in the second year, the plants suffer and often die.
Nitrogen-rich fish emulsion can be added every two weeks and blood meal every six weeks during the growing season. Around two weeks before flowering is a good time to use a fertilizer with a higher P value, such as a 5-15-5.
Pruning tomato plants in the morning after dew or overnight rain has dried off the foliage is best. It helps to prevent the spreading of plant diseases.
Don't pick too many leaves from a plant at one time.It scares the plant and it does not like that. Far better is to prune 2 to 3 leaves regularly (like once a week).
Sunlight gives your tomato plants the energy to produce fruit, so if your plant doesn't have enough sunlight, you're less likely to see tomatoes fruiting.
Tomatoes need 1-2 inches of water per week, depending on the weather. Occasionally add an organic liquid fertilizer to produce plump, juicy tomatoes.
Remove all leafy suckers beneath the first fruit cluster so they won't slow the development of the fruit. Suckers are the little shoots that form in the spot (called an axil) where the leaf stem attaches to the main growing stem. In northern regions, many gardeners go further, removing all suckers as they appear.
Starting in mid-August, blossoms on large-fruited varieties will not mature and ripen before the end of the season. Remove blossoms and small fruit to encourage ripening of the remaining tomatoes. Reduce or stop watering about mid- to late-August to stress the plant and encourage ripening.
💦 Overwatering Cues
That's another red flag. Root rot is the silent killer here, often accompanied by a foul-smelling soil. And if your cucumbers have the audacity to give you mushy fruits after all your hard work, overwatering is likely the culprit.
Bacterial wilt disease is most commonly found on tomatoes, although other solanaceous plants such as potato, pepper, and eggplant also may be infected. The first symptom is a sudden and permanent wilting of the leaves, even when there is adequate soil moisture (Figure 18).