presented by Aerin, our resident garden muse (when next in Berkeley, don’t forget to visit the Magic Gardens Nursery. If you mention MuseGreen you’ll receive a 10% discount off your nursery purchase!)

We thought we’d share with you a wonderful article on tomatoes written by a great friend of Magic Gardens, Fred Hempel of Baia Nicchia.

Tomato plants have been in local stores for a while now, and this is the type of warm, dry spring that gets people planting them early. However, if you transplant in March, the young plants are often saddled with a wide assortment of bacterial and fungal diseases which have lasting effects. In a dry spring like this one, diseases may be largely avoided, but the quality of the early fruit you harvest still does not generally warrant the trouble and risk of planting early. It still could rain a bunch in the next few weeks, and the rain combined with cool weather is still a risk for this year. Finally, tomatoes just don’t grow that much in March anyway — unless you have them in a greenhouse, or in a very protected spot. A good rule of thumb is to wait until after Tax Day (April 15) to transplant tomatoes.

The best time to plant tomatoes in the Bay Area is mid-April through the end of June. Tomatoes planted in during this period are less prone to diseases, and they will produce during the warmest months of the year (July to October). This is important because tomato flavor is greatly enhanced by warm ripening conditions. Conversely, tomato flavor is typically ruined by refrigeration, and cool nights are equivalent to refrigeration.

If you simply must gamble on a late-spring backyard tomato harvest, plant cool-tolerant varieties in containers and shelter them from the rain (while getting them as much sun as possible). A small greenhouse can help to greatly minimize spring disease risk. You will also want to select varieties that produce fruits that taste good under cool ripening conditions. It is also best to use “clean” potting soil to minimize the risk of disease due to soil pathogens splashing on the leaves if you are planting early. It is not advisable to plant in your garden before mid-April. Remember, diseases that get established during the spring can persist and spread during the summer and in future years.

If you want more tips about planting tomatoes, visit Baia Nicchia’s blog or come to Fred & Jill’s Tomato Class at Magic Gardens on May 18th!

Enjoy your garden, Aerin

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Aerin is the owner of Magic Gardens, a nursery in Berkeley that specializes in perennials and flowering shrubs. He has been designing and creating beautiful gardens throughout the greater Bay Area for over 25 years. Several of the gardens Aerin has designed have been featured on prominent tours, as well as in books and magazines. An extensive portfolio of Aerin’s gardens can be found at the Magic Gardens website. Aerin grew up gardening under the direction of his grandfather, a farmer from Washington State who taught him about soils, fertilizing, and pruning. His mother was an avid gardener who taught him about propagation techniques and raising different plants when he was very young. At his childhood home in El Cerrito, Aerin was continually experimenting with new annuals and perennials. Now, his love of plants is still being lavished on his one-acre garden in the Oakland Hills, where many new plants are propagated for the nursery. Magic Gardens grows many of its own plants, and Aerin is always on the lookout for new, as well as old but no longer cultivated plants that are suitable for Bay Area gardens.

729 HEINZ AVE. BERKELEY, CA 510.644.2351