10 Things You May Not Have Known About Tomatoes

For many years tomato was classified as a vegetable. Not for scientific reasons but for reasons which only made sense. Most fruit you just pick up and eat like an apple or an orange, but as for tomatoes, not many pick up a steak or big boy hybrid and start munching, my wife excluded, she loves to eat tomatoes.

Tomatoes are botanically classified as a fruit, but because of their savory taste many still refer to this popular food as a vegetable. Tomatoes are so popular in the home vegetable garden that the USDA has found that over eighty percent of all home kitchen gardens grow some different tomato and it is more than double the next most popular vegetable cucumber. We talk about the cucumber in a future article, or podcast.

With all this said, how well you really know the tomato and what you are growing? Here are ten facts pieced together that you will find interesting that will make you look at the tomatoes you grow in your home vegetable garden a little different. Yes, there will be a test on this, listen carefully.

The tomato is a part of the nightshade family and it makes the tomatoes a close relationship with tobacco. If you ever want to think of two plants which are worlds apart in use, it's probably it. Because they are so closely related, tomatoes are susceptible to various diseases related to tobacco such as tobacco mosaic virus.

Have you ever wondered why you might not have success with growing tomatoes on your patio? It could be that your plants are not receiving the full sun, they need to grow. I read a story once where the tomato plants grew exceptionally high in Alaska due to the twenty four hour sunlight. Tomatoes need sun and lots of it. The more you give them the happier they will be.

Have you ever taken a pH reading of your soil when you plant your tomatoes? If not you should definitely do it. Tomatoes love the earth to be a bit more sour then most vegetables. A ground level of 5.8 to 7.0 range would be ideal. You can have a pH soil test kit from your local home or garden center for less than four dollars.

Stop! Before you plant another tomato seed what are the temperatures in your area? Tomatoes like hot weather. The more hot and humid it is, the better it will be the tomato. That is probably why we do it well with tomatoes here in NJ. Start your tomato seeds indoors, and when the temps remain constant at 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 55 degrees Fahrenheit at night you can move them outside.

Many people believe that the tomato is native in China, as the world's largest producer of them. But early historical footage shows tomato originating in South America. Where does the U.S. ranks far as total tomato production? U.S. ranks a distant second to China produces over twelve million tonnes of tomatoes a year.

Maybe you're not a fan of large tomato varieties like steak, or even smaller such as cherry or grape. You are in luck. You do not even have to be a fan of the red. There are over 7,500 varieties of tomatoes, you can choose to grow, which vary in size, shape and color. It is indeed a vegetable, ER um, fruit, giving you plenty of options to choose from.

Some 500 years ago, was the tomato is believed to be toxic. Today we could not even imagine a life without it. It is used in soups, sandwiches, pasta dishes, you name it. But while tomato fruit is edible, the leaves, stems and unripe green fruit contains a poisonous alkaloid called Tomatin. Because traces of Tomatin is so small it is basically harmless to humans and cause of fried green tomatoes are ok to use. Just do not eat large quantities of them raw.

So there you have it ten fun-filled facts about the tomatoes you might not have known before. Having learned these tidbits you can not see tomato plants in your garden the same, ever again.