Do you want to know how to grow pest free tomatoes in your organically grown home garden? After losing tomatoes each year to pests, I have narrowed down on a few strategies that have worked very well for me.
Each year I like to try new varieties of heirloom tomatoes, while some remain as a staple in the garden. I like to grow colorful varieties and unique ones that are not commonly available in the farmers markets, let alone specialty grocery stores. The delight of holding a tomato sun kissed and sun ripened with perfect colors is unbeatable. However, pests and insects love these tomatoes as much as we do, and this is disappointing considering the low output of heirloom tomatoes.?
Here are a few of my learning from growing tomatoes in 2023, which kept pests such as the notorious horn worm at bay, resulting in bountiful, healthy tomatoes. I hope you find these tips and techniques useful in your own kitchen garden.
Strategy #1 – Grow pest free tomatoes by interplanting with flowers
In urban settings, avid food gardeners face limited space to grow food. I find it wasteful to grow flowers in a spot where I can grow a vegetable. Though I have practiced interplanting with leafy greens, I have not paid much attention to incorporating flowers in vegetable beds.
However, during my garden planning for 2023, I decided to dedicate at least 20% of each bed for flowers such as dahlias, cosmos, marigolds, sweet alyssum, zinnias.
The idea was to create a colorful garden and enjoy the blooms while providing a safe habitat for wildlife. Poppies self seeded liberally and were in bloom right until early June and they overtook the garden space making it almost impossible for pests to find edible plants. These cheerful poppies with their shallow roots, did not compete for nutrients. The well established poppies provided great frost cover for the tender tomato and pepper transplants during the early weeks of spring’s cool weather.
Strategy # 2 – Grow pest free tomatoes by /interplanting with vegetables/leaves
I inter planted tomatoes with bell peppers, radish, beets, bush beans and bush hyacinth beans. Colorful amaranth, along with new zealand spinach and purslane acts as both ground cover as well as nutritious food. Cilantro and chamomile grow until mid-June. Once the season is complete, I harvest the dry coriander seeds from cilantro plants and remove chamomile plants at the end of their season.
Nettle grows abundantly, which I use for making soups and teas, and for making nettle infusions for my plants. I tuck in Onions liberally, of which I either harvest greens or bulbs depending on the size.
Strategy # 3 – Grow pest free tomatoes with sucession Planting
When I plant tomatoes and bell peppers in late April/early May, I direct sow a few radishes and lettuce for a quick 30-45 day harvest. I sow bush beans and beets for a late June harvest. Bush hyacinth beans are great companions during the hotter months. They will continue to produce when the mercury rises above 90 deg through September. As the cooler months are approaching, in late Aug, I transplant cabbages, lettuce, beets, bush beans for a Fall harvest. Tomatoes have a long growing season and last until after the first frost. A succession planting plan of other edibles changes constantly based on the # of days to plant maturity, and harvest.?
A snapshot of 6′ by 6′ raised bed layout for pest free tomato growth
This raised bed has 5 tomato plants, 8 banana peppers, 6 bell peppers, 12 onions, 8 bush beans, hyacinth beans and flowers such as dhalias, sweet alysum, zinnias and french marigold.
In a poly culture garden, while the garden looks chaotic, there are multiple plants growing with a purpose, utilizing the same footprint. When I plan my garden, I imagine it to be like the amazon rain forest and think about what could thrive under the shelter of a large tomato vine. I prune the tomato vines vigorously for the lower 2 foot and allow only 2 or 3 branches per plant. That opens up light and air for other plants that are growing under the tomato. It also reduces pests, and is easy to manage through the long growing season. While I change things up each year, the fundamental principles of growing pesticide free food and a low maintenance garden remain.
