How to Amend Soil for Best Tomato Flavor

Adding compost to soil is important for a number of reasons, one of which is that it's a good source of sulfur, a compound that's often missing from soil but is not measured by standard soil fertility tests.

"Sulfur is especially important because this nutrient forms organic compounds in the plant that gives flavor to vegetables," according to Joseph Heckman, Ph.D., extension specialist in soil fertility with the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

When you apply compost and therefore add carbon back into the soil, the carbon feeds mycorrhizal fungi that eventually produce glomalin, which may be even better than humic acid at retaining water. This means you naturally limit your irrigation needs and make your garden more resilient during droughts.

Adding crushed eggshells to your soil is another simple trick. Rich in calcium, adding them as a supplement to the soil around tomato plants helps to provide nutrition and moderate soil acidity.
"Tomatoes that have a handful of eggshell meal worked into the planting site are not likely to develop blossom end rot," notes expert organic gardener Barbara Pleasant.

By optimizing soil composition and nutrient application, you can — for essentially the same amount of time, effort and energy — increase your yield six to eight times.

John Kempf, an Amish farmer and the founder and CEO of Advancing Eco Agriculture, is one of the leaders in the field of high-performance agriculture. The results you can achieve when you apply the principles he teaches are truly astounding. As Kempf says:

"You have to have different expectations and you have to begin managing your crops differently. For example, when you are expecting to produce 60 to 70 pounds of tomatoes per plant, you no longer plant the plants 12 inches apart.

That doesn't work logistically. You have to begin spacing tomato plants two and a half to three feet apart. But all of a sudden, you only need three tomato plants instead of 36!"

Facts Credit: mercola.com

How to Grow Tasty Tomatoes

Once you've chosen your tomato varieties, it's time to start planting. Transplanted tomatoes do best, so either purchase transplants or start seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the last spring frost date. Tomatoes do best in full sun, so choose an area that gets plenty of daily sunlight.

The Old Farmer's Almanac recommends planting seedlings 2 feet apart and pinching off the lower branches prior to planting. "Plant the root ball deep enough so that the remaining lowest leaves are just above the surface of the soil, [then] water well to reduce shock to the roots."

You'll need to water the plants for the first few days and continue to give them about 2 inches per week throughout the summer (a rain barrel works well for this purpose). There are many other variables that may influence the final outcome of your tomatoes, including most importantly, their taste.

A tomato's flavor is the result of interplay between sugars, acids and other chemicals that give a tomato its scent.
Researchers from the University of Florida have identified more than 3,000 aroma volatiles involved in tomato flavor, including some that contribute to a tomato's perceived sweetness independent of sugar concentration.

Growing conditions and much more also contribute to tomato flavor. For instance, as noted by NPR, which spoke with tomato researcher Harry Klee at the University of Florida:

The more direct sunlight your tomatoes get, the sweeter they'll taste
Too much water can dilute tomatoes' flavor; ideally, water two to three times during hot summer months (adjusting for rainfall)

Experiments suggest that so-called "salt fertilization” or dousing plants with a one-time dose of sea water (or water with natural sea salt) improves tomato flavor (although this must be done carefully, as it may burn foliage)
Soil quality matters; in particular, soil with plenty of organic matter or compost is best.

Facts Credit: mercola.com