VOA健康报道2022--Seven Tips for Growing Big Tomatoes

Tomatoes are the most popular crop among American home gardeners.

Garden writer Jessica Damiano says there are many good reasons to grow your own tomatoes. Just the smell of homegrown tomatoes, Damiano says, will remind you of summer.

A major benefit of growing your own tomatoes is variety. If you visit a garden center, you will find seeds and small starter plants for yellow tomatoes, purple tomatoes, huge tomatoes, and even very small tomatoes. There are kinds you simply cannot find at a local food store.

Damiano loves tomatoes. In fact, she created and hosted The Great Long Island Tomato Challenge while working for a local newspaper in the state of New York. The gatherings¹ of people who love tomatoes, or "tomatophiles," continued for 13 years. One tomato that was entered into the challenge weighed more than 2.3 kilos.

Damiano also got to meet and speak with the competitive² tomato growers who raised the winning fruits. It did not take long for her to notice some common practices among them.

Tomatoes are not difficult to grow. The most important things are to give the plants plenty of water, well-draining soil, heat and light. It is best to grow tomatoes in a place that receives at least six hours of sunlight each day. Removing weeds will keep pests and diseases³ away while giving the plants enough nutrients⁴ to produce fruit.

Tomatoes grow best in soil with a pH level between 6.0 and 6.8. If the pH reading is lower than 6.0, you can add about 2 cups of dolomitic lime⁵ into the soil for each plant. Make sure to mix it deep into the soil -- down to around 30 centimeters.

If you want to grow really big tomatoes, try following these seven tips from expert growers:

Select tomato seeds with names like Big Zac, Porterhouse, Rhode Island Giant or Bull's Heart. They are all genetically⁶ designed to produce large fruit

Start seeds early indoors⁷ and re-plant them into larger containers several times before moving them outdoors. Plant them deeply each time, removing leaves from the bottom one-third of plants and burying stems⁸ up to the next set of leaves. This will produce stronger plants.

Remove new flowers that develop at the top of the plant when older fruits near the bottom begin to grow. This will force the plant to produce fewer but larger tomatoes.

Pay close attention! Observe the plants daily for pests and diseases. React quickly to prevent problems.

Remove the small growths where the plant's stems and branches meet. This will prevent them from taking away nutrients and shading developing fruit under them.

Cut back, or prune⁹, the plants to keep only one main branch instead of letting them develop into a shorter, wider shrub¹⁰.

Finally, water, fertilize¹¹ and weed!

Words in This Story

benefit - n. good result or effect

variety - n. a number of different things

challenge - n. an invitation to compete in an event

1 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

2 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

3 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

4 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lime   

n.石灰，酸橙，酸橙树，粘鸟胶，钙；vt.施石灰，涂上粘性物质，沾上粘鸟胶

参考例句：

• Lime exists in many soils.许多土壤中都含有石灰。
• A broad avenue of lime trees led up to a grand entrance with huge oak doors.一条栽有酸橙树的宽阔林阴道通向巨大的橡木门的雄伟入口。

6 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

7 indoors   

adv.(在)室内，(在)户内

参考例句：

• Because of the coldness of the weather we stayed indoors.我们因天气寒冷呆在家里。
• It is very cold outside,you'd better come indoors across the board.外面很冷，你们所有人最好都进屋。

8 stems   

n.（花草的）茎( stem的名词复数 )；词干；（高脚酒杯的）脚；烟斗柄v.遏制[阻止]（液体的流动等）( stem的第三人称单数 )；封堵；遏止

参考例句：

• The present wave of strikes stems from discontent among the lower-paid. 当前的罢工浪潮起因于低工资雇员们的不满情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her interest in flowers stems from her childhood in the country. 她对花卉的兴趣产生于她在乡下度过的童年时代。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。

10 shrub   

n.灌木，灌木丛

参考例句：

• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。
• Moving a shrub is best done in early spring.移植灌木最好是在初春的时候。

11 fertilize   

v.使受精，施肥于，使肥沃

参考例句：

• Fertilizer is a substance put on land to fertilize it.肥料是施在地里使之肥沃的物质。
• Reading will fertilize his vocabulary.阅读会丰富他的词汇。