How to Grow and Care for Celebrity Tomatoes

The celebrity tomato is a hybrid cultivar prized for its strong plants, disease and pest resistance, and robust production of fruit. These tomatoes usually weigh half a pound each or more and measure four inches across.

Their meaty texture, mild taste, and smooth shape make them perfect sliced sandwich tomatoes, but they can also be used in salads or sauces. Celebrity tomatoes are semi-determinate, producing fruit until frost or when they reach their full height of three to four feet.

These tomatoes need staking or cages to keep them upright from the fruit weight. Note that all parts of the tomato plant except for the fruit can be toxic to people and pets.

How to Plant Celebrity Tomatoes

When to Plant

Tomatoes are susceptible to cold and will die from frost. Start seeds indoors about five to seven weeks before the last frost. Harden or gradually acclimate the plant to outdoor life before bringing it outside. Only plant outdoors once nighttime temperatures remain above 55 degrees.

Selecting a Planting Site

Tomatoes need a full sun growing location, which means at least six direct hours of sunlight per day. They can also be grown easily in containers. Use a large container of at least five gallons to give your plants plenty of root space, and make sure the container or planting bed has good drainage.

Even though celebrity tomatoes are fairly disease- and pest-resistant, you still may want to avoid planting them in a spot where tomatoes or other solanaceous crops (such as peppers) were recently growing.

Crop Rotation

The practice of rotating different crops in the same growing location each season helps prevent plant pathogens from building up in the soil.

Spacing, Depth, and Support

When transplanting the seedling, bury about two-thirds of the stem. Tiny roots will develop and strengthen the plant all along the stem. Lightly tamp down the added potting mixture. Keep the top three sets of leaves above ground.

To allow for good airflow between the plants, leave at least three to five feet between them in each direction.

Celebrity tomatoes require ample space andsturdy support, such as a stakeor tomato cage to keep these weighty plants upright. If the vines get too heavy with fruit, pluck some tomatoes before they fully ripen and finish ripening them on a sunny windowsill.

Celebrity Tomato Care

Soil

Tomatoes like rich, well-drained soil. Each season, it's important to add new soil and amendments to the garden area where tomatoes are grown and rotate solanaceous crops to benefit from optimal soil nutrition.

Celebrity tomatoes do best in slightly acidic soil. You may also want to consider companion plantings that work well with tomatoes.

Light

Celebrity tomatoes should be grown in full sun, with at least six hours of direct sun exposure.

Water

Instead of using a sprinkler or hose from above, water at the base of the plant with a watering can or drip hose is recommended to help prevent the spread of blight or disease. Rain is good, too.

Water in the morning or evening on dry days, and avoid watering during the hottest part of the day in summer. Tomatoes like plenty of water, but they do not like wet feet. If your tomato plants are pot-grown, they must be watered more often. Good drainage is essential to prevent root rot.

Temperature and Humidity

The ideal temperature for tomato plants to blossom, fruit, and ripen is 70 to 85 degrees. Being such a hardy plant, variations in temperature probably won't do too much damage to celebrity tomato plants. If a heat wave crops up, be sure to water with cool water in the morning and again in the evening so the foliage doesn't dry out.

Too much humidity may increase susceptibility to mold or mildew. Even though it's more a bush type of plant, it is important to leave plenty of space between tomatoes planted in a row in the garden. Good air circulation will help prevent many disease problems plaguing your plants.

Fertilizer

Tomato plants need regular feeding with a slow-release organic vegetable fertilizer or a special tomato fertilizer every two to three weeks until harvest. Specialized tomato fertilizers usually contain more potassium and calcium, which can help protect againstblossom end rot.

Work the required amount of fertilizer into the soil around each seedling when planting. Keep the fertilizer at least three inches away from the stem when adding more. Water well after applying fertilizer.

Pollination

Tomatoes are self-pollinating. For pollen to be released, the flowers must move with the wind, or pollinators must be able to move around the plants.

Celebrity vs. Better Boy Tomatoes

There are 10,000 varieties of tomatoes worldwide, varying by indeterminate, determinate, color, taste, shape, size, length to harvest, and crop yield. Better Boy tomatoes are often compared to Celebrity tomatoes because home growers favor both for their reliable crop.

Better Boys are much larger (each tomato can grow up to one pound) and indeterminate, with the plant growing much larger, about six feet tall. Celebrity and Better Boy are high-yielding plants that are disease- and nematode-resistant and split-resistant.

Both are meaty and low in juice and seeds but are made for great pastes or as a slicing tomato. Better Boys tend to have a stronger, more rich tomato taste.

Harvesting Celebrity Tomatoes

Celebrity tomatoes are ready to pick when they turn red, with no more green or orange color. Remove the tomatoes with a twist or use sterilized pruners to cut them off the vine. Keep a little of the stem intact, which helps keep the tomato fresh longer.

Store tomatoes atroom temperaturefor two to three days, away from direct sunlight. If your fruit is very ripe and you will not use it immediately, refrigerate it to slow its ripening.

Early Harvest

You can harvest a tomato once it has reached two thirds of its final color. It will continue to ripen off the vine.

How to Grow Celebrity Tomatoes in Pots

Most tomatoes grow easily in containers. The most important tip for growing tomatoes in pots is to make sure the pots are big enough. Celebrity tomatoes need pots that are at least 12 inches deep and 12 inches in diameter with ample drainage holes.

If you plan to transplant into the garden, dig a deep hole and remove the seed leaves and up to several sets of lower leaves, depending on the size of your seedlings. You can bury up to a third of the plant in the soil, encouraging root growth. Water in the transplant thoroughly.

Pruning

Do not prune celebrity tomato plants. It's best to refrain from pruning determinate or semi-determinate tomato plants, because they grow to a set size and do not continue growing. You could reduce fruit yield by reducing its growth.

The only time to prune away leaves is when transplanting into a permanent garden site. Remove the bottom sets of leaves and mound soil up the stem to encourage stronger rooting.

Growing Celebrity Tomatoes from Seed

With the right setup, growing tomatoes from seed is fairly straightforward. Germination will depend on light, heat, and moisture, but most tomato seeds have a good germination rate. Use a seed starting mix and follow the instructions on the seed packet or these general instructions.

1. Start tomatoes from seedindoors six to eight weeks before your region's first frost date.
2. Fill seed trays with soilless seed starting mix and moisten the soil well.
3. Plant tomato seeds a quarter-inch deep and cover them with soil.
4. Put the trays in a warm place under a grow light.
5. When the seedlings are two to three inches tall, pot them up into three-inch pots, burying them up to the lowest leaves.

A greenhouse is ideal for starting seeds for vegetable and flower gardens, but you can grow tomatoes from seed on a sunny windowsill. Once the seedlings emerge, they will reach for the sun, so remember to turn the pots regularly to keep the plants from becoming leggy.

You must harden off your tomato seedlings before planting them in the garden. You can accomplish this by exposing them to outdoor temperatures for increasingly longer periods over a week or several days.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

This hardy hybrid plant resists diseases like verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, tobacco mosaic virus, and nematodes. However, tomato fruits are tempting to birds and small wildlife, so netting may be necessary to protect them if this is a problem in your garden.

From: thespruce