Aug 11th, 2011

Yellow Tomatoes, Anyone?

by Jonah Holland

by Albert Brian Vick  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator

It almost seems counter-intuitive for the idea of growing tomatoes, but sunshine is a double-edged sword. Tomato fruits actually need to be shaded somewhat by foliage, otherwise the result is the yellowing shown here, or even outright sun-scald, which has a bruising, destructive effect on the fruit.

Speaking of double-edged swords, in the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden we try to keep up with the sprawling tomato vines by tying the growth to stakes to keep the fruit up off the ground. However, as a byproduct we sometimes end up exposing the fruit inadvertently, until the foliage repositions itself naturally.

yellow tomatoes

About Jonah Holland

Jonah Holland is Digital Content Manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, where she has worked for 14 years overseeing social media, the blog, and the website. She is also a mom, yogi, open water swimmer, gardener, and seeker. She's been known to go for a walk in the Garden and come back with hundreds of plant photos, completely inspired to write her next blog post.

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