How to Grow Beef Steak Tomatoes

Grow beefsteak tomatoes for a tantalizing tomato harvest.

Gardeners who grow tomatoes often choose the hearty beefsteak. These tomatoes are ideal for cutting into thick slices and eating fresh in sandwiches or as a side dish. Beefsteak tomatoes are generally oval in shape and weigh between three-fourths to one pound each. Choose a reliable beefsteak variety such as Celebrity or Big Beef and give these special tomato plants tender loving care to produce a harvest of delicious beefsteak tomatoes.

Things You'll Need

• Wood ashes
• Spade
• Nitrogen
• Beefsteak tomato plants
• Shovel
• Tomato cages

Instructions

1. Prepare the growing area in the fall for best results. Till a growing area that has not grown peppers, eggplants, tomatoes or potatoes for the previous three years to avoid spreading diseases to the beefsteak tomatoes through the soil. Add wood ashes to enhance the soil. For an average 500-square-foot growing area, add between 15 and 20 pounds of wood ashes to the top of the soil and work this in well. Allow the growing area to sit like this until the spring.

2. Work the growing area again approximately three weeks before you want to plant the tomatoes. Just before planting, work the soil a third time and add approximately 1.5 pounds of nitrogen for every 500 square feet of growing area.

3. Plan the tomato placement. Make rows at least five feet wide and place each tomato plant between 18 and 36 inches apart in the rows. Dig holes for the tomatoes and place them deeply into the ground. The deeper you plant tomatoes, the more sturdy and strong they will grow.

4. Place cages around the tomatoes or install a wire fence next to the plants and attach the plants to the fence for support.

5. Keep the plants watered adequately all summer long. Watch for small suckers that will begin to grow out of the intersections between the branches and the center stalk. Pinch these suckers off to remove them. This will encourage the beefsteak tomato plants to focus their energies on tomato production.

6. Pick the tomatoes when they are at the peak of firm redness for a delicious and tasty tomato harvest.

Tips & Warnings

• One beneficial source of nitrogen that works well for growing beefsteak tomatoes is soybean meal. Approximately two ounces of soybean meal for every beefsteak tomato plant is usually sufficient. Do not apply too much nitrogen, however, because this will create leafy tomato plants without a high tomato yield.

References

• Beefsteak Tomatoes