Tomato 101: Your June Guide to Juicy, Healthy Tomatoes 🍅

After the coldest, wettest spring in recent memory, our tomatoes are finally stretching their leaves and trying to catch up. If your plants look a little pale or stunted, you’re not alone! Cool temps and soggy soils have slowed root development and stressed young plants—but with the right care in June, your tomatoes can still deliver a bumper crop.

Here’s everything you need to know to get your tomato game on track this month:

🌱 Feed to Succeed: Fertilizing with Garden-tone

Tomatoes are heavy feeders, and they need a steady diet to produce big, flavorful fruit. We recommend Espoma Garden-tone, an organic, slow-release fertilizer packed with everything tomatoes crave—especially calcium, which helps prevent blossom end rot.

Fertilizing schedule:

• At planting: Mix Garden-tone into the soil at the base of the plant. 
• Mid-June: Scratch a handful (around 3 tablespoons per plant) into the soil around the dripline and water in well. 
• Monthly after that: Feed every 4 weeks during the growing season. 

Avoid overfeeding—too much nitrogen leads to lush, leafy plants and very few tomatoes.

💧 Water Wisely

Consistency is key! Tomatoes hate extremes—too wet, too dry, too inconsistent—and your fruit will show it.

• Water deeply 2–3 times a week if there’s no rain. Aim for the root zone, not the leaves. 
• In containers? Water daily and make sure the soil stays moist but not soggy. 
• Blossom end rot (those nasty black bottoms) often shows up when plants swing between dry and wet. Consistent moisture and Garden-tone’s calcium help prevent this problem. 

✂️ Sucker Punch: Pinch for Power

Tomato suckers are the little shoots that appear between the main stem and the side branches. For indeterminate varieties (the kind that just keep growing), pinching off suckers helps redirect energy into fruit production instead of excessive foliage.

Suckers aren’t harmful, but they can lead to a tangled plant with smaller fruit. Use your fingers to gently pinch them off when they’re 2–4 inches long. No need to stress about it—just keep your plants open and airy.

🐛 Hornworms and Other Villains

If you notice giant bite marks or entire stems stripped bare, you’ve met the tomato hornworm—a stealthy green caterpillar that can devour a plant overnight. Check the undersides of leaves, especially if you see frass (a fancy word for caterpillar poop).

Control organically with Espoma’s Insect Control or Bonide’s Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew. These products are OMRI-listed for organic gardening and safe for edible crops.

🦠 Disease Watch: Stay One Step Ahead

All this moisture has created the perfect conditions for tomato diseases like:

• Early Blight: Brown spots on lower leaves with yellow halos.

• Septoria Leaf Spot: Tiny black dots with yellowing.

• Powdery Mildew: A white film that looks like someone sprinkled baby powder.

Combat these problems with Espoma’s Organic Fungicide or Copper Soap Spray. Always water at the base of the plant (not overhead), and remove infected leaves as soon as you spot them.

 

In Summary:

• Use Espoma Garden-tone monthly for steady growth and strong fruit.

• Water consistently and deeply—no see-sawing between dry and swampy!

• Pinch off suckers for better airflow and bigger tomatoes.

• Watch for hornworms and early signs of disease—treat with organic Espoma controls.

• And don’t panic—this weird spring just means your plants need a little extra TLC.

Still have questions? Bring a leaf, a photo, or your garden war story—we’re here to help!