Walter Reeves frequently answers gardeners' questions about growing tomatoes. As the salmonella case continues, we thought you'd be looking for information about how to grow your own tomatoes — and avoid the scare entirely. Here's a sampling of Walter's advice over the yeaers and some useful links. Now, it's up to you to get into the garden.

Chris Hunt / AJC (ENLARGE)

Growing tomatoes in your yard isn't difficult, but knowing the secrets of the pros helps.

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Soil temperatures

Q: I planted a tomato in a pot, but it has stopped growing. The existing tomatoes have been green for weeks and the leaves have an unhealthy color. Do you have any suggestions? Melissa Jones, Atlanta

A: It's all about heat. The pot is probably in full sunshine. If so, the soil heats up during the day. Tomatoes like soil temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees. If your potting soil got hotter, that would explain why the plant stopped growing. Heat also explains why fruit stops ripening. Tomatoes stop making the pigments carotene and lycopene at temperatures higher than 85 degrees. A few minutes outdoors tells you we're above that mark. Even though tomatoes are called "full sun" plants, the roots have to be cooler than 80 degrees and the fruit has to be shaded by lots of foliage to keep it cool enough to ripen fully. However, if the blossom end of the fruit has a bit of pink showing, the tomato will ripen indoors in your kitchen window.

White flies

Q: I plant more than 30 tomato plants each year. For the last several years I have had a problem with whiteflies. Is there anything I can do? William Cook, e-mail

A: Whiteflies damage tomatoes by clustering under the leaves and sucking sap from the plant. They reproduce rapidly; by August a cloud of the tiny insects will arise every time you brush past your plants. The key to keeping them in check is early control. Thoroughly spray the undersides of leaves with horticultural oil (Sunspray, Bioganic, etc.) when plants are a foot tall. Repeat every 14 days until June. Switch to spinosad (Green Light Spinosad) and spray the plants and any nearby weeds where whiteflies roost.

Grape tomatoes

Q: My grape tomato vine is 14-plus feet tall. Is this normal? I'm risking my life to climb on the roof, where I have attached them, to pick the ones at the top. Anita Hester, Decatur

A: Now you know what an "indeterminate" tomato variety does: It grows until frost. "Determinate" tomatoes grow until they set a big crop of fruit, and then they die. The cherry tomato 'Sweet 100' is well-known for its astonishing vine length. If any tomato is suited for a head-high arbor, this is the one.

How to save tomato seeds

Q: Recently, I bought some heirloom tomatoes, and they have been wonderful on my dinner plate. I'm curious about the possibility of capturing and storing seeds for the next growing season. Marc Colby, e-mail

A: The process is a bit stinky, but you can easily save tomato seed. The first step is to scoop seed and flesh from a good-looking tomato, put them into a glass jar and cover with an inch of water. Cover the jar with a paper towel and set it in a warm window. The seed and pulp will begin to ferment. This is important to the procedure because tomato seeds are covered with a gel sack that prevents their germination. Fermenting the seed destroys the gel. After a few days, mold and pulp will rise to the top of the water, and viable seed will fall to the bottom of the jar. Pour off the bad stuff, being careful to save the seed. Scatter them onto a paper plate and allow to dry, turning and separating the seeds each day so they don't stick together. When dry, place in a labeled envelope and seal in a dry jar in a cool place. The seed will remain viable for two years.

Green tomatoes

Q: Our plants have tons of large green tomatoes, but they won't ripen on the vine! They're absolutely gorgeous, nondiseased green tomatoes that get lots of sunshine. Any tricks to make them ripen up? Carrie Wisniewski, e-mail

A: It's a waiting game. Tomatoes ripen when they get enough sugars and hormones from the leaves to complete the process of maturing. With so many tomatoes on the vine, the leaf surface area is having a hard time keeping up with the demands of the fruit. You can pick green tomatoes when the blossom end is one-third pink and ripen them on a kitchen window.

Blossom end rot advice:

If you've had blossom end rot on your tomatoes in other years, spray plants with calcium chloride (Stop Rot, etc.) when the fruit is marble-size.

Harvesting advice:

Be gentle when harvesting vegetables. The safest way is to use a knife or scissors to clip the stem a half-inch above the vegetable. More details at http://xrl.us/HARVEST

MORE LINKS:

• Walter's guide to the tomato
• Walter's tomato disease guide
• Waterwise gardening techniques

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