Nightshade (Solanaceous) Family

1. Nightshade (Solanaceous) Family • Includes: • Food plants: tomato, ____________, eggplant, potato • Medicinal plants: mandrake, henbane • Weeds: Jimsonweed, _________________ • Tobacco • Nightshade vegetables were originally considered poisonous • High in physiologically active _____________

2. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) • Key concepts • Center of origin and domestication • Folklore associated with tomato • Growth characteristics • Tomato culture • Fruit variation • Harvesting • Problems

3. Center of origin • Native to Andean region in northwestern South America • Likely that Peruvian Incas traded to Aztecs, then passed to Conquistadors • Wild “tomatoes” still grow in ______________ Andes • By 1600’s tomatoes eaten widely in southern Europe

4. What is domestication? • Tomato domestication took place in Mexico by Aztecs • Name comes from ______________ • What changes occurred? • Larger sized fruit • Flower changes to ensure self-pollination • Loss of dormancy

5. Tomato folklore • Love apple • French misunder-stood name to be pomo d’amore, or love apple • Became known as powerful aphrodisiac • Tomatoes cause arthritis pain to get worst • Macrobiotic lifestyle prohibits all nightshades

6. Most popular garden vegetable • Why? • _________ to grow • A few plants produce enough fruit for a family • Ripe fruit from garden has a far better flavor than store purchased fruit

7. Growth characteristics • Determinant • Produces a ___________ cluster at the terminal growth point • Stops growth at a certain height • Fruit matures over shorter time • Some cultivars can be grown in ________________

8. Growth characteristics • Indeterminant • Never set a ________________ flower cluster • Continue to grow taller • Older cultivars • Fruit may be late in maturing

9. Tomato Culture • Sprawl on ground • Tied to stake • Used by most gardeners • _______________ • May be made from wood or wire

10. Pruning or suckering • Pruning or “_________” • Suckers are small lateral shoots in leaf axils or crotch of small branches • Garden Gal on suckers • Most often done to staked tomatoes • Why remove suckers?

11. Fruit colors • Red, yellow, pink, _________, orange, black, bi-color

12. Yellow/Orange Tomatoes • Are yellow tomatoes less acidic than red tomatoes? • No • Greater _____________ content • Flavor difference due to balance of sugars to acids

13. Fruit size • Smallest are current tomatoes • Extra-large • Are relatively _______ maturing • Fruit may be extremely large (can be more than 1 lb) • Cat-facing can be a problem

14. Tomato use - Processing • Paste tomato • Used for ____________, pastes, sauces, and canning • Are usually determinant types • Why? • Fruit characteristics • Solid • Meaty or ___________ • Low moisture

15. Tomato use • Salad tomatoes • Have __________ growth and are very productive • Fruit size ranges from 1 to 2 inches in diameter • Cherry • Are too big for a single mouthful Grape Larger than cherry tomato Sold on the _______________ Cluster Smaller than cherry tomato Separate species More intense flavor

16. Harvesting Tomatoes • Fruit should be ________ and fully colored • Allow to fully ripen on the plant for best flavor • High temperatures • _______________ softening process • Harvest when fruit color has started to develop • At frost • Harvest all green mature fruit

17. Problem – tomato hornworm • Feed on ____________ of tomatoes and related plants • Control • Hand-picking • Bt • ____________ wasps

18. Problem – blossom end rot • A dry, leathery brown rot of the ___________ end of the fruit • Caused by poor calcium distribution in the fruit • Solutions • Select cultivars that are less susceptible • Use ________________ • Maintain even watering

19. Problem – fruit cracking • Can be caused by sudden abundant ________________ , especially if it follows drought

20. Problem – sun scald • Can plants get sunburn? • ______________ area on the fruit develops with overexposure to sunlight • Prone to secondary infection by mold