Suria Helang Lui: Tomatoes, oh Tomatoes: You love TLC

I love vine-ripe tomatoes that are grown organically. If you find them in supermarkets, they are expensive. So I grow my own. To those of you who have tried growing them, you know how trying it is. First, they are susceptible to pest especially aphids and white flies. These pests basically suck the life out of the plant. If the pest is not controlled, you end up with a dead plant which leads to a major disappointment especially if you started with a healthy seedling. Over the years, I have had many plants died on me so I continually experiment with the mixture for pest control. After many iterations, I have finally come up with one that I can live with.

You can produce it yourself by creating an enzyme solution from organic wastes (such as fruit peels, vegetable discards, etc.) with citronella, indian borage and ginger fermented with a sugar source (molasses, gula nipah, gula melaka, etc.) and unchlorinated water for at least one month. though I tend to ferment for 3 months. What will be produced is a liquid filled with beneficial enzymes and microorganisms as well as nutrients with pest control properties. This is a concentrate which you then dilute at the rate of 10ml or 2 tablespoons of concentrate to 1 litre of water, Just spray the plant including the underside of the leaves twice a week.

Tomato plants love water but cannot abide soggy soil so the soil mixture had to be able to retain water but not drown the roots. Water had to be accessible to the roots so by having a richly organic soil, the soil remained moist throughout the heat of the day, keeping the plant "fresh". The plants love the sunshine and does best in full sun in the day but if there is a lack in moisture, the plant can wilt and may not recover.

Now that I got the pest under control, and the soil mixture with drainage done, the next step is to encourage flowering and fruiting. Most organic fertilisers are general purpose and doesn't provide the full support for flowering and fruiting. I conducted some experiments and found that liquid fish amino acids (FAA) with sea salts and liquid calcium concentrate worked best for me to encourage flowering and fruiting.

I produce the liquid FAA by fermenting 500g of fish wastes, 100 ml of probiotic liquid (such as from probiotic drinks or yogurt drinks), 100 ml of liquid molasses or 100gm of molasses with 1 later of unchlorinated water. The mixture is fermented for at least 1 month. I use fish wastes from the farm fish as I can ensure that it has not had any contaminants introduced such as chemical preservatives that are often applied to fish from the market. Fish wastes include the innards of the fish, the gills and the bones. Instead of molasses, I have also tried using gula melaka.

I also produce the liquid calcium from eggshells from the farm eggs (which are from free-range organic chicken) fermented with vinegar for at least 1 month. For the sea salt, I will dissolve 500g of sea salt in 1 litre of unchlorinated water and leave it overnight before making my FAA concentrate. The difference before and after the application of this combination is tremendous. Now I am even more motivated to plant more varieties of tomatoes :)