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 1600s 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 damore, 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