Wild Boar Tomatoes 2026

Here are a few helpful tips from Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms. Brad has over 30 years of experience growing and creating tomato varieties.

If you spread out your planting, you will spread out your harvest as well. Consider using Brad’s 20%-60%-20% rule. Plant 20% of your plants early in the season, plant 60% during planting prime time, and plant 20% late in the season. If Mother Nature cooperates, you might end up with some very tasty tomatoes in October.

Many factors can inhibit pollinization such as heat, humidity, cold, and windless days. Tapping flower clusters, shaking the cage or support strings can increase pollination. The best time to do this is in the morning when temperatures are between 70°F-80°F.

Overwatering during the harvest season can contribute to mealy, mushy tomatoes as well as splitting and cracking, and blossom end rot. Consider reducing water during harvest by 20%-30% to minimize these issues, but adapt watering to your situation, as needed.

Brad recommends picking tomatoes that are “about half ripe” and allowing them to continue to ripen at room temperature. This is especially true when summer temperatures reach 100°F or more. This practice will help reduce pest problems and extend the shelf life of the fruit.

Late Season Evaluation: It typically takes 30-60 days from flower to fruit for a tomato plant. If you want your plant to focus on ripening fruit, try one or more of these stress-inducing tricks. Stress will put the plant into reproduction overdrive to create viable seeds with sugar-packed fruit: reduce water; prune the growing tips of the plant, removing approximately one-third every three days; use a shovel to cut 10%-20% of the roots.