Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?   

Classifying a tomato as a fruit or a vegetable can be debated. From a botanical perspective, a tomato is considered a fruit. Botanically speaking, a fruit is the mature ovary of a flowering plant, typically containing seeds. Since tomatoes develop from the ovary of a tomato flower and contain seeds, they meet the botanical definition of a fruit.

However, in a culinary and legal context, tomatoes are often called vegetables. This classification is based on how they are commonly used in cooking and how they are legally categorized for trade purposes. In the late 19th century, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling classified tomatoes as vegetables for import taxes because they were commonly eaten as part of the main course, unlike sweet fruits typically consumed as desserts.

So, while botanically, a tomato is a fruit, often regarded as a vegetable in culinary and legal contexts.

Origin of tomatoes:

Tomatoes originated in South America. It is possible that the Spanish priests brought them from Mexico and transported them to Europe in the middle of the sixteenth century AD, and then people in Spain and Italy began to grow tomatoes as food. However, many consider them poisonous due to their affiliation with and proximity to many toxic plants.

As a result, tomatoes became widely accepted as a food only at the beginning of the ninth century, in 10 AD. 

The annual global production of tomatoes is about 8 million tons. China is the most productive country.

The United States, Turkey, Italy, and Egypt are among the most tomato-producing countries. China produces about 31 million tons annually, while American farmers have over 33 million. Tomatoes are grown throughout the United States.

Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

Tomatoes are not only delicious but also offer several nutritional benefits. Here are some key nutrition facts and health benefits associated with tomatoes:

Nutrition Facts (per 100 grams of raw tomato):

Calories: 18

Carbohydrates: 3.9 grams

Protein: 0.9 grams

Fat: 0.2 grams

Fiber: 1.2 grams

Vitamin C: 21% of the daily recommended intake

Vitamin A: 10% of the daily recommended intake

Potassium: 5% of the daily recommended intake

Health Benefits:

• Rich in antioxidants: Tomatoes contain various antioxidants, such as lycopene, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. Lycopene, in particular, has been associated with reducing the risk of certain prostate, lung, and stomach cancers.       
• Heart health: Tomatoes contain high levels of antioxidants, particularly lycopene, linked to a reduced risk of heart disease. They also contain potassium, which helps maintain healthy blood pressure levels.
• Eye health: Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin A and beta-carotene, which are essential for maintaining good vision and eye health. These nutrients help protect against age-related macular degeneration and night blindness.
• Skin health: Tomatoes contain antioxidants that help protect the skin from damage caused by free radicals, which can contribute to premature aging. Additionally, tomatoes contain vitamins C and E, which promote healthy skin and collagen production.
• Digestive health: Tomatoes' fiber content supports healthy digestion and helps prevent constipation. It also aids in maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk of certain gastrointestinal disorders.
• Bone health: Tomatoes contain vitamin K, essential for maintaining strong and healthy bones. Vitamin K helps improve calcium absorption and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

It's worth noting that while tomatoes offer numerous health benefits, individual results may vary. Additionally, cooking tomatoes can enhance the availability of certain nutrients, such as lycopene, making them even more beneficial.

From a constrained space. Rosa cultivars yield fruits weighing over 1.4 kilograms, but most variations produce 4.5 to 7 kilograms per plant.

 Tomato plant growth requirements:

 The tomato plant demands reasonably warm temperatures and lots of sunshine since tomatoes are generally cultivated in greenhouses in colder locations. Tomatoes are frequently planted, tethered, or caged to keep.

Tomato plants need frequent watering to prevent blossom end rot and fruit breaking. They are also subject to various pests and diseases, including bacterial wilt, early blight, mosaic virus, fusarium wilt, nematodes, and tomato worms.

Many of these issues may be addressed by crop rotation, using fungicides and insecticides, and developing cultivars.

The most critical problems and difficulties facing the cultivation and production of tomatoes are:

The spread of the whitefly and the diversity of its hosts, as well as the spread of yellow tomato leaf curl disease, particularly in the Nile and winter loops, and the absence of tomato plantations in congregated areas, all aid in the fly's prevention.

The overlapping of the lugs and the ease of transmission of the infection from old to modern crops

• Some farmers lack knowledge of the appropriate varieties and the needs of each type of fertilizer, as well as the symptoms of diseases and pests and how to resist them,

• There were no symptoms of yellow leaf curl virus infection at the early age of the seedling.

• There are no varieties or hybrids can withstand high or low temperatures.

• Marketing and manufacturing problems when increasing tomato production.

Environmental conditions suitable for tomato cultivation:

1. Soil suitable for planting and growing tomatoes:

Suitable soil for growing tomatoes:

Tomatoes may grow in various soil types, from sandy to heavy clay, although they prefer sandy soils when an early yield or a short growing season is desired—and thick ground over the lengthy planting season. As long as the drainage is excellent, heavy soils assist in growing an abundant harvest of tomatoes.

In the past ten years, sandy lands have demonstrated their high efficiency in producing tomatoes for all purposes. They successfully grow all varieties of tomatoes without exception at any time of the year, taking production precautions such as enhancing the soil texture below the planting lines by adding manure, compost, or perlite (a material that increases the soil's water permeability properties).

Considering all of this, the desert regions outperform the ancient lands in terms of the quality of their weed populations.

In general, tomatoes do not tolerate high salinity levels since a rise in salinity causes a considerable drop in output and an increase in plant development when the concentration of salts also increases.

The maximum amount of salt that tomato plants can withstand in soil without experiencing significant growth inhibition is 6,400 ppm.

The ideal soil pH range is between 5.5 and 7, with a pH of 7 or higher fixing soil nutrients, particularly phosphorus, iron, copper, boron, and manganese, in a manner that prevents plants from readily absorbing them. This is handled by incorporating these elements, adding acids or chelates, and dusting on the leaves..

The effect of light on tomato plants:

1. The effect of photoperiod length:

The duration of the photoperiod is neutral in terms of its impact on tomato plant blossoms, but it has a significant effect on growth. If plants are exposed to fewer than eight hours of light daily, their vegetative development dramatically decreases.

Because daily light durations are neutral yet significantly impact growth, plants develop less rapidly when exposed. If plants are exposed to fewer than eight hours of light daily, their vegetative development dramatically decreases.

The duration of the lighting period is not particularly crucial for fruit production, except that lengthy lighting increases the quantity of vitamin C in the plant. Plant growth declines when exposed to 35 hours or more daily light periods.

The duration of light and the quantity of nitrogen applied to the plant impact the plant's capacity to blossom and yield. Nitrates and five hours of sunlight are ideal for plant growth.

One hour of light daily did not cause the plant to blossom in the aqueous solution, but thirty minutes of exposure did. In contrast to the developing plants, which did not thrive, the plants growing in a short daily time of light and without the availability of nitrogen flowered but did not yield fruit during prolonged lighting without supplying nitrogen.

1. Light intensity effect:

There is an excellent relationship between the intensity of light and the amount of vitamin C in the plant. In low-light situations, the amount of vitamin C formed is less than the amount included under high-light intensity, and an increase has occurred. The vitamin C content was 66% when the plants were moved from shade to direct sunlight, and the amount of carotene in fruits decreased when they were produced at full maturity. It was also noted that greenhouses produced more fruit in summer or winter outside greenhouses.

 The effect of temperature on tomato:

Tomatoes are summer vegetable crops, and a temperature of 25–30 degrees Celsius is appropriate for germinating tomato seeds. The temperature ranges between 25 and dark green leaves and thick stems 35 degrees Celsius during the day, while the temperature suitable for flowering and knots ranges from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius lead to the formation of broad leaves of a dark green color, and the stems are thick. When the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, growth stops, and the tomato fruits are held at temperatures less than 12 degrees Celsius due to the death of pollen grains, which leads to the failure to complete the process of pollination and fertilization.

Night temperature plays an important role in growth, flowering, and knots, and fertilization of flowers may not occur. Consequently, knots do not happen when the night temperature drops to less than 13 degrees Celsius. It has been possible to overcome the low temperatures during the winter and growing season using plastic tunnels, as they provide the right temperature for growth, flowering, and knotting.

The tunnels prevent the plants planted under them from being exposed to frost, which destroys the vegetative system and fruits. Temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius lead to high-stemmed plants and dull green leaves, dry out the flower necks and cause the fall of fruits and small knots.

 Effect of Humidity on Tomato:

When humidity of 60 to 65 percent is present, high humidity damages tomato cultivation by causing the spread of fungal diseases and the inability to absorb nutrients, particularly calcium, as a result of a lack of transpiration, which results in the appearance of syphilitic disease on the fruits, in addition to the absence of knots. However, the spread of these illnesses may be slowed down with adequate ventilation.

Aeration:

Being hermaphrodite, the tomato blossom does not need insects to complete the pollination process, and it is well known that the ventilation process, as previously indicated, is one of the most crucial processes in agriculture in the tunnels. Consequently, the tunnel ventilation system is essential because it decreases tunnel humidity and vibrates the flowers to aid in pollination as air enters the tunnel.

Fertilization of tomato plants:

• To encourage early blooming, boost production, enhance the qualities of the fruits, and strengthen plant resistance to nematode and soil fungus infection, dip the seedlings in a bio-fertilizer (Halex) suspension for 10 to 15 minutes before transplantation. 

• Plant growth and branch formation must be added with care because of the significance of nitrogen fertilizers.      

                     

• They must be balanced and added sparingly to prevent increasing vegetative growth at the expense of fruitful growth so the plant does not become more unpleasant and susceptible to disease. Nitrogen fertilization must be stopped before phosphate fertilization, as the conclusion of the harvest season is around 2-3 weeks away due to its significance in root spreading, blooming stimulation, and early maturity.         

                              

• Also, pay attention to the importance of potassium fertilizer, which helps enhance fruit flavor, appearance, shape, and size. Phosphate fertilizer should be discontinued two to three weeks before the conclusion of the harvest season.

• The program must be implemented such that, before planting, the planting lines get the following amounts of essential fertilization:
• 18 kilograms of triple superphosphate
• 24 kilograms of potassium sulfate

• 12 kilograms of ammonium nitrate.
• 
  

What about fertilizing after planting (periodic fertilization), which occurs after the first flower opens, usually 15–20 days after planting? The amount of fertilizer varies according to the temperature and the photoperiod length.

Temperature decreases the amount of fertilizer used to extend the photoperiod. The following is a practical program for periodic fertilization of the tomato crop (quantities are calculated based on a house with an area of 400 square meters).

After 15 days of sowing, add the following amount of fertilizer:

• 1 kg of ammonium nitrate.

• 1 kilogram of superphosphate.
• 6 kilograms of potassium sulfate.
• 4 kilograms of magnesium sulfate.

Once every 15 days or every week in sandy soil, the exact amounts as before

Two months after sowing, the quantity is increased to become as follows (and repeated once every two weeks):

• 1.5 kg of ammonium nitrate.

• 2 kilograms of superphosphate.

• 6 kilograms of potassium sulfate.

• 4 kilograms of magnesium sulfate.

Tomatoes may be deficient in elements such as:

• Nitrogen deficiency: Leaves turn light green when treated with 100 units of N in the form of ammonium nitrates.
• 
  
• Phosphorous deficiency: purple leaves (lower side), treated with soluble phosphate (ammonium phosphate).
• 
  
• Potassium deficiency: The leaves appear light green, and their edges are colored with brown spots. When treated with fertilization with 100 K2O fertilizer units per hectare, the shortage of potash in dry soil increases.
• 
  
• Magnesium deficiency: leaves turn yellow (between veins) and thin; treated by spraying with magnesium sulfate.

• Boron deficiency:

• Leaves are red.
• Fruits are wrinkled and distorted.
• Flower buds drop.
• Roots are twisted and treated by spraying with a borax solution, avoiding high-pH soil acidity.
• 
  

Leaf curl is caused by thirst and excessive pruning.

 Irrigation of tomato plants:

Regular irrigation is considered, and the timing of it is decided by the kind of soil, temperature, growth stage, or plant age. In types and hybrids with a short collecting time, early watering periods are decreased at the start of maturity, irrigation is continued, and irrigation is stopped when fruits are stained by 30%.

The development of fruits causes them to break and the development of rot disease at the tip of the apical flower.

Tomato planting dates:

Tomatoes are planted several times a year through agricultural lugs, as follows:

1: The lug of early summer: Sown in late December to early January and planted in permanent ground in mid-February.

2: The lug of normal summer: seeds are sown in mid-February, and seedlings are transferred to permanent ground in early April.

3: The lug of autumnal: sown during June and early July and planted on permanent ground during July or August.

4: The lug of winter: sown in the nursery during September and early October, and seedlings are planted in the permanent ground in October and November.

Tomato farming methods:

First: Planting tomatoes in the home garden

1. Choose a sunny place where tomato seedlings need 6–8 hours of sunlight per day, so it is always recommended to provide a sunny place for planting them if they are grown in the home garden. If they are grown in pots, moving them to a sunny place is advised to ensure the plants get their needed sunlight. The sun helps the plant carry out the process of photosynthesis.

2: Suitable soil, where each seedling needs approximately two cubic feet of soil rich in nutrients, and seedlings are planted by digging a hole for each seedling in the ground or the middle of the pot, taking into account that the depth of each hole is appropriate and covers between seven and ten centimeters of the stem. The seedlings are above the surface of the soil.

3. Planting the seedlings vertically is also recommended, taking into account mixing the fertilizer with the soil about two weeks before planting.

4: Some small rocks should also be added above the surface of the potting soil on hot days to reduce the evaporation process from the soil surface.

5: Tomato seedlings need adequate and regular irrigation at the beginning of cultivation so they do not wither and rot. In hot weather, the seedling needs about 36 milliliters of water per week, and less than that in winter. When plants begin to produce, reducing the amount of water used for irrigation is possible.

6: Old leaves under the tree trunk should be removed to avoid infecting tomatoes with fungi. Pruning the leaves also contributes to the seedlings' need for water and air.

7: It is recommended to leave the tomatoes on the plants as long as possible until they ripen, that is, until their color turns red, regardless of their size and softness. If they fall before maturity, they should be put in a paper bag and stored in a dark and cool place.

Second: hydroponics of tomatoes:

Growing tomatoes without soil:

Tomatoes can be grown in a water solution without soil. This technique is called hydroponics, or farming without soil. To start this type of cultivation, an appropriate hydroponic system must be used, and the following steps must be followed:

• Locate the water system in an area that receives morning sunlight and use a sunshade in the afternoon on extremely hot days to protect the plant from burns.

• Providing water to the agricultural system with a pH between 5.8 and 6.3 is the optimum pH for tomato growth. The pH of the water can be controlled by adding potassium hydroxide to raise it or phosphoric acid to reduce it.

• Test the electric pump to ensure it works properly, then cover it with a plastic cover to keep it from getting wet. A weight can be placed on the cover so that the air does not move it from its place. Remove the tomato seedlings to be planted from the planting pot, and gently rinse the roots to rid them of soil residue.

• Place the pots designated for growing tomatoes within the hydroponic system so that each pot is approximately 25 centimeters away. Add a little of the alternative water medium for the soil to the pots, then add the seedlings and more water medium to hold the roots in place.

• Add more water and nutrients to the water system to keep it at the proper level.

Types of hydroponic systems for growing tomatoes:

Planting material stores provide materials to build hydroponic systems, such as:

The tidal system is known as the flood and drain system, in which plants are immersed in the nutrient solution and drained before the container is filled.

Deep-water farming system.

The multi-immersion system.

Feeder membrane technology.

The tidal system is considered the least expensive and is easy to install if the necessary components are available.

 The advantages of growing tomatoes without soil:

1. Plants grown without soil grow more quickly than those grown in soil and produce plants that produce 20–25% more fruits.

2: Allows the possibility of growing plants in places with poor soil or inside residential apartments.

3: It needs less space because the plant can form small roots to obtain its water and nutrient needs, enabling the farmer to grow a larger number of plants in a small area.

4: Water is saved because it is inside closed containers that do not allow it to evaporate.

 Third: Growing tomatoes in greenhouses:

How to grow tomatoes in greenhouses There are several steps for growing tomatoes, which we mention as follows:

The time for planting tomatoes Tomatoes can be grown in greenhouses whenever a person desires. Still, the date of the last frost that the area was exposed to is known, so the time of the danger of frost is also known, and therefore, the appropriate time or date can be adopted for planting seeds.

When planting seeds, select high-quality seeds.

First, it is planted in containers, bags, or even in the soil of the plastic house. The process is similar for all cultivation methods, and they are not different.

• Fertilization:

Adding fertilizer to tomatoes is easy. Simply put, liquid nitrogen-rich fertilizer can be used every week or two when the plant is growing and after it appears.

The first kernels of tomatoes should change fertilizer and buy fertilizer with a high potassium content.

• Irrigation:

Greenhouse tomatoes need more water—at least one liter per day. The quantity must be increased on hot days and reduced on cold days. It is possible to know whether the plant needs water by looking at the soil and leaves.

Some tips for growing tomatoes to accomplish this, read the following tomato-growing tips:

It provides much light.

Tomato seedlings need direct and strong light, and it is recommended that they be given a special light for 14 to 18 hours a day to support their growth. However, the days are short in winter, and the seedlings will not get enough light.

Putting a fan next to the tomato seedlings:

The tomato plant needs breezes of air to grow strong stems. This process occurs naturally when planted outside, but when planted indoors, a fan should be placed next to it twice a day for 5–10 minutes.

Prewarming the soil

Tomatoes love heat, so it is recommended to warm the soil two weeks before planting it by covering it with black plastic wrap.

• Removing the leaves from the bottom of the plant: The oldest leaves at the bottom of the tomato plant should be removed to avoid fungal infection.