Brazos County Master GardenersTexas AgriLife Extension Service

Celebrating Tomatoes

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Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife Extension; published 6/09/2026

All images unless otherwise noted by Stephen Brueggerhoff

Ripe Tomatoes Image

I am delighted to announce that it is tomato harvest time, a season when homegrown tomatoes come to fruition and liven up our plates. A friendly reminder that you get to the harvest finish line with best practices – timed fertilization, strategic pruning of suckers, and most importantly consistent water application. Tomato availability and ripeness largely depend on the growth form and the specific variety.

Timing Is Dependent on the Variety

There are two basic growth forms called determinate and indeterminate. Determinate, or bush tomatoes, are varieties that grow between 3 to 4-foot tall and require modest staking for support. All fruits from determinate varieties ripen at approximately the same time. Indeterminate varieties will grow and produce fruit for a longer period. Cherry tomatoes like Sungold, Juliet or Sweet Million are indeterminate varieties that can be harvested well into summer. Indeterminates produce bountiful foliage, can potentially reach to 8-feet tall and often require a substantial cage or upright staking. We are trialing five determinate and indeterminate varieties at our Demonstration Idea Garden (The DIG) that include – Celebrity Plus and Tycoon (both determinate at 80 days); Independence Day (formerly known as Fourth of July, indeterminate at 55 days); Fred’s Tie-dye (dwarf hybrid beefsteak form, indeterminate at 75 days); and Green Zebra (semi-determinate at 78 days and trialed at our garden in 2025). Getting to know these two growth forms will help you make a better decision regarding future placement in the garden as well as predicting harvest.

Harvesting Ahead of the Leaf-foot Bug

Tomatoes ripening on the counter image
Tomatoes ripening on the counter

Your fruit may be forming up to its anticipated size, and you notice that your tomato patch is infested with the adult Leaf-footed bug or Stinkbug. There are limited methods of control available when these insects reach maturity. Pesticides are not a practical solution for homeowners as adult insects have formed hardened tissue over their body surface, are highly mobile and will have limited efficacy. You can surround your plants with a fine mesh screen, or row cover, to keep out these insects. You can spray kaolin clay mixed with water onto the developing and mature fruit. Kaolin clay acts as a physical barrier that deters insect feeding. Check your local retail outlet for availability. You can physically remove the insects and always wear gloves to protect yourself when considering using the TAF method – squishing between the thumb and forefinger. Thanks to Galveston County Master Gardener and tomato expert Ira Gervais for an explanation of TAF. There is hand-held vacuum devices specifically made for this gardening task. Once you get a collection of critters, simply dump them into a bucket of soapy water to bring them to a watery demise.

You can also harvest your tomatoes when you see a slight blush on the fruit, called the breaker stage. Slightly twist the fruit from the plant when they are at a 20 to 50-percent color change. Don’t fret because the fruit has developed its full flavor potential for finishing out on the countertop indoors. Do not store them in the refrigerator as they lose a bit of flavor quality at colder temps.

Attend the 2026 Tomato Tasting Event

To know them is to grow them, and our Texas Master Gardener Interns invite you to join us on June 13 starting at 9 am to 11 am for our Tomato Tasting Event at our demonstration garden The DIG, 2619 Hwy 21 West in Bryan. The program is free to attend, but seating is limited and we ask that you register on the Brazos County Master Gardener event webpage: txmg.org/brazos/event/2026-tomato-tasting-event.

This program features taste testing varieties from the research plots, a presentation on tomato culture, garden tours and review of ongoing research with select tomato varieties. The program will be held outdoors, tasting stations are placed around the garden and a mini seminar is under our pavilion. Brazos County Master Gardeners and yours truly will be on hand to answer your gardening questions and offer a smile and howdy back at ya. I know you have tomato pride, let’s share our knowledge and be a part of the alma ‘mater, and I’ll see you in the garden.

Cultivating Potatoes and Bulb Onions

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Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife Extension; published 2/017/2026

All images unless otherwise noted by Stephen Brueggerhoff

Potatoes and onions go together like peas in a pod, veggies that are often cooked together and are a staple in the Brueggerhoff household. These veggies are also cultivated and harvested around the same time, each with their own unique origins and growing habits.

Global Travelers

Modern potatoes originate in South America along the Andes, from coastal Chile to Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and estimated to arrive in Europe in the 1500s. Commercial Texas production includes the High Plains (Panhandle), the Rolling Plains, the Winter Garden (generally north of Laredo and south of San Antonio); and the Rio Grande Valley. Bulb onions (Allium cepa) have been domesticated over centuries and originate from central Asia. Historically, members from the Columbus expeditions cultivated bulb onions in Hispaniola as early as 1494, introducing a commodity that became well established as a staple in North America by the nineteenth century.

The Eyes Have It: Potato Cultivation

Potatoes are starchy tubers with vegetative buds (eyes) that produce above-ground leafy stems and eventually form tubers at the tips of root structures. The tubers we use for planting are called seed potatoes that have been cured and stored from previous years’ harvest. Irish potatoes are the tubers appropriate for cultivating in our area and include varietals like red flesh Norland, La Soda and Viking, white Kennebec and Superior, and popular yellow flesh Yukon Gold.

Chitting Lasoda Potatoes image

Choose well-formed seedlings three to four inches in length, about the size of a large hen’s egg. You can cut larger seedlings into quarters or half depending on their size and make you have at least one good eye on these new seed pieces. If cut, dry for several days in a well-ventilated room, allowing the pieces to scab over and seal the large wound. You can pretreat these pieces with dusting sulfur applied by coating pieces in a paper lunch bag. Wear a mask, gloves and old clothes. Sulfur will stain clothes, can irritate your respiratory system, some may have an allergic reaction to the dust, and keep in mind that slightly rotten egg smell will linger in the room. You may not have time to chit your potatoes, which is the process of sprouting about 4 weeks before planting. Chitting potatoes gives them a shorter growing time in the soil for potentially heavier yield.

To plant, prepare a well-draining, enriched bed forming 12-inch-high berms. Flatten the berms to 8-inches and 12-inches wide. Prep the planting site with a band of fertilizer in 4-inch-deep trenches and on each side of the row. Apply 2 cups in each trench per 30-foot row. Create a 3-inch-deep trench down the middle of the row and space seedlings 12-inches apart, cover and water in the rows. We don’t want to plant the seed pieces too deep as they have the potential to rot. The seed potato will develop new tubers along the stem below ground and above the seed potato. You will be pulling up soil along the sides of the row as the emerging stems elongate. Apply 3 tablespoons of fertilizer per 10 feet of row alongside when the plants are about four inches tall. The basic rule of thumb for watering is maintaining adequate moisture but not oversaturating the soil. Harvest time relies on visual cues from the plant; once the above-ground plant begins to die, it is time to harvest and on average about 100 days from planting. To dig out, use a spading fork and aim for about ten inches away from the plant to prevent damaging the spuds. Push down the fork and lever up the soil. Shake away soil from the tubers but don’t hose them down. We want them to dry and harden their skin first before dusting off excess soil. Store in a cool, well-ventilated room such as a bench in your garage or in a dark pantry.

Don’t Cry Now: Bulb Onion Cultivation

Onion harvest image

The onion bulb is a storage organ for the plant. The bulb produces a fan of hollow, blue-green leaves that facilitate photosynthesis. Each leaf is associated with the inner ring of the bulb, so when you laterally cut open an onion you see rings that are made of fleshy modified leaves. Bulb onions enlarge and form in response to specific day length and temperature, identified as long and short-day onions. Onions have a habit of bolting when ambient temps become too hot, and for our region it is best to transplant short day varieties like yellow 1015 Texas Supersweet, Sakata Red, Yellow Granex or Texas Early White that require up to twelve daylight hours for production in fall or late winter. Each can take up to 110 days to harvest.

The starts are purchased in a gathered bunch of around 30 to 40 plants. Transplant with full sun exposure in well-draining soil in beds raised 6 to 10-inches high. Bed prep should include 3 pounds of fertilizer over 100 square feet of garden area mixed within the top 3-inches of soil. Plant at 3/4 –inch deep at 3-inches apart. Cultivation includes keeping the garden bed free of weeds that will compete for natural resources and impact the size of the developing bulb. Apply another round of fertilizer when the plants form 6 leaves, about 1/2 cup for each 10-feet of row, spread evenly between the rows and water in the product. Water evenly and as the soil begins to dry. Harvest when the leaves begin to fall over, then leave in the garden to dry for up to two days. Remove the tops and roots and allow them to continue to dry and paper up in well-ventilated boxes. You can then store the cured onion bulbs in your refrigerator crisper or in a wire or ventilated mesh bag in a cool garage or utility room.

Growing these veggies can be a rewarding experience, patience is key to cultivation and conserve water resources in any gardening endeavor. Keep conserving natural resources while growing your veggies and I will see you in the garden.

Plant Green Beans for Fall Harvest

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By Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife Extension; published 09/03/2025

Preparing green beans is just one part of my childhood gardening experience, a seasonal ritual at my grandmother’s house whenever we would visit in mid-spring and in the fall. Harvest appeared to be plentiful, preparation was necessary, and this was one tried and true activity that mamaw could use to keep me, my brother and my sisters corralled and contributing to the family meal. We are fast approaching our fall gardening season, and this is the perfect time to plant snap beans and involve your children in planting, growing, and harvesting for future meals.

Starting Green Beans in the Garden

Image by Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications

Snap beans, also called green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) have two basic growth forms that we use in the garden. Like the name suggests, bush beans are more compact, foliage growing in a mound shape at about 2-feet tall and not requiring a structure for support. Pole beans are climbing vines that may sprawl up to 15-feet long and require a trellis for support. You will have more success direct sowing seed in a prepared well-draining and nutrient rich bed. If you have ample room to cultivate, AgriLife Vegetable Specialist Dr. Joe Masabni recommends up to one-half pound of seed for each 100 feet of row. Choose seed lots that have been pre-treated with a fungicide to reduce fungal infection on newly emerging leaves and roots. Plant seed of both forms about 1-inch deep. I always plant additional seeds of bush beans in the garden and then thin as needed to ensure adequate production, and final spacing should be 4-inches apart in the row. For pole beans I create small mounds spaced at 3-feet apart, then plant about 4 beans around the mound. You can create a trellis along the length of the row or use a single-stake trellis for support. Make sure to keep the soil moist until germination, then reduce watering to twice a week or as needed as the plants mature.

Garden Maintenance and Varieties for Fall Harvest

Fertilizer applications are dependent on soil nutrient availability. Committing a soil test for your garden will provide you with a foundation of useful information that will help guide best gardening practices. A general application of 5-10-15 fertilizer per 100-feet of row mixed into the top 3-inches of soil prior to planting will suffice. Dr. Masabni recommends applying a half cup of fertilizer for every 10-feet of row after flowering and bean set. Always water after fertilizing. Beans produce fibrous roots growing shallow in the soil profile, and care should be taken when using a garden hoe while grubbing out weeds. Depending on the variety, beans should be ready for harvest within 45 to 60 days after germination. Keep an eye on their growth and harvest while still immature, or about the size of a pencil. They become tough and stringy if left on the plant for too long.

Cow pea flower, image Stephen Brueggerhoff

There are several varieties that will perform well in our area and try out bush form Early Contender at 55 days, Derby at 57 days, Provider at 50 days, or Blue Lake at 60 days. Pole beans include Purple Pod or Purple King at 75 days, Rattlesnake at 73 days, or Northeaster at 56 days.

Aggie Horticulture and Local Gardening Programs

Here at Brazos County AgriLife Extension, we continue to explore the beauty and bounty of nature in our own backyard and offer learning experiences from our office. We continue to be your community resource to help improve our quality of life through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Path to Plate initiative, a program helping consumers understand how their food choices impact their health. Growing, harvesting, and preparing vegetables like green beans is a great way to involve our children and create future meals and lasting memories. Additional vegetable planting at this time can include cucumbers and summer squash, and tomatoes by transplant. Look forward to greens, bok choy, beets, carrots and more that can be planted by seed in September. You can find a Brazos County planting guide and recommended varieties from our Brazos County Master Gardeners website at txmg.org/brazos. I invite you to share your ideas and successes by joining me for my live call-in garden show Garden Success airing weekly on Thursdays at 12 pm on KAMU-FM 90.9, podcast available online kamu.tamu.edu/radio/radio-programs/garden-success/.

Get on the bean wagon, happy fall gardening and I’ll see you in the garden.

More Than a Peck of Peppers

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By Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife Extension; published 08/13/2025

You can pickle a peck, eat them raw, braise them, fry them, can, jelly or chop them into tiny bits to bring a little zest or sweetness to a home cooked meal. Peppers are an enticing and diverse fruit that is a global household staple and commonly associated with New World cuisine. I will explore with you the native origin of peppers, share some growing tips and delve into hotter than heck varieties.

Pepper Origins

Peppers are in the Nightshade Plant Family (Solanaceae), same as tomato and potato. Like their cousins, peppers are New World fruits with origins in Central and South America and domesticated thousands of years ago. Columbus voyages brought peppers back to Europe, introducing a piquant alternative to familiar black pepper and setting in motion distribution of a plant that would make a significant global impact for decades to come that includes Indian, Thai, Korean, Chinese, African and Latin American cuisine.

Know and Grow Peppers

Peppers and more for Summer harvest, Image: Stephen Brueggerhoff

Growing peppers can be a rewarding gardening experience. Like most vegetables, peppers require sandy loam soil with good drainage and a pH measuring 6 to 7.5. Fortunately for Brazos County gardeners, peppers can tolerate our growing environment. They are classified as a warm season crop, producing fruit in daytime temperatures up to mid 90-degrees and relatively cool nights up to the mid-70s.

Excessive high temperatures will reduce fruit size and may cause bloom drop; you may begin to see a reduction in fruit production at this time of year due to increased and longer duration summers temps. References for growing instruct to provide full sun for peppers, at minimum 8 hours of sunlight per day. However, higher irradiance increases the chance of sunscald on your fruit. The overall canopy of your pepper may be dense enough to provide some shade for developing fruit and reduce incidence of sunscald at this time of year. You may have to resort to make-shift tents made with shade cloth to reduce sunscald if your pepper plants are not doing the job. While we focus on planting peppers when the soil warms in spring (March to April) and then begin to harvest starting in June, you can plant pepper transplants in late July to mid-August for an outstanding October harvest. With a little bit of TLC, you can nurture your spring planted peppers through the summer for a fall harvest.

Pepper Diversity Brings on the Spice

Lunchbox peppers, Image: Michael Miller/Texas A&M AgriLife

Most of the domesticated peppers we use are botanically known as Capsicum annuum. This is a very diverse species that come in all shapes and sizes: mild and sweet bell peppers, hot and spicy jalapeños and varieties with distinctive flavors like New Mexico hybrids and cayenne pepper. C. annuum is one of four major species of pepper in cultivation that include Capsicum chinense, which produces some of the hottest peppers like Scotch Bonnet, Trinidad Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia and Carolina Reaper. A measurement called the Scoville Scale is used to determine the concentration of capsaicin, the compound giving hot peppers their spicy kick and reported as Scoville Heat Units, or SHU, in each variety of peppers. The testing method and scale, developed by American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912, involved taking an exact weight of dried pepper dissolved in alcohol to extract the compounds, then diluted in a measured solution of sugar water. The lucky taste testers would then sample each concoction, increasing the amount of sugar in solution until a majority of the panelists could no longer detect heat in dilution. Needless to say, results would vary widely between labs due to the subjectivity of the experiment. Current testing methods are more precise, using liquid chromatography to determine pungency. The winner for the hottest pepper is Pepper X, coming in at 2.69 million SHUs and beating out Carolina Reaper measured at 2.2 million SHUs. In comparison, jalapeños are lowest heat and average at 4 thousand SHU.

Let Your Tolerance Be Your Guide

Jalapenos for Spice, Image: Stephen Brueggerhoff

While I do like the heat of varietal Mucho Nacho jalapeno, you may prefer the flavorful TAM Mild Jalapeno. An improved TAM Mild Jalapeno was developed in 2002 by Dr. Benigno Villalon and Dr. Kevin Crosby, producing earlier and resistant to common pepper viruses. I like the convenient and compact plant size of colorful and sweet Lunchbox Peppers. These peppers are great growing with your kiddo’s as they are sweet like a red bell pepper, produce in a variety of yellow, orange to red colors, and take on the shape and size of a large jalapeno. For large, sweet bells, you can grow California or Yolo Wonder, and I leave it up to your best judgement and tolerance for the hot pepper varieties.

Regardless of the kind of pepper you choose to consume, keep in mind that peppers produce Vitamin A and C and minerals necessary for our health. Do you have a favorite hot or sweet pepper? I invite you to share your ideas and successes by joining me for my live call-in garden show Garden Success airing weekly on Thursdays at 12 pm on KAMU-FM 90.9. Browse online to our Brazos County Master Gardeners website to download a copy of our Vegetable Garden Planting Dates at txmg.org/brazos. Keep it hot, neighbors, and I’ll see you in the garden.

Cultivating Irish Potatoes

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By Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife Extension; published 02/18/2025

I love eating Irish potatoes, those red or golden fleshed spuds cooked on the skillet for breakfast or roasted as a side dish. These underground gems can be grown successfully in the Brazos Valley region, and with a little bit of moxie, know-how and can-do attitude, you can grow them in your backyard in a raised bed or in a fabric bag on the patio.

Southern Cousins, Global Traveler

A brief background and contemporary cultivation info is in order. These beauties are members of the same plant family as tomatoes, the Nightshade Family (Solanaceae). Modern potatoes originate in South America along the Andes, from coastal Chile to Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and estimated to arrive in Europe from expeditions in the 1500s. Potatoes are a major global commodity, and commercial Texas production includes four areas: The High Plains – Panhandle, extending from Seminole northward to Dalhart; the Rolling Plains – Munday; the Winter Garden (includes Frio, Dimmit, Zavala and La Salle County, generally north of Laredo and south of San Antonio); and the Rio Grande Valley.

Red Irish Potatoes; image TX A&M AgriLife Communications

The eyes have it! Potatoes are starchy tubers that express buds we call eyes that produce stems rising above the ground, as well as initiate rooting and future potato development. To get more bang for our buck and have the potential to grow pounds of produce, we divide a single potato, called a seed potato, into chunky two-ounce pieces. You can purchase them from a local feed store or garden center, or reputable catalogue. These seed potatoes have been stored and prepared for veggie production. Use the potatoes you bought from the grocery store for eating as these are stored and prepared for longer store shelf life and not appropriate for planting.

When choosing seed potatoes from your collection, use those that are well-formed and three to four inches in length. You will be cutting them up into quarters or half and depending on the size of the tuber. Colleague Dr. Joe Masabni put it best: you will wind up with a piece about the size of a hen egg. Remember that cut seed potatoes are energy packets, providing food for the developing plant. Smaller seed pieces will not be very productive for you as there are not enough starches to draw on and fully develop the plant. Ensure that you have at least one good eye on these new seed pieces. Dry for several days to a week in a well-ventilated room, allowing the exposed cut pieces to produce suberized tissue and scab over, sealing wounds and exposed surfaces. You can pretreat these pieces with fungicides rated for ag products and specifically for potatoes just prior to planting and after drying, a common one being dusting sulfur applied by coating pieces in a paper lunch bag. As with any pesticide application, wear a mask, gloves and old clothes. Sulfur will stain clothes, can irritate your respiratory system, some may have an allergic reaction to the dust, and keep in mind that slightly rotten egg smell will linger in the room.

Now is the time to plant spuds, approximately three weeks before the last spring frost. Preparing a well-draining, enriched planting bed is an important step. Create berms up to 12-inches high. Once prepared, flatten the top of the berms to 8-inches and 12-inches wide. You are preparing the planting site to apply a band of fertilizer in 4-inch-deep trenches and on each side of the row. Apply 2 cups in each trench per 30-foot row with a balanced fertilizer. After this action, create a trench down the middle of the row 3-inches deep and place the seed pieces up to 12-inches apart, then cover at this planted depth and water in the rows. We don’t want to plant the seed pieces too deep as they have the potential to rot. The seed potato will form roots and send shoots above ground, developing tubers along the stem and above the seed potato. You will be pulling up soil along the sides of the row as the emerging stems elongate. Note that developing foliage resembles tomato leaves, a characteristic of the plant family. Apply 3 tablespoons of fertilizer per 10 feet of row when the plants are about four inches tall and alongside the plants.

Maintenance watering potatoes can be an art, and the basic rule of thumb is maintaining adequate moisture but not oversaturate the soil as the plants and tubers develop. Adjust watering per seasonal rain events. Harvest time relies on visual cues from the plant; once the above-ground plant begins to die, it is time to harvest. Estimate this phenomenon to occur at about 100 days from planting. To dig out, use a spading fork and aim for about ten inches away from the plant to prevent damaging the spuds. Push down the fork and lever up the soil. Shake away soil from the tubers as you can but don’t hose them down. We want them to dry and harden their skin first before dusting off excess soil. Store in a cool, well-ventilated room such as a bench in your garage or in a dark pantry.

Goal achieved! Roasted Yukon Gold with sprigs of lemon thyme; image Stephen Brueggerhoff

Red or white Irish potatoes? Each varietal has unique characteristics in texture, flavor and color. Tried and true varietals include red flesh Norland, LaSoda and Viking, white Kennebec and Superior, and popular yellow flesh Yukon Gold. For me, growing potatoes is a lot like growing carrots, excitement building for about ten weeks after planting and harvesting like gold for late spring and summer meals. Check out resources about vegetable gardening from Aggie Horticulture online, don’t forget to visit our Brazos County Master Gardener website for upcoming events. I also host a call-in gardening radio show on KAMU-FM 90.9 called Garden Success, weekly on Thursdays from 12 to 1pm to talk about your garden challenges and successes.  Spud on, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you in the garden.