If you like fried green tomatoes, this year’s growing season in Iowa has been tailor-made for you. But if you’ve been looking forward to harvesting juicy red tomatoes, gardening experts say this may be your week.Iowa State University extension specialist Richard Jauron says May and early June were cool, and tomato plants didn’t start out of the gate very well as a result. Jauron says ideal growing conditions are 80s during the day and 60s at night.Jauron getting reports of a lot of blossom end rot — a brown or black spot on the bottom of the fruit.Jauron says it’s caused by an un-even moisture supply, and the fruit doesn’t get enough calcium from the soil. Jauron says the best way to combat the problem is to make sure tomato plants are well watered, once a week.
