All recipes are not for the kitchen.

If you're interested in plump, juicy tomatoes this summer, here's a recipe for the garden.

Don't plant tomatoes in the same location year after year.

Plant tomatoes that are disease-resistant. They may be labeled "VFN." If you have space in the garden, plant two or more varieties. This increases your chances of good production.

On transplants, use a water-soluble starter solution that is high in phosphorus. For "leggy" transplants, lay them on their side and cover along the stem when planting rather than planting them deeper, especially in clay soils. Make sure the peat pot rim is below the soil surface.

Staked tomatoes may have one stem or two. For two stems, leave the sucker immediately below the first fruit cluster.

Caged tomatoes may have several stems. Fruit will be smaller, but there will be more fruit. Wire cages may be made from hog wire or concrete reinforcing wire. Cages need to be 18-20 inches in diameter.

Mulch tomatoes to conserve water, reduce weeds and help prevent blossom-end rot.

Diseases must be prevented, not cured. Use resistant varieties, practice rotation, don't handle plants while they are wet, and wash hands after handling tobacco products (This prevents the spread of virus.).

Your plants will not set fruit under some conditions. These include nighttime temperatures above 70 degrees F. or under 50 degrees F., applying too much nitrogen in fertilizer and irregular watering.

You can grow tomato plants in small areas, but you may need to give them special attention. You can grow plants in tubs or containers, in special areas within or adjacent to the patio.

Do not overlook less obvious locations such as fence corners or containers on the balcony or patio. Containers must have drainage holes in the bottom. Plants growing in small containers may need daily watering.

Some tomato varieties are adapted to container growing. Tomatoes can be an integral part of your landscape plantings, and it might be appealing to arrange them randomly, rather than to plant them in a straight row.

A good transplant is six- to eight-weeks old, six- to nine-inches tall, has a sturdy stem (about the diameter of a lead pencil) and a leaf spread about equal to its height.

The color should be a medium dark green, and the texture of the stem and leaves neither soft nor woody, but strong and firm. The root system should be well-developed.

"Growing Green" is contributed by Lehigh County Extension Office Staff and Master Gardeners. Lehigh County Extension Office, 610-391-9840; Northampton County Extension Office, 610-746-1970.