How do you create acidic soil? I used a mix of garden soil with a small amount of potting mix mixed in. I currently grow in a raised flower bed like the single ones you see at your big box store not the kind that you build into the yard. I wanted to make sure I could grow successfully before investing the money into building the raised bed garden we have planned for the fall. I have seen soil testers at the store would that be a reccomendation you would make?
I've been growing tomatoes all of my gardening life (since 1970) and I never gave much thought to acidic soil. If you plant the tomatoes inground, you should mix in a generous amount of compost + some worm castings. (You don't need to add potting soil ---- unless you're growing in pots.) A good thing to add is crab + lobster shell. I tried that last year and it was terrific.
Small addition of lime is good. Eggshells, however, take forever to break down, so if you want to add a bit of calcium, get it at the nursery.
Also water deeply, rather than frequently (unless you live where temps get super high). Don't overhead water. Mix up some molasses and water (1/4 cup molasses per gallon of water) and add some of that to your plants. You can spray the leaves with molasses water, too.
One cool thing I learned recently is to gently "shake" the plants a couple times per day, when there are blossoms. This helps with pollination.
As for tomato hornworm, which you're bound to find at some point in time (grow organically!) ------in our garden we just plant extra tomato plants and share. Hornworms morph into beautiful moths.