15 Tips For Growing A Great Tomato
Producing great tasting tomatoes that you can show off to friends does take some skill. Even though it is relatively easy to grow tomatoes for the novice, it is quite a different story to producing awesome tasting tomatoes. Check out these time tested tomato growing tips so you will be ready for a fantastic season, producing tomatoes that are the envy of your neighborhood!
1. Give seedlings space - You like to have your own space right? When your seedlings produce their first true leaves it is time to transplant them, as their growth may be stunted if they are crowded together.
2. Give them what they want – Light -Tomato plants LOVE direct sunlight. Place them in the sunniest patch of your garden, or somewhere they can receive at least 6-8hours sunlight per day. You can place your seedlings under grow lights, a couple of inches away, to hasten their growth.
3. Preheat the soil – A few weeks before you intend to plant your tomato plants, cover your garden with dark, opaque plastic. This will trap in heat, causing the soil to heat up. A few extra degrees will produce earlier tomatoes for you.
4. Plant them deep – Plant your tomatoes deep into the soil. As long as the top most branches are showing, your tomato plant will be fine. Roots will emerge from the buried stem and develop into a strong root system. If you don’t have the depth then you can lay your plants sideways, as they will correct themselves later.
5. Mulch when warm - Mulch after the ground has had a chance to warm up.
6. Rotate your crops -To reduce disease and insect problems, you are advised to plant your tomatoes in a different patch every three years.
7. Companion plants – tomatoes grow well next to chives, onions, parsley, marigolds, nasturtiums, carrots or garlic.
8. Remove bottom leaves – Remove the bottom foot of leaves, when the plant reaches three feet high, to help solve fungus problems.
9. Stake your tomato plants – using old pantyhose strips.
10. Pinch & prune – If you prune the plants ‘suckers’, you will get fewer, but larger fruit. Pinch to remove them, as they won’t produce fruit, only drain energy from the plant. The suckers can be found growing out from between the stem and the lateral branches.
11. Smokers – To prevent the infection of tobacco mosaic virus make sure you wash your hands after smoking
12. Water your tomato plants regularly - Water your tomatoes early in the day so that the foliage can dry before night fall. Water abundantly and regularly during the plants development stage and lesser when it begins to bear fruit, this will help make for sweeter tomatoes. Try not to water irregularly or let them dry out too much.
13. Transplanting tomatoes – transplant on a cloudy day that is free from wind, and preferably wait until the late afternoon.
14. Indeterminate tomatoes can set fruit earlier if you break off the tips of the main stems in early summer.
15. You can ripen tomatoes inside by picking them of the plant when temperatures are above 85 degrees.
Although there are practically endless tomato growing tips to find, I hope that you found something useful here that will add the value of your experience.
