Growing tomato tips
- Don’t crowd your tomato plants — If you’re starting
tomatoes from seeds, it’s important to be sure to give the seedlings
ample room to branch out. Crowded growing surroundings hinder their
growth. So, transplant them into their own individual 4 inch pot, soon
after they get their first true leaves.
- Preheat the garden soil — Tomatoes thrive on heat. A
few weeks before you intend to plant, cover the planting area with red
or black plastic. The few extra degrees of soil warmth will render early
tomatoes. Covering the soil with clear plastic also works well. The
clear plastic lets the sun rays shine through and then traps heat energy
into the ground. Additionally, it causes weed seeds to germinate and
then burns them — making them incapable of sprouting again.
- Plant deep — Plant your tomato plants deep — up to
the top of a few leaves. When you plant your tomatoes this way they can
grow roots all along their stems. More roots will make your tomato
plants stronger. Dig a deep hole, but be careful not to drive your cage
or stake into the buried stem.
- Help your plant set fruit — There are two types of tomato plants. Determinate tomatoes
reach a certain height and then set and ripen their fruit all at once.
These types of tomatoes are inclined to start flowering early in the
season. They normally set fruit without any problems — unless you
experience unfavorable weather conditions. The big, juicy beefsteak
tomatoes grow on indeterminate plants —
they just keep growing. Indeterminate tomato plants are vines and they
reach for the sun. They like to grow tall before they start setting
fruits. Pinch off the tips of the main stems in early summer to
encourage the plant to start flowering.
- Water regularly — Water the plants regularly and deeply while they are developing. Irregular watering may lead to the plant developing blossom end rot
and cracking. Make sure your plants get at least 1 inch of water per
week. However, during hot, dry spells they may need more water. During
the day, if your plant starts to wilt, water it. After the tomato fruit
begins to ripen, you can reduce watering. By lessening water, your
plants will focus on concentrating its sugars for better flavor.
- Pinch and prune — Pinch and remove suckers that
tend to develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They will not bear
fruit and have a tendency to take away energy from the rest of the
plant. But take it easy on pruning the rest of the plant. In order to
allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, thin out a few leaves,
sparingly. Keep in mind — it’s the leaves that are photosynthesizing and
creating the sugars that help in providing flavor to your juicy
tomatoes.
- Remove the bottom leaves — As the tomato plants
start filling out, the bottom leaves get the least air circulation and
sun. Additionally, being close to the ground, soil borne pathogens can
easily splash up onto them. These leaves are the oldest and usually are
the first leaves to develop fungus problems. Remove the leaves from the
bottom 1 foot of the stem once your tomato plants reach about three
feet tall.
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