Tomato Gardening

10 tips for growing tomatoes

Interested in tomato gardening. Want to be a competitive tomato gardener who has the earliest and sweetest tomatoes on the block?. Growing great tomatoes doesn't just happen. Try some of the tomatoes at your grocer's this winter if you don't think so. Here are some growing tips to insure your bragging rights this year.

1. More isn't better.

If you choose to start tomatoes from seed, be sure to give the seedlings room to branch out. Close conditions stifle their growth. Transplant them when they get their first true leaves. Move them from there into 4 inch pots about 2 weeks later.

2. Lots of light.

Seedling need either direct sunlight or 14-18 hours under grow lights. Place your starts a couple of inches your grow lights. Plant your tomatoes outside in the sunniest part of your vegetable plot.
It seems tomato plants need to move and sway in the breeze, to develop strong stems. Provide a breeze by turning a fan on them for 5-10 minutes twice a day.

3. Wind helps your plants.

If your plants sway in the breeze ( or from a fan ) they will develop stronger stems than plants that don't.

4. Heat the soil.

Tomatoes love heat. Cover the planting area with plastic for a week or so before you intend to plant. This will warm the soil. The extra warmth will translate into earlier tomatoes.

5. Plant deep.

Put tomato plants into the soil up to their first leaves. Tomatoes develop roots along their stems. This creates a much better root structure. ( Be careful not to drive tomato cage tines into roots.)

6. Mulch after it gets warm.

Mulch after the ground has warmed up. Mulching conserves water and prevents the soil and soil born diseases from splashing up on the plants during watering, but if you put it down too early it will shade and consequently cool the soil. You can use plastic mulch but I generally use grass clippings. Try that and save yourself some money.

7. Remove the Bottom Leaves.

When your tomatoes are about 3 inches tall snip off the leaves on the bottom 1 inch. They usually develop fungus problems first. They get the least amount of sun and are the first to have soil born diseases splashed on them.

8. Pinch & Prune Tomatoes
 
Remove suckers in crotch joint of 2 branches. They won't bear fruit and take energy away from the rest of the plant. Do go easy on pruning the rest of the plant.  Leave photosynthesize so they give energy to plant.  It is, however, beneficial to let the sun shine on the tomatoes.  So don't be afraid to do some limited pruning for that.

9. Water your plants.

While your plants deeply and regularly while your plants are developing. Inconsistent watering, (missing a week and trying to make up for it), leads to blossom rot and cracking. When the tomatoes begin to ripen cut back on watering.  This forces plant to concentrate its sugars into the fruit. Don't withhold water so much that the plants begin to wilt. Wilting can cause the plant to drop its blossoms and even its fruit.

10.Type of tomatoes.
 
Determinate tomatoes generally set and ripen their fruit all at one time, making a large quantity available when you’re ready to make sauce or salsa or whatever. Indeterminate tomatoes to bear fruit over the course of the season.

Vegetable Garden