Growing Tomatoes – The Basics
Tomatoes are the prime candidates for planting when you have made the choice to start an outdoor vegetable garden. Planting and growing your own tomato plants is not difficult and the rewards of being able to eat fresh, organic tomatoes are immeasurable.
Astoundingly there are over 7,500 thousand varieties of tomato from which to choose. You may choose a smaller tomato such as Cherry tomatoes, purely for their taste, or you might choose the larger Beefsteak tomato, well suited to salads or making your own sauces. Whatever your choice, you can be sure of enjoying enough tomatoes to go around come harvest time, given the ease of growing your own tomato plants.
To thrive in an outdoor garden, tomato plants require warm weather because, as a general rule, they cannot withstand frost. The ideal growing temperature is between 19-29 degrees Celsius (65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and no cooler the 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) during the night. In the northern hemisphere, the ideal growing period for tomatoes is around May to June.
When it comes to planting outdoors, tomato plants should not be planted closely together. Their roots fill out below the soil and neccesitate plenty of room. Moreover, plants that grow too close together often share disease and pests. dense planting could also inhibit the growth of the fruit by becoming shaded by the leaves of surrounding plants that are too close together.
Tomato plants should ideally be placed between 30-60cm (between 12 and 24 inches) apart depending on the variety. Those types of tomato plants that must be grown on a trellis should be situated further apart than the smaller varieties. Trellises or cages for the larger tomato plant varieties, offer support for the vine, holding the fruit off the ground, preventing them from rotting and reducing the crop size.
All tomato plants enjoy sunlight and should receive at least 6 to 8 hours a day for maximum healthy growth. Tomatoes need to be watered on a regular basis and prefer soil that is moist and well aerated. Removing non-fruit bearing branchs during the pruning procedure can improve the harvest. You should also trim leaves that obstruct access to sunlight but be heedful not to trim too many leaves as they provide the sugars that assist in the flavour process. Removing the suckers that grow in the joint of the branches will increase the energy available to the fruits of the plant.
Growing tomato plants outdoors is straight forward to do yet extremely rewarding as they are a hardy plant, well suited to growing by even an unseasoned vegetable gardener. Once you have eaten your maiden home grown tomato, you will unlikely want to purchase them fruit from the store ever again.!
Growing from Seeds
Planting seeds and growing tomato plants from them is not too demanding and is also very rewarding. It is easy to find seed packets with which to experiment as there are so many different varieties from which to select.
For the initial period of between 6-8 weeks, the tomato seeds should be grown indoors. To ensure the seedlings are ready to move outdoors when the weather is right, this would normally start in early spring.
Prepare a planting tray with compost and disperse the tomato seeds thinly over the surface. It is also common to sow the seeds in a plant pot kept in the sunlight. The tomato seeds favour warm conditions so it’s best to keep your planting tray in a warm area or on a windowsill. A greenhouse is an ideal environment for this.
Many growers like to add cling film over the tray to prevent the soil from drying out. As soon as the seedlings become visible, the cling film should be removed. Moist soil is preferred by tomato plants but you must see to it that they are not over watered.
The tomato plants enjoy the sunlight. If you are growing your seedlings in a tray on a windowsill, make sure that you rotate the tray every day or two, to make sure that all of the plants gain access to the light, allowing them to grow evenly. To avoid the plants becoming bent from straining towards the light, or thin and leggy, see to it that there is good access to light whilst indoors.
When the seedlings have acheived a height of about 3-5cm (1-2 inches), they can be transplanted from the tray to their individual pots, being very careful not to damage the roots. The seedlings should be lifted by the leaves and not the stem to avoid harm at this early stage.
In the new soil, make a hole big enough to take the seedling’s roots. The hole must be filled with compost and the seedlings watered right away. Apply light pressure to the compost to make sure the roots make good contact with the soil that is it’s new home.
To ensure uniform growth, keep the seedlings in the sunlight and turn frequently. When the seedlings have reached a height of roughly 20cm (8 inches) tall, they should be transplanted again into bigger containers or pots.
The seedlings need to be hardened off by placing them outside in the sun for a few hours each day, before relocating them into the outdoor garden. This will help with a smooth acclimatisation to the outdoor temperatures.
When the weather is warm enough for them to be transplanted outdoors, the seedlings should have grown about half a dozen leaves or so. When burying the seedlings in the soil ensure that only the top four leaves remain above the surface.
Tomato plants are able to grow roots all along it’s stem, so ensuring it’s stems are buried deep will help in the development of a root system that is sturdy and robust. A stronger plant will develop, better able to carry the weight of the fruit and so avoiding rotting fruit from ground contact. A stronger plant results in a superior harvest.
