Planting Tomatoes and Patio TomatoesLearn How to Grow TomatoesPlanting tomatoes in pots and in the Garden is Fun Frugal Nutrition!
Courtesy of ezioman Sunlight Choose your variety according to how much sunlight you have available. 5 hours is the minimum amount of direct sunlight needed for growing tomatoes of the medium to large varieties.If you want to grow a big beastie beefsteak type tomato you are going to need maximum sun exposure, 8 hours or more is ideal when planting tomatoes. If you live in coastal or foggy areas or are in a city with buildings or trees blocking your sunlight, you will be happiest growing a couple of dwarf type patio tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are ideal in this situation, try Super Bush for a good choice. Determinate plants do not spread out, rather they have a tight root system and they only grow to a short, finite height. These determinate plants work well for planting tomatoes in pots, hanging baskets and perched on any sunny ledge or surface you can find.
Soil
Courtesy of Amy Bonner Tomatoes are voraciously needy feeders, so you want to choose a site that has good soil of a ph 6.0-7.0 and then you need to amend that soil with lots of compost. Dig a hole and add some form of calcium, either fish heads, egg shells or a commercial product. Add a fertilizer for tomatoes found in your local garden center. When planting tomatoes, remember they need lots of water, so water three times at planting and daily thereafter. If you are growing tomatoes in pots you will want to use commercial potting soil. Actually a mixture of composted matter, peat moss, vermiculite, sand and limestone, potting soil anchors your plants within the pot and allows for great fertilizer for tomatoes. Timing
Do not try to hurry a tomato. Like women, they will take their time and be ready when sufficiently warmed up. In the tomato's case, this is when the nighttime temperature of your soil is consistently 60 degrees or above. Check on the date of your areas last average frost. May 1st is a good date for planting if you don't want to guess or fuss about it.
Courtesy of Traceyp3031 Don't bother planting tomatoes if it is cold and drizzling outside. If you are nursing along a spring tomato planted too early, you are going to either save it's life, in which case it will be stunted anyway and not produce well, or you are going to have to replace it and start over. Fighting for your tomato's life is not what most gardeners are hoping for, so take this sage advice and start planting tomatoes when the soil warms up for good. Having said that, there is a sneaky way to get around this. Build a raised bed and cover it with plastic sheeting. This speeds up warming, and then you can cut a 12" hole in it and start planting tomatoes. You can also choose the type of early tomatoes available. You can leave the plastic on until well into the season, but when it get's hot mid season you either need to remove the plastic or cover it with straw or you will have tomato plant problems from overheating.
Compost and Fertilizer
Courtesy of net_efekt Your tomatoes should be planted in a hole up to two feet deep with compost added generously. Then add a calcium source such as crushed eggshells. Next comes a handful of bone meal and a 4-6-4 type fertilizer for tomatoes. It should be a time released formula, but without a high amount of nitrogen (the first number). Too much nitrogen causes the leaves to flourish, leaving the plant with less energy for making tomatoes for you. Plant Deeply Bury the tomato plant all the way to the top little leaves. There are suckers all along the stems as tomatoes can shoot off a leaf anywhere on the main stem. Dig a deep hole and plant, or you can even lay the plant down in a shallow tunnel. Don't worry, it will right itself soon enough when seeking the sun. Mulch Tomatoes and peppers are heat lovers, so you will want to mulch at the right time, which is when the ground has truly warmed up. Mulch too early and it will serve only to cool the soils and shade the plant, not good. Mulching at the right time will help you avoid tomato plant problems such as drying out in the hot sun.
Prune or Not?
Courtesy of kelandval Tomatoes have a small sucker side shoot that grows between the main stem and a branch. If you leave it to grow it will become another stem complete with a branch, flower and tomato of it's own. Pinching some or all of the suckers is simply thinning the plant. Determinate type tomatoes do not need pruning as they are programmed to grow to a certain height and then produce the fruit pretty much all at once. This is great if you want to make sauce, for example. Indeterminate tomato plants will spread out endlessly and it can help to prune these to help it become more compact and spend it's energy making tomatoes rather than foliage.
Tomato Cage
Courtesy of Oakley Originals Folks either like or really dislike the tomato cage available commercially. I have found many problems with them, at least the ones that are commonly found in stores, are poorly engineered and likely made in China. The weight of a mature tomato plant causes them to fall over, rendering whole idea of keeping the plant and fruits off the ground pointless. It is even worse for folks who live in a windy climate. Here is Frugal Livings idea instead of a tomato cage, and it is suitable for anyone growing tomatoes outdoors. Go to a farm store or scrounge for a calf or hog panel and two metal fence posts. It is a heavy gauge galvanized wire panel with 4" sections open. They were made to keep young critters in. It will be 4' high and as long as you like, just cut it off if too long and make short rows with it instead. Attach the panel to the fence posts and begin planting tomato starts along the bottom. When the plant grows just weave the stems into the openings and your tomato plant problems are solved. Anything that can be grown on a trellis is also fair game. Try this also for pole beans, squash and cucumbers. Water Regularly
While the tomato is developing it needs water deep and regular. I don't know a gardener who has not done this, but if you miss a week of watering and try to make up for it later you are probably going to get a condition called blossom end rot on your poor tomatoes. The fruit will crack and turn mushy brown in spots. Not good. If you are going on vacation have someone water your tomatoes if at all possible.
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