It takes some skill to grow luscious, tasty tomatoes. Follow these simple ways to reap the benefits of your bountiful crop.
One of the season’s sweetest milestones is biting into the first sun-ripened tomato (Solanum Lycopersicon). While grocery shops and farmers markets sell a wide variety of appealing kinds, nothing beats the fresh flavor of a homegrown tomato—especially when you consider the bright rainbow of heirloom and hybrid varieties you may grow in your garden. These summertime mainstays come in many sizes, colors, textures, and flavors, from enormous, juicy beefsteak tomatoes to bite-size cherry kinds. Whichever types you pick, here’s how to cultivate tomatoes for a beautiful—and plentiful—harvest.
Tomato Planting Locations
The soil should be well-draining and fertile, with a pH between 5.8 and 7. However, tomato plants can flourish in any soil except clay. Garden soil may be too heavy for container gardening, so add compost or perlite or use potting soil.
When and How to Plant Tomatoes
You may plant tomato seeds outside; you can get an early start on the growing season by purchasing transplants or starting seeds indoors six to eight weeks before your area’s expected last frost date. Allow the soil to warm before moving the tomato plants outside.
When planting, remove the lowest leaves from each plant and place the root ball in a hole deep enough that only the top cluster of leaves is visible aboveground. Tomato plants, which can establish roots along their stems, require this planting depth. These extra roots help anchor the plant, which is especially important when starting with tall, lanky transplants, and allow for improved water and nutrient intake.
The space between small bush tomato varieties should be 24 inches. The distance between more significant types should be 36 to 48 inches. This is especially important for sprawling indeterminate tomato varieties, which keep growing until frost. Water the tomatoes thoroughly after planting them.
As the plants mature, use cages and stakes to keep the leaves and growing tomatoes off the ground, preventing fruit rot and plant illnesses.
Use tomato cages that are 5 to 6 feet tall. Set the cells firmly in the ground to keep the plants from being blown over and pulled out of the bed during storms. Another possibility: Pound 8-foot stakes into the ground at least 12 inches away from the plant, then tie tomato stems to the stake with garden twine, self-adhesive tape, or strips of fabric.
Tomato Plant Maintenance Instructions
Tomato plants can grow in less-than-ideal conditions, but the juiciest, most delicious tomatoes come from plants grown in ideal conditions.
Light
Tomato plants generally demand full sun (six to eight hours of sunlight daily). In excessive heat, morning sun and little afternoon shade are sufficient. Although the plants will grow in mostly shaded settings, fruit yield is severely limited.
Water and Soil
Tomato plants thrive in well-draining soil with continuous watering. Water if there is less than an inch of rain every week. That’s 20 minutes three times a week in sprinkler terms. If you find the plants beginning to wilt in warmer weather, you may need to water them more regularly. You can use a watering can or wand to water the root zones directly or a drip irrigation system. Avoid wetting the foliage to prevent disease.
Mulch around your tomato plants suppresses weeds, keeps the soil moist, and keeps pathogens from pouring onto the leaves when it rains. A 3- to 4-inch layer of organic mulch, such as chopped leaves or shredded wood chips, is ideal.
Humidity and temperature
Tomatoes prefer warm weather. Wait till the soil warms up in the spring before planting. Tomato plants thrive in temperatures ranging from 55°F to 85°F. Although they enjoy the sun, they cannot set fruit when it exceeds 85°F.
Tomatoes prefer a relative humidity level of 65 to 85 percent. Higher levels harm the plants.
Fertilizer
Fertilizing tomato plants twice during the growing season, right after planting and right before the fruit starts to form, helps them grow the best. As directed on the label, apply a balanced liquid plant food.
Pruning
Tomato plants do not need trimming, but removing any side shoots that grow between the main stem and a branch is best to ensure that they do not sap energy that could go to the fruiting branches.
Pests and Issues
Gardeners aren’t the only ones who enjoy the taste of tomatoes. The plants attract many unpleasant guests, like the tomato hornworm, the ever-present aphid threat, and all other types. The best suggestion is to stay alert. Find out where any damage to your plants is coming from and put safety management measures in place as soon as possible.
If you have hornworms, pull them off (yuck!). Follow the package directions when treating aphids, white flies, and spider mites using insecticidal soap or neem oil.
Additional tomato plant issues include blossom end rot, which occurs when the soil pH is too low, and blossom drop when nighttime temperatures fall below the plant’s ideal overnight temperature range of 55°F to 75°F.
How to Grow Tomato Plants
Cut 4- to 8-inch cuttings from undesired side shoots on the plant in May or June. Cut the leaves from the bottom half of the stem and place them in a bright spot with water. When the roots have grown, in three to four weeks, put the cutting in a shallow pot with garden or potting soil that drains well. Plant it in the garden once it has established a robust root system. Tomatoes are seen before frosting in warm places.
Tomato Harvesting and Storage
Pick the tomatoes when they are fully colored and firm. The weather impacts the timeframe; tomatoes mature best at temperatures around 75°F. When the temperature rises to around 90°F, the fruits soften and lose their color. Green tomatoes will ripen inside if picked when mature.
Before a hard frost:
Harvest all except the greener fruits and bring them indoors.
Inspect the fruits for ripeness once a week, eliminating rotten tomatoes or those not showing signs of ripening.
Use them; fried green tomatoes are a good dish or store them in a closed paper bag to ripen. You can even pull whole plants out of the ground and hang them in a warm, quiet place to ripen the fruits.
Depending on the area’s temperature, you can store ripe tomatoes on your kitchen counter for up to a week. Tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator, but they will not taste as well as those held at room temperature.
Do deer and other animals consume tomatoes?
True, they enjoy the flavor as much as gardeners do. In addition to deer, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, raccoons, groundhogs, and chipmunks are among the culprits. Plant more tomato plants than you need for the best results. Putting a mesh “cage” over the tomato plants, creating a 4-foot fence around the garden, and putting out foul-smelling deterrents could all help.
What kinds of birds and bees pollinate tomato plants?
Tomato plants are self-fertile, relying on wind to vibrate the flowers and release pollen. Bees also provide this service. They gently shake the plants or try an electric toothbrush (or a similar commercial gadget) to cause the plant to discharge pollen. When the wind is quiet, and the bees are few, some gardeners turn to manual pollination.