The difference between a home-grown tomato and a store-bought tomato is like comparing an airline blanket to a luxury fur rug full of warmth and comfort. One of the best things about summer is biting into a salad you made with tomatoes from your garden. Tomatoes grown in your home garden can be some of the most succulent and juicy tomatoes you will consume. Some hard work and attention are needed before you can slice into your bounty. To begin, choose the type of tomatoes you want to produce, then discover Learn how to grow tomato plants from seeds, plant the sprouts in the ground, and pollinate them once they reach maturity to ensure a successful harvest and a plentiful supply. There are different types of tomatoes and different ways to care for them.
Determine Your Last Frost Date
Before planting anything, including tomatoes, determine your last frost date—the average date of the last spring freeze. After you’ve selected this day, if you’re beginning from scratch, count back five weeks and mark your calendar. Tomatoes require four to six weeks of indoor growing before being transferred into the garden.
If you prefer to start with young seedlings, plant them in late spring—or when nighttime temperatures are consistently over 50 degrees.
Choose Your Varieties
Now that you know when to sow seeds (or plant seedlings), you can choose the sort of plant to plant. Traditional cherry and beefsteak variations are very delicious. Prior to planting your tomatoes, consider the size and taste you are after.
Choose between Determinate or Indeterminate Tomatoes
The amount of space you have and your willingness to put in the necessary effort will determine the type of tomatoes you grow, whether determinate or indeterminate. The limited types will grow to about 2 to 3 feet tall and produce all their fruit at once. Still, the indeterminate varieties will grow taller and keep making fruit.
Tomato Planting and Growing Instructions
It’s recommended to begin planting your tomato seeds about five weeks prior to the last frost date. This will allow them enough time to sprout and be fully prepared for planting once the weather has warmed up and conditions have stabilized. As mentioned earlier, it’s best to begin planting tomato seeds approximately five weeks before the last frost date. This allows the seeds to sprout and be prepared for planting when the weather becomes warmer and more stable. This is very important for maximizing your tomatoes’ growth potential.
Plant the Seeds
Fill 2-inch by 2-inch biodegradable pots halfway with seeds. Keep them in a warm indoor location with six hours of sunlight a day and water them regularly—the same applies to when they are (finally) relocated outside. The temperature during the early growth phases is key to healthy tomato seedlings.
After the seedlings germinate and form a “Y,” trim the weaker two sprouts using scissors near ground level. Let the surviving sprout develop until it is three times the height of the pot, approximately six inches. Now, put this seedling into a larger pot. You will want to ensure the roots are well-developed before transplanting the seedling into a larger pot.
Place a seedling heating mat under the pots for rapid germination.
Plants Need to Be Hardened
Tomato plants must be gradually transitioned to full-time outdoor use, a process known as “hardening off.” Begin by bringing them outside for an hour or two in the shade. Gradually increasing the time and amount of sun over a week will acclimate them to the sun and wind.
If the weather is inclement, you should postpone planting your tomato plants. Tomatoes in the cold will struggle in rainy weather. If you encounter this situation, it is advisable to either postpone the transplantation process or shield the plants in the garden by using fleece wraps.
Combine the Soil
When your plants have hardened off and the weather has warmed up, it’s time to move them to the garden. Prepare the area for at least two weeks before planting seeds. Dig a 1-foot-deep hole and fill it with compost or manure. Mix them with potting soil and compost if you’re growing them in a container. Water the seedling after planting it deep enough to cover the stem up to the first set of bottom leaves. Water plants growing in the ground or in a container weekly and fertilize them with organic plant food.
Plants can be classified by their size
Planting your tomatoes in a pot that is too small or not employing a caging or staking technique for tall varieties is a simple way to upset them. Pots should be 18 inches in diameter for determinate plants and 24 inches for indeterminate plants; stakes or cages should be placed in the ground when planting.
Tomato Plant Pollination Instructions
Your tomato plants will produce more fruit if you pollinate them by hand because natural pollination isn’t happening as well because there isn’t enough airflow or there aren’t enough insects.
Why Should You Pollinate Tomato Plants?
Tomato plants are unique among edible plants in that they do not require wind or insects to pollinate or fruit. They have both male and female components and can produce fruit on their own. It is optional to have multiple plants.
Tomato plants require enough wind to transmit pollen within the blossom. Pollination may not occur with an insufficient breeze, high temperatures, or excessive moisture or humidity. Hand pollination ensures that the process occurs and that your plant produces fruit.
Hand Pollination Techniques
Hand-pollinating tomato plants is simple. A gentle shake of the stem will spread the pollen. Shake harder or flick the stalks near the flower’s base if there is no pollen. This motion mimics the natural pollinating breeze.
You can also apply a slight vibration with an electric toothbrush. Place the toothbrush under the open blooms and shake the pollen briefly. Some pollen may fall, which you can collect and apply by hand.
After you’ve kicked up some pollen, grab it and disperse it with a little paintbrush, precisely like a bug would. Use a brush with natural bristles instead of one made of plastic so that pollen will stick to it. It is also possible to use a cotton swab. Wash the instruments before repeating the technique with various tomatoes to avoid cross-pollination.
When Should You Pollinate?
Mid-afternoon on warm, bright days with little humidity is ideal for hand pollinating. To boost pollination rates, repeat the technique on new blossoms every week.