How To Grow Tomatoes The Simple Way

With the last frost drawing ever closer, now is really a great time to have your plants in pots ready for summer. One of the fruits I’m most frequently asked about when people want to start gardening is the tomato; versatile enough to suit dishes throughout the world and adaptable enough to grow anywhere. I’m going with cherry tomatoes this year because I absolutely adore them with sweet pepper in raw salads, but everything in this post is true for all forms.

The Germination Phase

For the initial stage, a great tip I have learned is to plant the seed right down at the bottom of the pot with very little soil. As long as it has enough room to stretch out and put down the initial roots, you’ll be fine, so I’d say about 2 inches will do.

From there, as the tomato grows upwards, keep adding soil to the level of the bottom of the lowest leaves. If you can have it so that the tip of the leaf is covered (to hold it down) and the rest is free, that’s fantastic. Essentially, what this does is provide a great root network for the plant, which will give it the best possible start for when it gets outside to put out some fruit.

Tomatoes are one of those wonderful plants that will put out roots from anything that touches the ground, so after you’ve filled it up 3 or 4 times, you’ll have a considerable amount more than if you’d grown it regularly.

Tomato seed packets

The Growing Phase

Linked to the last tip, pick off the first wave of flowers and allow your plant to hit at least 1 foot in height before you leave it to develop fruit. Although this may seem a little counter-intuitive, what you’re doing here is forcing the plant to develop a rich root system before devoting its energy to putting out lots of fruit.

You should also snip the suckers (the shoots that grow near the base of the stem) off as close to the stem as possible, which will only do more to promote stronger growth and help harden it off.

Tomato suckers

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    Thanks for sharing informative tips in planting tomatoes. True that tomato is one of the most common ingredient in most of our dishes all over the world. Great sharing.

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    We have a vegetable garden at home and it’s my job to maintain it. I plant different kinds of vegetables on it. I enjoy taking good care of it everyday. My mother taught me different recipes for tomatoes and sometimes we experiment..LOL!. I love it when it is harvest time already because we sell some of it.

  • http://www.tomatoplantsecrets.com/ Donald Short

    Good information and I agree with snipping the suckers, good tomato plant grooming provides promotes growth. Most fertilizers you buy in garden warehouses these days are from birds, and the problem here is that they are highly acidic in nature. The very best fertilizer you can use on your plant is from cows. And on top of that, make sure it’s from cows that have been organically fed.