Tomato Growing Tips

Happy Tomatoes Yield a Great Harvest

Tomatoes are extremely easy to grow. Just a few tomato growing tips to help ensure happy tomato plants and easy management for you.

Tomatoes love warm soil

Preheat soil before planting tomatoes. Black plastic covering the soil or a wall o water placed 2 weeks ahead of planting will warm up the soil nicely.

If you live in a cooler area, you may want to leave the black plastic on the ground. Just cut a hole and plant the tomato. The same goes for the wall o water. Leave it on for the season if you think your tomato will benefit from extra heat.

Tomatoes love sun

Be sure to plant tomatoes where they will get a minimum of 6 hours of sun a day.

Plant tomatoes deeply

Plant young tomato plants several inches up the stem into the soil. The plant will root along the stem and make for a stronger plant.

Remove bottom leaves

After your tomatoes have gotten a good start, remove the bottom leaves. This helps control fungus problems.

Water on a regular basis

Tomatoes like wet feet, and letting them dry out will cause fruiting problems. Blossom end rot or cracked tomatoes can result from infrequent watering. I know this from experience.

Pinch off suckers

Tomatoes will produce suckers between the main stems of the plant. Remove these suckers because they don't produce well and just suck energy from the plant.

Use lots of compost

Compost provides a balanced mix of N-P-K for any plant, and tomatoes especially. Too much nitrogen and tomatoes will grow large, but never fruit. Using compost and compost tea assures proper nutrient balance.

Consider upside down or hanging tomatoes

Tomatoes don't grow any bigger or better hanging or upside down , but it makes care and harvest easier for you. Dealing with cages or stakes, or vines on the ground (susceptible to fungus or damage) can be a real chore. Hanging baskets or upside down tomatoes solve that problem in a snap. They make harvesting a breeze too.

With these tomato growing tips, you should be well on your way to a bumper crop of luscious tomatoes.

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