Start Gardening

Tomato gardening is probably one of the easiest types of gardening for beginners. The majority of experienced gardeners grow tomatoes either directly in the soil or in greenhouses. With little care they can be very high yielding plants.

Tomatoes can be grown successfully in tubs and containers for those with small gardens, bush and trailing varieties which produce small cherry type tomatoes are ideal for this.
Other varieties which are grown directly in the garden or greenhouse can grow quite large and usually require staking to prevent the branches from snapping when they are laden with fruits or during strong winds.

Tomatoes can be grown from seed in the spring under glass or brought as small plants from garden centres or garden nurseries.
When brought, plants should be green and healthy without yellow spots on the leaves, it is advisable to buy young plants which are not spindly, suffering from lack of water or have the roots growing through the drainage holes as they may become stressed when planted and either not survive or yield poor quality fruits.

Once the danger of frost has passed tomatoes can put outside in their pots to harden them prior to planting into the garden, tomatoes prefer warm weather and lots of sunshine. The plants should be planted quite deeply as this will produce a more vigorous plant.

Once transplanted give plenty of water directly around the base of the stem. A useful tomato gardening tip for those who live in hot climates is to place a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off, into the soil next to the stem to allow watering to be carried out which takes the water directly to the roots of the plant.

Depending on which variety of tomato is being grown the plants should be spaced approximately two feet apart with a stake for support. Many people also use companion plants such as marigolds planted in between the tomato plants to help prevent pests and encourage insects to pollinate the flowers. Tomatoes grown in greenhouses may need to be hand pollinated by using a soft paintbrush if there is not much insect life.

Once the flowers appear and the fruits begin to form, many people who are tomato gardening like to pinch the top off the main stem so that the plant directs its energy into producing larger fruit, developing side shoots can also be pinched out to keep the plant from spreading too far. Depending how much sunlight the plants are getting some people like to remove the lower leaves and non productive branches to enable more sunlight to reach the developing fruits.

Learn the secrets to growing a successful organic vegetable garden.

Posted on August 22nd, 2008 by Jean-Helene
Filed under: Tomato Gardening