How To

How to Grow Sweet Tomatoes with Sugar

Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
(3 Ratings)

Using sugar while planting produce is an old trick meant to sweeten your yearly harvest. Grow sweet tomatoes in your garden by placing a bit of sugar under the roots. The result is deliciously sweet tomatoes on your dinner table.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Tomato plant
  • Sugar
  • Compost
  • Manure
  1. Step 1

    Verify that your nighttime temperature average is at least 55 degrees F.

  2. Step 2

    Check the pH of your garden's soil. Make sure it's between 6.2 and 6.8.

  3. Step 3

    Select a variety of tomato to grow. Take your geographic region and climate into account.

  4. Step 4

    Purchase tomato plants from a lawn and gardening center or local greenhouse. Verify that the tomato plant is healthy, not flowering, and lacks visible yellowing or speckled leaves.

  5. Step 5

    Allow the plant to adjust to the outdoors. Gradually introduce the plant to increasing amounts of sunlight over a 7-day period.

  6. Step 6

    Dig a hole the size of a volleyball in your garden. When picking places to plant tomatoes, choose sunny areas where you haven't grown nightshade plants for at least 2 years. If you have more than one tomato plant, space the plants at least 2 feet apart from each other.

  7. Step 7

    Spoon 1 tsp. of sugar into the hole.

  8. Step 8

    Place the tomato plant on top of the sugar. Verify that the roots cover the sugar.

  9. Step 9

    Add some compost or manure to the soil while packing the plant down. Keep the soil, compost and manure below the lowest leaves on the stem. Ensure that the tomato plant is packed firmly into the ground.

  10. Step 10

    Water your tomatoes regularly and uniformly. Keeping your tomatoes hydrated keeps them healthy and growing at a good pace.

  11. Step 11

    Harvest tomatoes only when they are completely ripe. Test your tomatoes' ripeness by gently squeezing them to verify their softness.

  12. Step 12

    Enjoy your sweet tomatoes within 3 days of picking them.

Tips & Warnings
  • Indeterminate and determinate tomatoes call for different planting, growing and harvesting techniques. Read up on your specific type of tomato plant and follow its planting directions.
  • Make sauces out of tomatoes that you can freeze and eat all year round.

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