The Best Way to Grow Tomato Plants
Tomatoes are popular home-gardening crops because of their easy cultivation and many health benefits. Tomatoes take up a small amount of garden space, and can be grown in containers or hanging baskets. Depending on the variety, tomato plants may need staked or caged for support or can stay in a compact, bush form that requires no special supports. No matter where you grow them, the best way to grow tomatoes is in a loose, rich, neutral pH soil with a regular watering schedule, in full sun. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hand trowel
- Clean plastic container
- Soil amendments such as compost, peat moss, manure, sand
- Spade
- Support system such as trellis, tomato cage or stake
- Tomato seedling
- Straw
- Pruning shears (if staking)
- Strips of panty hose or garden tape (if staking)
Instructions
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Cut straight down into the soil, away from decaying matter such as leaves and old plants as much as possible, to obtain a 3-inch deep sample of soil. Place the sample in a clean, plastic container. Larger spaces may require multiple samples mixed together in a container to provide the most accurate test reading. Take your sample to your local cooperative extension office for testing each year in early spring. Costing just a few dollars (if anything), this test provides you with information on your soil's pH level, drainage, mineral makeup and nutrient levels.
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Purchase any suggested amendments. These can include well-rotted manure, compost, peat moss, sand, lime and a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus fertilizer, that is formulated for optimum tomato growth. Tomatoes grow best in a loose, nutrient-rich, neutral pH level soil better than being hit with repeated doses of fertilizer while growing.
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Work each amendment into the soil, using a spade to mix it in 12- to 18-inches deep, until it looks like a loose, powdery mixture.
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Pound stakes into the ground, if needed for your plants. If you chose an indeterminate (often mentions needing to be staked on the plant tag) variety of tomato, a stake or well-secured trellis works best for support. Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing and producing fruit through the entire growing season until a heavy frost kills them off. Read your particular selection's planting instructions for best results on how far apart to place your stakes. According to Clemson University's extension office, placing stakes before planting the seedling eliminates the chance of damaging growing roots by staking later.
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Plant seedlings, following plant-tag instructions for your particular selection. If using stakes, plant close to the stake to make for easier tying later. Place tomato cages, if needed, around the seedlings. Cages are best used to support determinate--or bush--varieties of tomatoes. Caging involves no tying to supports or pruning as stakes do. Placing the cage now allows the plant to grow up through the support system instead of risking damaging stems when the plant is larger.
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Place an inch-thick layer of straw around the base of each plant. Straw is an excellent mulch for tomatoes because it breaks down so slowly that it doesn't pull nitrogen from the soil in decomposition as bark mulches do. Plus, it settles into a thick mat that chokes out weeds while allowing water through. At the end of the growing season, it can be turned over into the soil to help improve soil drainage for next season.
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Water after planting by watering at the base of the plant. Tomatoes need a slow, steady supply of water--about 1 to 2 inches (about 1 gallon) of water per week. Supplement rainfall by watering again at the base of the plant in the morning hours. Wet leaves are more susceptible to blight and other diseases.
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Prune sucker shoots off of indeterminate varieties as the plant grows, if applicable. Sucker shoots are those that form in the crook of two larger "arms" of the plant. By removing suckers, you force the plant to focus its growth on the fruiting stems and fruit development. Determinate varieties need no pruning, as they grow to a set bush size and then stop growing.
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Tie tomato stems to the stake by looping the strip of panty hose or garden tape completely around the stem and then again with a little give around the stake to allow the plant room to grow.
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Tackle any signs of pests or disease at the first sign of a problem. If you're unsure of the problem, take a damaged leaf to your local cooperative extension office for advice on how to eradicate it. Many of today's hybrid varieties like those regularly found in full-service garden centers and department store centers are bred for their resistance to many of the common tomato problems. A healthy plant grown in proper soil with adequate light and regular watering should be relatively problem-free.
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Tips & Warnings
Container-grown tomatoes should be grown in a high-quality potting soil mixed with an equal part of compost, for best results. Container plants also may need more water than their bed-grown counterparts since containers tend to dry out faster.
Determinate varieties will produce one yield of tomatoes with them all maturing at the same time. Indeterminate varieties will produce a constant stream of fruit until the hard frost. Determinates may be a better choice for canning and indeterminates will provide fresh produce for the table.
Practice companion planting by planting marigolds near your plants. Marigolds fend off a number of pests including spider mites and nematodes. Basil is another plant that benefits your tomatoes-- by improving the flavor of the fruit and repelling fruit flies.
Avoid using a general-purpose fertilizer (such as regular Miracle Gro) on your tomatoes as too much nitrogen results in huge, gorgeous green plants that produce little or no fruit. Tomatoes need a high-phosphorus fertilizer that is safe for edible plants to help boost fruit production, if any. A well-prepared soil should provide an adequate amount of nutrients without a midseason fertilizer boost.
Rotate where tomatoes are planted year-after-year in your garden to avoid the chance of cross-contamination of any disease. Do not plant tomatoes where potatoes may have grown either, as they share similar disease and pest issues.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit tomates image by Claudio Calcagno from Fotolia.com
