10 tips for growing tomatoes

Growing your own tomatoes can be fun and healthy. Keeping your plants organic by using only organic fertilizers and pesticides will result in better health for you and your entire family. Once you’ve grown your own tomatoes and see the difference in what you’re getting from your own garden vs. the grocery store, you’ll never go back. Here are 10 top tips for growing your own tomatoes from seed.

1. Do not pile the seeds When growing tomato plants from seed, you want to leave enough room for the plants to branch. Many plants placed too close together will inhibit their growth. Once the seeds grow and the first true leaves appear, transplant each plant into 4-inch pots. You will do it in about two weeks.
2. Tomatoes love light If you’re growing your plants indoors, you’ll want to use grow lights. The plants will require 12 to 14 hours of light per day. Place the grow lights about 2 to 3 inches from the plants. Tomatoes love light, so you’ll want to plant them in the sunniest part of your garden.
3. A cool breeze is nice Tomatoes love to sway in the breeze. When grown indoors, it’s a good idea to put a fan on them twice a day for 10-15 minutes. This helps promote strong stems.
4. Tomatoes love heatWhen you are ready to plant your seedlings in the garden, warm soil is the best method. You can place black plastic or a weed block on the area before planting. This will warm the soil. You should do this 1-2 weeks before planting. This warm soil will promote earlier production.
5. plant them deep
   When you plant your tomatoes, plant them deep. Plant them up to the first leaves. Tomato plants will develop roots directly from the stems and this will give them a good root system for their plants. You can also dig a small trench and place the plant on its side. Don’t worry, the plant will grow towards the sun and come up straight. I like to use tomato cages to help support my plants once they have grown. It’s a good idea to put the cages in the ground first so you don’t end up drilling into a healthy stem.
6. mulch is good It is good to put mulch around the plants, as it prevents soil-borne diseases from splashing the stems. Mulch also holds water and helps conserve water. Since tomatoes like warm soil mulch, it can also make the soil cooler, so using a black rubber mulch works best for warm plants like tomatoes. Since I only grow organic tomatoes, I don’t use mulch or only organic materials for my mulch.
7. remove the lower leaves Once the plants grow to about 3 inches tall, remove all the leaves from the stem to about 1 inch above the ground. This will help prevent fungus from developing at the base of the plants. Spraying your plants weekly with compost tea also seems to be effective in preventing fungal diseases.
8. Plum/Pinch gives more tomatoes Pinch off and remove suckers that develop at the crotch joint of two branches. The crotch joint is where the branch joins the stem or two branches divide. They will not bear fruit and will take energy from the rest of the plant. But be careful with pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin the leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripe fruit, but it’s the leaves that photosynthesize and create the sugars that give tomatoes flavor. So take it easy with those pruning shears.
9. timely watering Tomatoes like regular watering. You never want plants to start to wilt before you water. Timely watering is a must. Water the plants deeply and regularly, especially while the plants are developing. If you miss a watering, don’t overwater to make up. This will cause root rot and eventually kill your plants. As the fruit begins to ripen, reducing watering will cause the sugars to concentrate and result in a sweeter tomato. However, do not cut too much or the plant will drop its flowers and fruit.
10. Make them put tomatoes There are two varieties of determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate tomatoes are varieties that grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruits in a short period, usually about 2 weeks. Once this first fruit bud has matured, the plant will begin to lose vigor, producing little to no new fruit. Determine that tomato varieties are often referred to as “bush” tomatoes, because they do not continue to grow in size throughout the growing season. They are generally smaller than indeterminate tomatoes, with most growing to a compact 4 to 5 feet. Pruning and removing suckers from certain tomatoes is not recommended. Despite its compact size, staking or cage placement is still recommended, as concentrated fruit set can add considerable weight to the branches. Many paste or Roma tomatoes are determinate varieties. Some other breds to be determined include: Celebrity, Mar-globe, and Rutgers. Growing determinate variety tomatoes makes sense when you want a large quantity of tomatoes at one time, for example to make tomato sauce. Indeterminate tomatoes are actually vines that continue to grow throughout the growing season. Also known as “vine” tomatoes, indeterminate tomato varieties will also continue to produce and ripen fruit until frost kills them off. Tomato growers rarely allow tomato plants to become tangled. Indeterminate tomato plants will require substantial stakes or cages to support what can become a large and heavy (6-10′) plant. However, tomato plants can easily be grown as a hanging vine. This eliminates the need for support, keeps the fruit off the ground, and allows the plant to grow in an open fashion, allowing sunlight to reach the entire plant. Most tomato varieties are indeterminate, including most heirlooms and most cherry types. Other indeterminate tomatoes include: ‘Beefsteak’, ‘Big Boy’ and ‘Brandy-wine’. Early producing varieties such as ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Early Girl’ are also indeterminate. However, since they tend to mature earlier and die before the end of the season, they are sometimes labeled semi-determinate. Heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate varieties and the plants get so large and heavy that they can break the stakes that support them. You can get indeterminate type tomatoes to fruit sooner by plucking off the tips of the main stems in early summer.

In conclusion: Growing your own tomatoes is easy and healthy. Start early in the season, follow these 10 easy steps, and enjoy the best-tasting tomatoes you’ll ever eat.