Top tips for growing tomatoes – part II

Tomatoes are not a simple “put some seeds in the ground and water it up until you get them” type of a vegetable.Actually the tomatoes are quite a handful of work.But the outcome will be something you’ll never imagine!The taste of a fresh home made tomato is something you have to try,do it or find a friend who grows them.In the previous articles we covered some excellent tips about the first stages of the tomatoes growing process -from seeds to plants and what to do in order not to “loose” the tomatoes during the first stages of this process .

  1. Mulching-mulching is a method that will help your tomatoes plants (or any other plant) .The mulch will help your tomato garden look  better,but more important it will help it get better fruits.You can use lots of things to mulch you tomatoes plants,many of them can be organic stuff and actually will help your tomatoes to grow better as they will improve the tomatoes soil fertility, as they decompose.You can use:Bark, Shredded or Chipped,Grass Clippings,Shredded Leaves,Straw , or even a news paper will do the job.If you use organic mulch I do,you’ll will have change it once in a while.The drier the mulch you use the longer it will hold.The mulch will also keep the moisture of the soil so you’ll need less water to “spend”.Hoe you get the mulch for you tomatoes?I use pine tree leaves.Take a quick trip in your neighborhood and find a pine tree and you are fixed!
  2. Get rid of the lower tomato leaves:when you tomatoes gets tall – 1m more or less ,get rid of the bottom leaves -the low 30cm of the stem.We don’t need them as they are getting the lower amount of sum.They will be the first to get fungus and diseases.
  3. Water the tomatoes: watering is one of the most important things you must do !(I probably don’t have to tell you that) .Water your plants on a regular basis , if you forget a couple of day of tomato watering you can say good bey to your plants!!!continue watering also after you take the tomatoes of,there will be new ones in no time!You a watering system as drip irrigation system,it will get the best effective water to the tomatoes roots.
  4. Pinch or prune : pinching and pruning is a method to get more good tomatoes from you plant.If you’re plant will hold too much tomatoes they will eventually taste less good.Pruning the plants from new born branches will allow the tomato plant and tomatoes fruits to get as much sun as possible.Don’t go hard with pruning as if you prune your   tomato plant to much the fruits will not grow properly as the leave are the one that get the sun translated to energy (photosynthesis) .
  5. Decide which tomatoes you want:If you want fast tomatoes choose a small size tomato type.If you have some spare time go for a bigger tomato type and you’ll get the a bit latter,but bigger and juicier!.

Now go on and start to grow your tomatoes !Choose the seeds and go on and grow them.The taste will bw something you can’t imagine!

if you missed the  first part (tips 1-5) check it out here: Top tips for growing tomatoes – part I