Home grown Tomato secrets

1. Choose a bright and airy spot

Plant tomatoes – leaving room between plants for air to circulate – where they will get at least 10 hours of light per day during the summer season.

2. Rotate your crop

The key to keeping a healthy and productive vegetable patch is to alternate your tomato bed between a few spots in the garden to diminish the risk of soil-borne diseases.

3. Beware of lush and green seedlings

When deciding which tomato varieties grow best, beware of tomato seedlings with lush green starts but poor root systems. They will languish for weeks before growing.

4. Bury the stems

Plant your tomato seedlings up to the first true leaves. New roots will quickly sprout on the stems and more roots mean more fruits.

5. Water deeply but infrequently

Soak your tomato bed once a week, or every five days at the height of summer. Water directly on the soil, not on the leaves.

6. Pinch off the non-fruiting stems

Prune off the non-fruiting branches and it will direct the tomato plant’s energy into growing bigger, better fruit.

7. Stake them high

When growing tomatoes, use tall stakes to help overcrowding and to make it easier to harvest. Make sure to put in the stakes when planting to avoid damaging roots.

8. Add compost and trim

While the first fruit is ripening, encourage new growth and continued fruit by scratching compost around the stem and trimming some of the upper leaves.

9. Plant again…

Three weeks after you plant tomatoes in your garden, put in another set so all of your harvest doesn’t come at once.
Related: Scientists Are Producing Electricity From Rotting Tomatoes!

10. Pick when ripe

Harvest and enjoy your growing tomatoes once they’ve reached full size and are fully coloured.

Credit: www.rodalesorganiclife.com