Tips & Tricks for Growing Tomatoes

We tomato lovers adore a delicious homegrown tomato, right? But we all want to grow a healthy plant that, in turn, produces an abundance of tomatoes. Here are a few tips that I and other avid tomato growers use to consistently obtain large healthy crops. Follow these extremely easy tips for growing tomato plants and you can see the same kind of results in your next harvest.

Tip#1 Heat up the plot

As we all know, tomatoes love heat. With this in mind, you may heat up the soil in the garden plot prior to you setting your tomato plants in the soil. Simply cover the spot with dark-colored or reddish colored plastic for a few weeks earlier than you wish to plant. The dark material helps to collect heat in the soil.  Then when you go to plant, the soil is going to hold and radiate heat which encourages a happy tomato plant.

Tip #2 Bury your new Plants

One more suggestion to raising a more healthy tomato plant would be to plant your plant well down in the ground.  Start with a plant that has at least 6 full leaves (I have even planted nursery stock that has twelve or more leaves).

The trick here is to place your young plants into the dirt deeply enough to ensure that just the leading four leaves are appearing. Your  tomato plants have the capability to generate roots all the way down the primary stems of the plant. This encourages your plants to develop a far more sturdy root structure . You may also put your own tomato plant in the ground inside a shallow ditch or trench. Your plant is going to reach for the sun’s rays however added attention has to be applied when you’re placing a tomato cage or stick making sure that it doesn’t perforate the root system.

Tip #3 Remove Suckers

After the plants are established, one particular tip to encourage strong growth is to prune out the suckers which grow out of the intersection of the branch at the stem. These “energy hogs” will not bear fruit plus they take vigor from the rest of the plant.

Tip #4 Remove excess leaves

It’s also possible to take off a number of the leaves allowing sunlight to get to the maturing fruit. However, take care that you’re not taking away way too many leaves – thin them just enough to allow sun to reach the fruit. [Remember, it is the leaves which are creating sugars and other nutrients through photosynthesis which in turn gives that luscious flavor to the tomatoes.]

Tip #5 Consistent watering

It’s also wise to maintain a regular watering schedule for your tomato plants. They need to be watered deeply as well as consistently as the plants are establishing and throughout the season.  Losing several days of applying water and attempting to make up for this down the road results in blossom end rot as well as cracking.

Tip #6 Decrease watering prior to harvest

An additional tip on watering tomato plants would be to reduce the sprinkling as soon as the fruit starts to reach maturity. Because of the reduced volume of water, the plant can be tricked into intensifying the sugars. Then again, take care not to restrict the water too much since your plant will certainly wilt as well as turn out to be stressed. This will likely result in the plant sacrificing its flowers and perhaps its fruits.

These tomato growing tips are fairly simple to carry out and can reinforce the strength and health of your tomato plant. Join the ranks of backyard tomato farmers who enjoy luscious fresh fruit that will cause your family to wonder how you made your tomatoes taste better than store bought.