Tomato Plants from Seedshow to grow tomato plants from seeds

Tomatoes are a very useful crop and one which is relatively easy to grow. They come in two types. The first is the bush tomato which grow vigorously, have many branching stems and each stem ends in a fruit truss. These tend to be dwarfing types and suit growing in grow bags, pots or in window boxes. The second type is the trailing variety – they grow to over 2m in length if unchecked, have vigorous side shoots and the stems do not end in a fruit truss, rather the fruit are produced on side branches. These are suitable for training up and along wires, around window boxes and will require support.

Choose your type first and then the variety. There are many varieties from the large ‘Beafsteak’ to the tiny’ Money Maker’ and they fruit at different times. For a long period of harvest you can try growng several varieties. You can grow plum shaped tomatoes, yellow and slightly pink varieties and ,of course, the good old red round type like ‘Monoye’, depending on your taste.

For any type of tomato, once you have decided the varieties you are going to grow the first consideration is the growing medium. Tomatoes are very hungry plants and because they crop heavily, they need a medium which is easy for them to put roots into to gain water and nutrients (as plants only take nutrients in in dissolved form) and for anchorage. A medium loam compost (soil less or soil type) is good. pH should be 6.5 as tomatoes thrive best under slightly acid conditions. Ordinary garden soil will rarely provide the necessary nutrients for a heavy crop of tomatoes.

Plant the seeds carefully using a dibber and spacing them correctly. Keep the temperature to a minimum of 17 deg C for germination. Thereafer around 15 deg C is fine.

Tomatoes need light to make sure they are in good light but not full sunlight.

Once the seeds have germinated, prick out the seedlings and put them into their final growing place, this may be a grow bag, pot or window sill. When the second pair of leaves have formed give them a light feed using a proprietary tomato feed. This will encourage vegetative growth and spur the plants on.

If the plants need supports, make sure they are in place and tie the shoots in gently as they grow.

For trailing varieties, prick out some of the vigorous side shoots as this will encourage the plant to put more energy into fruit production rather than vegetative growth.

Check for the webs on the underside of leaves which indicates red spider mite andtreat with a spray immediately

Every year for the past many, many years, I’ve had this almost fanatical propensity to grow the biggest, reddest, juiciest and most abundant crop of tomatoes in the entire world. Or at least, in the neighborhood!

In some neighborhoods, the biggest house was the chief motivating factor at becoming the overall neighborhood King. Other neighborhoods relied on the most expensive car, the smartest or best looking children, Super Bowl tickets. To me, it was always about the size of your tomatoes.

So, every year, just like this year, I set out to strengthen my manhood, to grow the biggest, reddest tomatoes in the entire world. I would feel the stinging pains of defeat if my tomatoes were judged the best only in the entire Western Hemisphere. I started out where the most proficient growers begin, Home Depot.

The last time I grew tomatoes from seed, I planted them early, around January, and emptied a full package of seeds into a small bread loaf pan and put it on a special table at the sunniest window in the house, facing south. I planted the seeds in a mixture of the finest loam and potting soil, with so much Miracle Grow that the soil turned Green. Then I watered them faithfully, 4 times a day.

Every night I would cover our germinating, neighborhood conquering monster seeds with our finest dishtowel so they wouldn’t get cold. Then one morning, my wife asked me what I was growing. “Tomatoes,” I said proudly! She told me I had better look again, and after I picked out about 10 fully ripe mushrooms, I decided I was probably watering them too much. I probably needed to get rid of the towel too!

Two days later, I had about nine thousand rabid tomato plants in one very small bread loaf pan. I knew I had to do something drastic because they needed to be replanted outdoors, fast, and mid-January in Northern Connecticut was not the time to plant summer tomatoes. In the room with the sunny, Southerly exposed window, I had what looked like overgrown elephant grass growing down the table legs and germinating little elephants in the carpet. The tomato delta had to go, and I would have to resort to plan B.

Until God would again bring His torch over Connecticut and thaw out the ground, I would take the time to further study the life cycle of the perfect tomato. And, in May, I shoveled out the car and drove back to Home Depot.

The first thing I learned is what I like to call “The Tabloid Theory”. Growing good tomatoes is all about the “dirt”. Real dirt! Loads of compost and