Tomato Plants from Seedshow to grow tomato plants from seeds

“You know what this sandwich needs?”, I would always say to my wife when she made BLT’s. “A real tomato, THAT”S what it needs”. I could never make her understand that these red bags of water, that the grocery store called, “tomatoes” wasn’t the real thing.

“Well plant your own, since you think you’re so smart”, she replied one day. I thought to myself, “Why the heck not”. “My Mom’s a great gardener, surely I must possess some of that skill”.

So began the odyssey of our tomato patch.

I’m one of those fathers who employs his kids in all family chores. I figure the labors cheap, and besides my parents did it to me. My girls (ages 5 and 3) were drafted to be my crew. We went down to the Home Depot to scope out some plants.

“What are we doing Dad?”, they asked. “We’re planting tomatoes”. beamed their father. I’m was gonna teach the girls, the value in home grown vegetables. By the time we got home I’d spent $112.95 in tomato plants, fertilizer, potting soil, and big pots to put them in. (Did I mention we lived in an apartment?)

The terrace was nice and sunny. We got all the plants put in. My oldest daughter made a scarecrow out of an old shirt of mine, a stick, and a Styrofoam wig head that my wife gave her. It looked scary enough to me, so I set it right smack in the middle of our tomato patch.

The next morning I stepped out to look over my tomato plantation, only to find cats had dug up 3 of the plants, and what looked like bird poop on the scarecrow. “What the heck”, I yelled. “There’s varmints in the mator patch!” After work I got some netting at the military surplus store. They had tons of it for $50.00 bucks.

6 weeks go by. Nothing…

Finally one early Saturday morning. (I mean early) My daughter comes rushing into our bedroom. “Daddy, daddy, we got a mato”. “Thats nice, go back to bed”. I moaned.

“DAD!”

I got up and went out to the terrace, and sure enough, there was a tiny little tomato. I was choked up with pride. My little girl and I just staring at our little tomato. We knew that all the hard work and sacrifice was going to pay off. Considering that all but that one plant had succumbed to one disaster or another. A bird had even made a nest in our scarecrow. We named it Charley.

Through the rest of that summer, we babied and nurtured that freaking little tomato. Lord love me it was the only one to grow on that stupid plant.

Finally the day came, and we picked it. I took it inside, and my wife sliced it up for BLT”s. I took my first bite, and gloried in the marvel of fresh ripe heaven. “Now that’s what a BLT is supposed to taste like.”

That tomato cost me $162.95 but I swear it was worth it.

The tomato is an essential part of my vegetable garden every year. I plan the rest of my garden around my tomatoes. They are that important to many gardeners. One thing about planting tomatoes is they are not that hard to grow. Add some tender loving care and a little water and compost and you should be enjoying this wonderful plants harvest before you know it.

By following a few simple steps you will be well on your way to a great tomato season. Start by deciding whether you want to start your plants from seed or by buying plants at your local nursery. Next you should pick a few different varieties so your harvest will not all come at the same time. Put your plants in a spot that will get plenty of sun and add some compost or fertilizer. This article will look at a few ways to increase your chances of having a better tomato harvest.

You will have plenty of choices when you decide to plant a few tomatoes. The first decision you need to make is to decide if you want to start your plants from seed or buy plants. There are good reasons to go either way. Planting from seed will save you some money, as a pack of seed will usually cost less than tomato plants. You also will generally have a better choice of different varieties when starting from seed. Planting tomatoes that you buy from your local nursery has some advantages as well. You only need to plant the best looking plants you can find. Seeing how green and lush a plant is will help you pick out the best ones.

I like to plant a few different types of tomatoes plants. This will extend my harvest because I always pick a few plants that produce fruit early and a few more that come later in the growing season. I also always add a couple of cherry tomato plants to my garden as well.

Picking your gardening spot is very important. Your gardens success or failure may depend on where it is. You will need to plant somewhere that gets a lot of sun. My plants seem to do better if they are in a spot that gets least six hours of sun each day. I think more is better in the case of tomatoes. Make sure your planting spot can be watered without a lot of trouble. When you do not get an inch of rain a week you will need to water your plants so they can thrive.

Planting tomatoes is a very satisfying thing to do. Follow a good plan and you should be enjoying the fruits of your labor well into the fall.

Gardening season begins at different times in different parts of the country. No vegetable garden is ever complete without the presence of tomato plants. Whether you start your tomatoes from seed or purchase plants, there will always be challenges involved in having a successful harvest.

The first consideration for any gardener who wishes to grow tomatoes involves the choice of variety. Tomato plants are separated into two groups for classification purposes. Determinate varieties produce a lot of tomatoes in a short amount of time whereas Indeterminate tomatoes produce a steadier harvest throughout the growing season.

When you are deciding what varieties of tomatoes to plant, look at the length of time it takes for the tomatoes to bear fruit. If you live in the south where you can put your plants out much earlier than people in the north can, you will want to plant some varieties that mature faster. Determinate varieties may be a better choice for you because once the weather gets extremely hot, it may be too hot for the flowers to set fruit.

CONSIDER YOUR CLIMATE:

Not all varieties of tomatoes are well suited to all areas of the country. If you live in an area that gets extremely hot, you want to look for varieties that have proved to be able to tolerate extremes of heat. If you are planting tomatoes from seed, the time you start the seeds will vary depending on where in the country you live. The general rule of thumb for starting seeds is that you want to plant your seeds ten weeks before you want to plant your tomatoes outdoors.

Some varieties that are very well suited to hot conditions and that did well in the growing trials designed to test suitability are Top Gun, Solar Fire, BHN 444, Crista and Surefire. The varieties producing the best results in those trials were Surefire and BHN 444. The biggest problems associated with hot weather are that the plants may not flower, the flowers may not set fruit, and that because of the extreme heat, it’s difficult, if not impossible to keep the plants evenly moist.

TOMATO DISEASES:

Tomatoes are susceptible to a host of problems ranging from Fusarium Wilt, and Verticillium Wilt, both of which fungal disease that appears to affect the leaves and the branches to root knot nematodes. Fusarium Wilt and Verticillium Wilt generally enter the plant through the roots, as do other fungal diseases affecting tomatoes. The main difference between Fusarium Wilt and Verticillium Wilt is that Verticillium Wilt doesn’t

Though many plants are easier and faster to grow, for the garden, tomatoes are one of the most commonly and popular of garden plants. It isn’t hard to see why. A single productive plant can produce up to a hundred pounds of succulent, juicy tomatoes. The key is in how to grow them productively.

Tomatoes come from and still grow in South America, and the needs of the plant haven’t changed much over time. We can use this to our advantage to ensure that our tomato plants are productive, by using the method used by Native Americans.

You don’t necessarily need to have a garden plot to grow them this way, either. They can even be grown in a large container on the patio by slightly altering the following steps. They also do well in flower beds, as long as they have the room to grow and bush out.

You can start with a seedling plant or grow the tomato from seed, but it is easier to purchase a growing seedling plant that is close to twelve inches tall. The tomato production will usually be larger and earlier.

Choose plants with healthy looking leaves and fairly strong stems. The leaves should be dark green, with very little or no yellowing which would indicate a stressed or sick plant.

Note: If you smoke cigarettes, cigars, or a pipe, be sure that you wash your hands well before handling or planting tomatoes. Tobacco residue can spread illnesses to tomato plants.

The following steps are for a tomato plant that is one foot tall, measured from ground level to the top of the plant. You can vary the steps slightly, depending on the height of the plant.

Dig a hole two and a half feet deep and a foot across. This should be in soil that drains well, but that isn’t too sandy. The soil needs to be able to retain the water, yet the roots of the plant should not stand in water, so drainage is necessary. Good quality commercial potting soil will work well, if you are in an area with poor soil.

In the bottom of the hole, place a layer of several inches of dead fish or fish parts. If you like fishing, you can use the leavings after filleting or cleaning the fish you catch.

If you do not fish, check with your neighborhood supermarket. Often, they will save the portions of the fish that would normally be thrown away and give them to you. Seafood stores are another option for getting fish parts. The type of fish is unimportant. For a 1-foot tomato plant, about three to six inches of fish parts is plenty.

Over the top of the fish, place about six inches

Tomato plants face a variety of problems that range from actual diseases to insect or pest attacks or infestations. The best way that I know of to deal with them is to take some basic precautions when you plant your tomatoes. Obviously that can only go so far, but it’s a start and will help greatly reduce the possibility of worse problems.

The number one rule for preventing the spread of tomato disease is crop rotation if you are planting tomatoes in the ground. That means that you will never plant your tomatoes in the same spot year after year. Sometimes volunteer tomato plants will sprout and grow where the tomatoes were planted the previous year. When this happens, you may get the same variety, another variety or something completely different. Sometimes I like to leave the volunteers just for fun. The main reason crop rotation is so important (and this goes for all food crops, not just tomatoes,) is that it prevents the spread of diseases into the soil. If you are planting your tomatoes in containers, I would recommend NOT reusing the potting soil the following year. If you had a problem with any type of tomato disease the previous year, I would urge you just to throw that potting soil away. I wouldn’t even risk putting it in the compost heap.

Be on the look out for common problems such as blossom end rot. You can help prevent this from happening by ensuring that you put some source of calcium in the soil when you plant your tomatoes. Some people use lime, but blood meal and bone meal are also ideal for this purpose. Blossom end rot is caused by uneven amounts of water during the growing season or insufficient calcium in the soil. Be sure you water your plants regularly and that you don’t let them dry out too much or get too wet. Obviously it’s not possible to do that if you live in a place where you are getting huge amounts of rain. The best thing you can do in a case like that, especially if you’ve got your tomatoes in containers is to remember to keep adding calcium to the soil; bone or blood meal or lime will work very well.

Insect problems are relatively easy to combat. There are organic insecticides that work well and are perfectly safe to use, even on the day of harvest. Bacillis Thuriengis, which is often sold under the name “Dipel Dust,” is ideal for combating almost every type of insect problem that will affect tomatoes. Neem Oil is also great. It functions as three remedies in one: an insecticide, a fungicide and a miticide. If

Every tomato grower has a “secret recipe” for tomato growing success. An integral part of high tomato yield is proper plant nutrition. Plants need food, too! Giving a plant the right food at the right time will not only increase fruit yield, it will also help prevent damage from diseases and pests.

Plant Nutrients

Plants do not eat hamburgers and French fries, but they do still need “nutrients.” Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are the three nutrients most commonly fed to plants. Most fertilizers are a combination of the three. When reading a fertilizer package, a three number series such as 3-0-3, or 15-10-5, presents the ratio of all three nutrients in the fertilizer. Other nutrients and minerals, in smaller amounts, help tomato plants grow robustly and healthily. Plants get nutrients from the soil in which they are planted, so soil preparation is integral to providing plant nutrients in proper amounts.

To determine which nutrients your garden soil needs to promote healthy plant growth, prepare a soil sample and send it to your local cooperative extension office for analysis. The soil sample will allow you to properly prepare the garden soil and add just enough of each lacking nutrient to grow healthy plants. Another important test is the soil pH. Soil pH affects the way plants are able to take in nutrients. If your soil is too high or too low, you will want to amend the pH by adding mulch (to increase acidity) or lime (to increase alkalinity.)

When to Add Nutrients

Tomato plants need nutrients at differing amounts at various stages of growth. After receiving soil test results and before planting tomatoes, work a general fertilizer into the soil. Ratios of 5-10-10 or 8-16-16 are good to start. The soil test results will tell you if you are seriously lacking one nutrient or another.

Once the plant begins growing, different ratios of nutrients promote best growth. Once the plant starts flowering, it needs a higher ratio of potassium.

Soil Composition for Plant Nutrition

Adding fertilizer is only one step to providing plants with proper nutrients and increasing crop yield. Soil composition and structure directly affects tomato plant health. Tomato plants thrive by growing roots deep into the soil. Hard clay soils must be broken and amended with compost to promote healthy root growth. Overly sandy soils need addition of organic matter in order to hold water and nutrients.

Compost for High Fruit Yield

Organic matter is an essential component of soil. Adding proper organic matter will greatly improve soil health, while adding improper organic matter is detrimental to soil. Organic matter can be added by top dressing or double digging. Top dressing with organic works exactly as it sounds-you add organic matter to the top of the soil, almost like a mulch. Double-digging requires digging and removing soil, mixing the organic matter into the soil, and replacing the newly combined soil.

Great organic matters are already composted, or broken down. As wood chips, leaves and other compost breaks down, it uses nitrogen. It is important to add composted organic matter rather than fresh, as fresh matter will remove essential nutrients from the soil. If fresh organic matter is all that is available, be sure to add nitrogen along with the organic matter.

Soil composition is one key to tomato growing success. Structure, pH, and nutrient availability all contribute to plant health. For more detailed information on soil health and how to manage nutrition (including diagnosing nutrient deficiencies), consult a comprehensive tomato growing reference such as How to Grow Tasty Juicy Tomatoes.