So far in my gardening career I’ve never had a Tomato plant that hasn’t produced a bounty of Tomatoes. Some I grew from seed and some I bought at a local garden center. This is the first clue to a productive Tomato plant, i.e. so long as it is living, healthy and young it can generally be made to produce. What I do for my Tomatoes is illustrated as follows:
- Sunlight: Tomato plants love sun, the more the better. When my Squash plants were struggling in the July heat the Tomato plants were cruising along at full speed along with the Kale.
- Soil: Tomato plants like rich soil. My soil is a clay base and I added 3 40 lb 1:9 manure and compost mix to two 25 square feet clay based plots previously held by Bell Peppers and Kale. In other words, Tomatoes like rich soil with lots of nutrients. If you have a sand based soil it might need some rich supplementation like manure and/or compost. Early spring is when I cultivated the soil but adding fertilizer mid-season may help. Be careful with manure, it needs time to degrade and it could damage the plants if added directly. Usually manure is added in fall or spring before planting. Also, when you plant your seeds or Tomato’s have the soil well worked and weed free to eliminate root complications and competition from other plants.
- Crop Rotation: Maybe you already know this but rotating crops every year reduces plant diseases and returns nutrients to the soil as different plants have different issues and use different nutrients. For example, Beans return nitrogen to the soil while Tomato’s use it. Planting Tomato’s in a patch used for beans the previous year will improve the health and productivity of the plants. Also because Tomato plants get big it’s a good idea to keep them well spaced i.e. about 18+ inches.
- Water: Tomatoes need water, when they’re thirsty they will Wilt. When they wilt it is often a good idea to water them as soon as the Sun sets and/or early in the morning. If their desperate water them immediately at the base of the plant only to prevent leaf burn. Depending on where you live, Mother nature may or may not help you with this task.
- Staking: Tomato plants get big and Tomato’s can be heavy so by supporting the branches it not only maximizes space but allows the plants to grow more.
- Wait for second harvest. Tomatoes have two major harvests. That is at least mine have so far; one in the summer and one in the fall. I had a huge bag of Tomatoes in October that I picked just before
