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How To Grow Tomatoes
Growing Tomatoes
Tomatoes are tasty and a great source of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately they’re a bit of a mission to grow, but if you can control pests and diseases you can grow 4-5 kg or more per plant. They’re very economical in terms of space and will do very well in small spaces e.g. A rooftop garden in a walled compound.
Tomatoes can be dried, jammed and preserved.
When and Where to Grow Tomatoes ·
In frost-free areas you can grow tomatoes year-round, but the winter crop should be in before April (Southern Hemisphere, that’s just before the start of autumn. What month would that be in the NH?) for good yields. In areas that get frost, only plant tomatoes once the danger of frost has passed.
Tomatoes like warm dry areas – they get sunburn if it’s too hot, and fungus diseases if the area is too wet.
Tomatoes will grow well in almost any soil, but the best yields will be obtained from slightly acidic drained or sandy soil.
Preparing the Seedbed
Make the seedbed in a warm sunny place well-protected from frost. Shade it with loose grass on a frame – you will be removing the grass slowly as the tomatoes grow.
Tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers and tobacco should not have been planted in the same soil for at least 3 years.
Spread manure with a ratio of 1bucket:1m2 and dig well, or use fertilizer at 30g:1m2
Use a rake to prepare the seedbed and sow the seeds in moist soil in furrows 1cm deep
Don’t waste your seed- sow thinly.
Care and Feeding of Baby Tomato Plants
Do not water too often. When your seedlings are growing well, one good watering per week will be enough.
Thin rows until the plants are 2 to 3cm apart. This will result in shorter, stouter plants.
Preparing the Soil For the Young Plants.
Dig deeply to make sure the water sinks into the ground.
Dig in compost or manure at 2buckets:1m2.
Transplanting
Transplant when the tomatoes are 10 to 12cm high. Transplant in late afternoon and water straight away. Mulch the soil and shade the plant with a leafy branch for a few days.
Make the rows 60-100cm apart and the plants 40-60cm apart in the rows.
Care and Feeding of Tomato Plants
Water once a week and give each plant a bucket of water. Try not to water the leaves or to splash dirt onto the plants – they can get diseases from this.
Pruning is the removal of side-shoots when they start to grow so that only the main stem grows. Do this at least once a week to improve the size of your tomatoes.
Mulch is a layer of organic material (grass, leaves, weeds) on the surface of the soil. If it is at least 10cm thick it will:
Disease Control
Use crop rotation. Parasites often can’t live on different crops, and leaving a big enough gap before you plant the same crop in the same soil gives all the diseases time to die.
Remove and burn sick plants
Mulch heavily
Smokers must wash hands before handling their tomato plants to avoid viruses from tobacco. This goes double if you have a tobacco crop.
If you can get hold of fungicides, spray plants every 7-10 days.
Bacterial Wilt: The plants wilt suddenly as though they have been cut with a knife. As far as I know there’s nothing you can do about this except remove and burn all sick plants. If you get BW in your tomatoes do not plant tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or tobacco in the same place for at least five years.
Tomatoes are tasty and a great source of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately they’re a bit of a mission to grow, but if you can control pests and diseases you can grow 4-5 kg or more per plant. They’re very economical in terms of space and will do very well in small spaces e.g. A rooftop garden in a walled compound.
Tomatoes can be dried, jammed and preserved.
When and Where to Grow Tomatoes ·
In frost-free areas you can grow tomatoes year-round, but the winter crop should be in before April (Southern Hemisphere, that’s just before the start of autumn. What month would that be in the NH?) for good yields. In areas that get frost, only plant tomatoes once the danger of frost has passed.
Tomatoes like warm dry areas – they get sunburn if it’s too hot, and fungus diseases if the area is too wet.
Tomatoes will grow well in almost any soil, but the best yields will be obtained from slightly acidic drained or sandy soil.
Preparing the Seedbed
Make the seedbed in a warm sunny place well-protected from frost. Shade it with loose grass on a frame – you will be removing the grass slowly as the tomatoes grow.
Tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers and tobacco should not have been planted in the same soil for at least 3 years.
Spread manure with a ratio of 1bucket:1m2 and dig well, or use fertilizer at 30g:1m2
Use a rake to prepare the seedbed and sow the seeds in moist soil in furrows 1cm deep
Don’t waste your seed- sow thinly.
Care and Feeding of Baby Tomato Plants
Do not water too often. When your seedlings are growing well, one good watering per week will be enough.
Thin rows until the plants are 2 to 3cm apart. This will result in shorter, stouter plants.
Preparing the Soil For the Young Plants.
Dig deeply to make sure the water sinks into the ground.
Dig in compost or manure at 2buckets:1m2.
Transplanting
Transplant when the tomatoes are 10 to 12cm high. Transplant in late afternoon and water straight away. Mulch the soil and shade the plant with a leafy branch for a few days.
Make the rows 60-100cm apart and the plants 40-60cm apart in the rows.
Care and Feeding of Tomato Plants
Water once a week and give each plant a bucket of water. Try not to water the leaves or to splash dirt onto the plants – they can get diseases from this.
Pruning is the removal of side-shoots when they start to grow so that only the main stem grows. Do this at least once a week to improve the size of your tomatoes.
Mulch is a layer of organic material (grass, leaves, weeds) on the surface of the soil. If it is at least 10cm thick it will:
Keep the water in the soilStaking keeps the plant standing up so that the tomatoes do not lie on the ground. Use a strong stick 1,5m long pushed deeply into the ground and tie the plant to it loosely with string.
Protect soil structure
Stop weeds
Prevent soil from splashing up onto the leaves when watering
Keep the soil cool in summer ·
Disease Control
Use crop rotation. Parasites often can’t live on different crops, and leaving a big enough gap before you plant the same crop in the same soil gives all the diseases time to die.
Remove and burn sick plants
Mulch heavily
Smokers must wash hands before handling their tomato plants to avoid viruses from tobacco. This goes double if you have a tobacco crop.
If you can get hold of fungicides, spray plants every 7-10 days.
Bacterial Wilt: The plants wilt suddenly as though they have been cut with a knife. As far as I know there’s nothing you can do about this except remove and burn all sick plants. If you get BW in your tomatoes do not plant tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or tobacco in the same place for at least five years.
Jaggedrain |
Latest page update: made by Jaggedrain
, Mar 29 2010, 10:47 AM EDT
(about this update
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why does WP eat my formatting *wail*
- Jaggedrain
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