Winter vegetable garden
Small vegetable garden
Japanese gardens
Botanical gardens
Vegetable garden plan
Vegetable garden soils
Vegetable garden plans
Fresh vegetables
Planting vegetables
Indoor vegetable garden
Fall gardening
Vegetables seeds
Vegetable seeds
Vegetable garden seeds
Vegetable garden planting
Sitemap
Easy Tips for Home Grown Tomatoes
Home grown tomatoes (technically fruits) are the most popular of all plants grown in vegetable gardens.
When to plant? Tomatoes generally grow in warm weather across about 3 months. They are susceptible to frost so grow best in frost free warm southern areas. In temperate climates they grow well from late winter through to mid summer. In cold areas they grow better from early spring until the end of spring. In some mild districts home grown tomatoes can be planted late summer and the again end of spring for an extended season.
What About Soil? Tomatoes grow well in both heavy and light soils but typically this soil needs to be well watered, well drained and contain plenty of organic material. The key nutrient required by home grown tomatoes is phosphorus. This is especially important for tomatoes seedlings. Soil based nitrogen is also important.
Seeds or seedlings? Tomatoes can grow from seeds sown directly into garden beds but it is more common to grow seedlings in small pots and then transplant these.
Spacing. This is an important decision. Tall tomatoes that grow up a stake should be planted as seedlings about 20-24inches apart. This allows sufficient light for each plant.
Plant care. Weed around plants and between rows. As tomatoes need plenty pf watering, you can make furrows between the rows to allow irrigation especially during warmer months and as plants bear more fruit. Watering of this kind reduces diseases that occur as a result of overhead watering.
Fertilizer. If your soil is well fertilized, home grown tomatoes don’t need further fertilizing until they begin to fruit. A small scattering of mixed fertilizer every month well watered in, is sufficient.
Tomato stakes. Most tomatoes grow on stakes around 6 feet high. These need to be staked around 2 inches from the plant. Plants are pruned and the two main stems are tied (about 12 inches apart) to the stake. Make sure that tomato flowers face outwards.
Picking. Tomatoes always taste best when they are picked ripe and ready to eat. They can be refrigerated for about a week if ripe and a month of picked green.Tomatoes can be bottled and cooked by sautéing, baking an stuffing but not directly frozen.
For more information abut how to enjoy a bumper veggie season year round, read more articles on my blog at blog.mightydigitaldownloads.com
Leave a comment | View Comments
Vegetable Garden Videos
Loading...
|
Vegetable Garden NewsFred Risser considers the Capitol Square vegetable garden a smashing successState Sen. Fred Risser, the nation's longest-tenured lawmaker, has found something new to be excited about: the vegetable garden on the Capitol Square's southwest corner, by Inn on the Park. Proposed by Madison FarmWorks and approved by the Executive Residence Board that Risser heads, the small plot, formerly used for flowers, boasts an abundance of tomatoes, cabbage, beets and other veggies. He ... Read more...This week in the vegetable gardenTasks: We pulled out the remaining squash plants and sunflowers. We thinned radish seedlings and planted some greens for the fall in the Asian Garden. In the Family of Four Garden, we harvested some really nice chili peppers and planted lettuce and spinach for the fall. We also enjoyed a ripe cantaloupe from the garden. Read more...500-pound pumpkin growing in Alexandria Township vegetable gardenFIVE HUNDRED POUND PUMPKIN is displayed by Marvin Perkins of Alexandria Township, who grew it from seed in his vegetable garden. The pumpkin is expected to keep growing until October. ALEXANDRIA TWP. — A 500-pound pumpkin is growing in a... Read more...Teen offenders work garden to give back to communityXENIA — A 16-year-old boy said he learned a lot while toiling under the hot summer sun in a vegetable garden at the Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Xenia.“You really learn who you are out there,” said the boy, who is a felony juvenile offender at the center and is not named because he is a ward of the state. “I think about, ‘Wow, how can all of this come from seed?’ One little ... Read more...Neighbours share organic gardenWHILE many people are happy to just share a fence, a group of North Ipswich neighbours have established their own flourishing organic vegetable garden. Read more...Cover crops help to build rich garden soilIf you ask any successful, long-time gardener the secret to a great garden, he will probably start talking about soil building. It is a simple fact that healthy soil grows healthy plants. But the process does not happen overnight. Read more...Madisonville garden helps plant healthy eating habitsA garden at John P. Parker School won't only supply food, it will also provide an educational experience. Read more...Victory, recession vegetable gardensA Master Gardner friend sent me an e-mail last week to let me know that Jim Wilson had died. His book, "South Carolina Gardener's Guide," was one of the first two books I bought when I moved to Horry County. Read more...Arizona Family Grows Garden in Backyard PoolArizona family raises chicken, fish and grows vegetables in pool. Vegetable - Fish - Arizona - Home & Garden - Shopping Read more...Where grass grew, a veggie garden grows in EdmondsEDMONDS -- The first garden took shape last year with the help of two neighbors and two women from Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church. Carlo Voli tore out the lawn from the front yard of his suburban ranch-style home and planted a vegetable garden to share with his neighbors. Read more... |