Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops for a beginner gardner for a lot of different reasons. Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow, they can be grown in pots on a deck or a porch, they come in dozens of different varieties, they taste great, and you can enjoy them in lots of dishes and there’s nothing like bringing in in fresh produce straight from your garden.

Tomatoes are one of a few crops that you can sprout and begin indoors. Their seeds can be planted in pretty much anything to start and with some heat and some water they’ll sprout in just a few days. Once they’ve sprouted and have a few sets of leaves all you have to do is transfer them to a larger container and bury them and they’ll continue to grow. You can bury them because they can sprout roots further up the plant than most vegetables can and this increases the ability of the plant to do well. Don’t overwater your tomatoes because this can cause diseases in them and if they aren’t getting enough sun they’ll start to get droopy too.

You can get tomatoes in many different colors, varieties, and unique flavors so it’s important to be sure that you get the kind you like otherwise you may end up with quite a few baskets of a crop that you’re not interested in eating. Tomatoes are also handy as they do well in containers and with some staking can produce quite a large amount of produce if you give some some careful attention but you need to be sure to get determinate tomatoes which form a bush like sort of plant as opposed to indeterminate which grow very large and tall and can be overwhelming for anyone that’s growing in containers. Large plants can tend to dry out their soil faster and grow beyond the confines of their containers which is difficult for someone who doesn’t have a lot of space. For larger plants if you do have the space they will definitely require staking and are designed to be either caged or trellised to some extent.

A helpful tip when it comes to tomatoes is to mix a small bit of milk in with the water whenever you water them. Tomato plants love milk and you can even pour it directly over the leaves as well (though this is the only time you should do this as tomato plants are prone to fungal diseases when they have too much moisture sitting on them too long). Tomatoes also do well with a bit of lemon juice sprayed into the soil as this can deter aphids and other such pests that might want to eat them.

The most important part of growing tomatoes is to be sure that they get plenty of water and plenty of sunshine as well as some good air circulation within their pot. If you need to you can get a larger pot or drill holes in the side of your container to allow for better airflow. Whatever you do make sure to keep the leaves dry and not to pluck any produce until it’s had plenty of time to ripen.