Some Interesting Facts About Growing Tomatoes
- Tomatoes would stay for a long period if you don’t cut out its stems.
- 5% of the total weight of the tomatoes is due to the water in it.
- According to a research, there are total 25 varieties of tomatoes grown around the world.
- In the 17th and 18th century, tomatoes were used by the Italians to decorate the dining tables.
- Tomatoes would quickly lose the Vitamin C in them if they are stored in a place where the sunlight reaches.
- Some tomatoes available in the market are grown with the help of ethylene gas passed in them when they are picked green from the fields.
- The leaves of the tomatoes are toxic.
- Placing the tomatoes in the refrigerator would reduce the natural flavor and the quality of the tomatoes.
Tomatoes – An Introduction
If you are fond of growing fruits and vegetables in your mini-garden, the tomato would surely be an ingredient in there. It comes with a number of varieties, health benefits, and delicious flavors, that would encourage you to plant them in your gardens. It is also known as tomato in French, tomaat in Spanish, and Pomodoro in Italy. Apart from this, it was known as The Apple of Love in France, while The Apple of Paradise in Germany during the 18th century. Apart from other nutritional facts, tomatoes are also considered to be having medicinal properties that are capable to deal with dangerous health issues like cancer, purifying cigarette smoke carcinogens, prevention of cardiovascular disorders, reducing hypertension, dissolving gallstones, regulation of blood vessels, reducing severe blood clots, treatment of inflammation, rich in vitamins and minerals, etc. So, isn’t this a good reason to think about how to grow tomatoes!
Tomatoes are vital in any of the recipes, as it adds a delicious flavor to the dish. However, there are times, when the price of the tomatoes is high as well as they are of poor quality too. As a result, there are many individuals who make searches on the internet on how to grow tomatoes in a bucket. Growing tomatoes is quite easy and you can also obtain the endless supply of tomatoes with limited seeds while growing it, which adds to the plus point of growing them at home.
How To Grow Tomatoes Step By Step?
Since there are various searches made on how to grow tomatoes in pots, one most important benefit discovered is that by doing so, you would be able to have tomatoes that are free from any kind of chemicals, pesticides, etc. that are forced in the soil to keep the tomatoes healthy and keeping them fresh for longer period. Growing tomatoes also is quite cheap by all the means. Here is a step-by-step procedure for growing tomatoes in your mini-garden.
1. Find A Perfect Place For Growing Tomatoes
The first step to the answer how to grow tomatoes indoors is finding the best place for it. The tomatoes need to have sunlight for nearly 6 to 8 hours on a daily basis. However, for those growing tomatoes at home, can use the containers or pots which can be easily moved from one place to another for providing the plant with sunlight. This is also a better option for the growers having limited garden area. Also, make sure you provide required space in between the tomato plants which gives the plants enough space to grow properly. While growing, one seed needs nearly 10 feet of height and approximately 2 cubic feet of land. Hence, decide the spot accordingly. If possible, make sure you plant the seeds directly on the ground, which will come with benefits of less watering as compared to pots or containers.
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2. Selection Of The Pot
If you are thinking how to grow tomatoes in containers or in pots, selecting the best one is also equally important. The larger the pot or container would be, the more successful you would be in getting good production of the tomatoes. This has been the best option for those residing in buildings, where they are provided with less space and would leave the plants on the terrace or balcony. Make sure you select pots that are deep for approximately 20 inches along with the corresponding width. This would help the roots to grow properly and firmly due to required space. You can also go for plastic containers as they are easy to move from one place to another. After selecting the pot, don’t forget to place a shallow bowl or dish below the pot so that the water that drains out can be collected in it.
3. Check The Drainage System Of Pot And Get The Right Soil
Drainage is also an important topic when it comes to planting using a pot or container. The pot or the container should have holes below that would provide with good drainage facility and would also protect the soil from getting too much of moisture. Also, you need to take care that the soil doesn’t get out of the pot through the hole, for which, you can use a tiny screen on the hole. Along with the pot, the selection of proper soil is equally important. Make sure you don’t take soil from your gardens or yards as it would contain dangerous chemicals, pests, diseases, etc. that are harmful to your tomatoes. For achieving the best soil, you can use a mixture of 60% fiber from coconut, and 40% of vermicomposting for a healthy and organic tomato plantation.
4. Decide The Variety Of The Tomatoes
While planting tomatoes, you also need to look after the type of tomatoes you want to have. For this, the climate, usage and the size of the tomatoes are also important to determine. If you are looking for tomatoes to prepare any sausage, the meaty tomatoes would be an ideal selection. For this, go for seeds like Amish Paste and San Marzano. The tomatoes that have stock and short roots are the best to go with if you are looking for how to grow tomato plants in a container. For those looking for hybrid tomatoes, you can also combine a variety of tomato plants and bred them all together for getting a new variety good for some health issues, taste, shape, usage, etc.
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5. Plant The Seeds Of The Tomatoes
The next step is how to grow tomatoes from seed as well as from germinated plants. Once you are ready with your tomato seeds, soil, pot, etc., it is now the time to plant them. There are some people who use germinated plants directly and plant them in the pots. Firstly, fill the pots with equal portions of soil for potting and the planting mix. Combine both the soil and the planting mix properly in the pots and container. Make sure there is required density in the environment and the soil for the roots to grow properly and also would help them to obtain required nutrients. After layering the soil properly in the pot, make a hole in the center of nearly 3 to 4 inches to cover the seeds properly in it. If you are using the germinated plant for the pots, fill the third portion of the pot with soil, and place the germinated plant properly in the soil. Add more soil and planting mix to the plant until you cover the base. When planted, take pinches gently surrounding the plant to give it stability.
6. Watering The Plants
After planting the tomato plant, the first thing you would need to do is to water the plants. When planting it for the first time, make sure the water goes thoroughly from the soil, which would prove that the soil is quite moist. Make sure you don’t water the stems, leaves, base, etc. of the plant for the first time. For the rest of the time, provide you plant with water only when you find the soil sticky to your fingers. This means, you should not water the plant every day, but water them when you fill the moisture is absorbed. Also, avoid providing more than the required amount of water to the plant, as this would increase the content of moisture in the tomato plant as it may lead to problems. Also, make sure you water the tomato plants in the morning that would prevent your plant from fungal or mold disease. During hot weather, check the moist of the soil on regular basis and water them with water by increasing its quantity.
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7. Support The Plant In Growing
Simply planting the seeds don’t end your job. You need to provide support to the plant for growth. When planted, the tomatoes would require support from the cages, trellises and the stakes that would help them grow firmly. You also need to provide the tomato plant with fertilizers to provide them with nutrients. Replace the synthetic fertilizers with the organic fertilizers that would help the tomatoes in healthy growth in pots or containers. You can also use the eggshells in crushed form as fertilizers that would also help you in protecting the tomatoes from pests and other harmful chemicals. To protect your tomato plants from weeds, use some mulch of straws around the plant. You can also use dried grass instead of straws. The weeds would also look after the moist of the soil, especially, during the dry and hot weather.
8. Happy Harvesting
Thinking how long does it take for a tomato to grow? The tomatoes take time to ripe. Allow them to grow properly in the garden or pot. Get rid of the yellow leaves in the plant, which would help it in growing tall before it gives tomatoes. When you find ripe tomatoes, pluck them off from the plant. However, here are chances that the tomatoes would not mature and fail to ripen. In such case, just pluck them off and store them until they ripen in a cool dry place. Also, make sure you eat the ripe plucked tomatoes as soon as possible, as they might get spoiled and would burst out in your kitchen if kept for a longer period.
Hence, in this way, you would successfully gift your kitchen home-grown organic tomatoes that would provide your recipes with natural and original taste. Similarly, you can also continue with the same process when looking for how to grow cherry tomatoes and get the best quality ones for a number of mouthwatering dishes.
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Some Tips For Growing Quality Tomatoes At Home
- While planting the tomato seeds, make sure you don’t crowd the seedlings as this would help the plant in growing strongly and properly.
- The tomato plants require a good amount of sunlight, which is not possible during winters. For this, you can take the help of the greenhouse
- The tomato plants need the adequate amount of breeze for the growth of the seedlings, for which you can use the fan for nearly 10 minutes, two times in a day.
- Before you plant the tomato seeds, cover the soil with red or black plastic some weeks before you plant the seeds.
- Bury the plants deep in the soil with their stems for having strong tomato plant.
- Once your tomato plant has grown properly, remove the leaves from the bottom as they are the ones which grew first, which carry high chances of having fungus.
- Remove the suckers that grow in between two joints of the branches by pinching them as they slow down the process of photosynthesis.
- While you find the fruits developing on the branches, water them on the regular basis which would reduce the chances of cracking or rotten tomatoes.
- Water the soil in the plant and not the stems, leaves and the tomatoes.
- For the tomatoes that aren’t still mature, place a banana in between them, as it would help them in getting ripen with the ethylene present in the bananas.
As growing tomatoes is an easy task, and it also requires fewer efforts, it is widely practiced by many people having mini yards at their houses. There are people living in flats who use the pots and containers for growing tomatoes. So, get the best ingredients, soil, seeds, etc. and begin with planting the tomatoes.
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