DID YOU KNOW – tomatoes were not eaten for about a century after their introduction to the American continent? Europeans thought that the red fruit of the plant was poisonous. And, you may have noticed that I said fruit! That is because a tomato is actually a FRUIT, not a vegetable, as is commonly thought to be. Well, technically it is a berry, because it is the ovary of the flowering tomato plant. But whatever you choose to call it, this vegetable is one of the most commonly grown vegetables throughout the United States. For who can resist a freshly picked, bright red tomato, straight from the vine? I know I can’t.

During your tomato growing journey you will discover many varieties of tomatoes. Some are as small as marbles, known as cherry tomatoes, and some can grow as big as a softball, known as beefsteak tomatoes. Tomatoes also come in a host of different colors ranging from yellow, to orange, to purple, and to the all loved and well known red tomatoes.

You may be surprised to hear that tomato plants come in two different types: determinates and indeterminates.

Why the funny names, you may ask? Well, it is actually quite logical and makes sense, once you know the answer. Determinates grow to a specific height and then stop growing, as if their height was pre-determined before they started growing. Because of this, they are a great choice for people with small spaces, or perhaps those who want to plant their tomatoes indoors. The indeterminate tomato plants are the opposite of the latter, having no pre-determined growing height. These tomato plants are sometimes called vine tomatoes, as they behave like a vine. Because of this, indeterminate tomato plants usually require support, like stakes or fences, thus making for fantastic outdoor growing.

You can grow your tomatoes from seeds, which is not too difficult, or you can just buy small seedling plants from garden centers. Seeds can be purchased over the internet these days and many hard to find varieties are seen more commonly because of this reason. Tomatoes are hungry for water and sunshine, with well-drained soil. Follow those basic steps and you can’t really go wrong, the plants will grow themselves. But there are many techniques and growing tips around if you would like to grow your tomatoes super tasty and juicy. In fact, there is a whole ART to producing superior tomatoes.

First, you need a good sturdy bucket for each plant. You will need to grow your plant to at least four inches tall before you begin. We’ve used everything from one gallon ice cream buckets to five gallon paint buckets. The main thing your bucket needs is a good handle.

A lid is also preferable, but not really necessary. Cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket. Make it only an inch or two across, you don’t want your plant to fall out. Put some potting soil in the bucket, catching what falls out for future use. Gently position your tomato plant in the hole so that the roots are inside the bucket and the stems are sticking out of the bottom.

You may enlist some help for this step unless you already have somewhere to hang your bucket where you can still reach inside. Gently fill dirt little by little around the roots. Do not pack it tight. Wrap a strip of newspaper around the stem so that it is half-way in the dirt and half-way out. This keeps bugs that may climb around the bucket from climbing down the tomato plant. This trick also works for tomatoes planted in the ground.

Finish filling the bucket with dirt because upside down tomato plants can grow a lot of roots. Because gravity is pulling down on the plant, it will grow thick sturdy stalks that may curve up into the air. They will sprout more stems per stalk than a normal tomato plant and support a lot more weight. Hang your bucket somewhere that gets a lot of sun.

If you use a lid, cut a hole in it big enough for rain to enter. Your upside down tomato plant will not need as much water as one planted in the ground because it’s soil will not drain much. Tomatoes never touch the ground and can get sun all the way around. This helps them to ripen sooner and more evenly than traditional plants. The gravity and additional circulation also helps the tomato plant produce more tomatoes and bigger tomatoes.

You want to let the soil in your tomato plant become almost dry before you water it again. Tomatoes prefer an arid climate and too much water will produce flavorless, light-colored, grainy-fleshed tomatoes like you find in many super markets. Bark-like scars on your tomatoes are a sign that you haven’t over-watered and your tomatoes can hold up to five times the nutrients of over-watered tomatoes.

Use a hose reel to keep your hose stored for the long times between watering. With your tomatoes away from bugs and pests, you could have the harvest of a lifetime this summer!

1. To find good tomato plants, your closest garden center is as far as you need to go to find healthy tomato plants. Ask the gardener working there to help you if you need it, but common sense can be used when choosing healthy plants for tomato growing. Most people can tell the difference between a healthy plant and a limp and wilted plant. Make sure its green with no yellowing or spotted leaves. No matter where you’re going to plant your tomatoes, either outside or in a big pot, bury your plant up to the bottom stems. This will allow the plant to sprout new roots and strengthen the tomato growing process. You can completely bury the bottom stems and then just cut them at dirt level.

2. Don’t over-feed your tomato plant. Too much nitrogen will give you a beautiful bushy plant, but not a lot of fruit. It’s a good idea to prepare the soil before you plant your tomato plant. These plants love rich humus or loamy soil and it’s a good idea to add a little potassium for strong stems and just a touch of nitrogen.

3. Water your plants thoroughly and make sure you have good drainage where ever your plants may be. If you live in hot climates and your plants are outside, make sure they will get at least a half of day of shade. Too much heat and the flowers will fall off, falling flowers means no tomatoes and this defeats the tomato growing process entirely. Cover outdoor tomato plants with some kind of mulch, either bark, pine needles or hay. Studies have proven that plants covered in black plastic mulch in early spring produces lots of tomatoes all spring and summer long, especially in cool or cold climates. Infra-red plastic mulch is even better. The person at your garden center should be able to tell you what is best for where you live.

4. Picking off the first batch of flowers will also ensure a healthier plant. Doing this will strengthen the root system and give your plants the chance to mature and fill out before bearing fruit. Stake or cadge your tomato plants so they have support and strength they need to grow big ripe tomatoes. With a little care and a little attention, you will be growing beautiful tomatoes in no time. Cherry or grape tomatoes are great for first time tomato growers. They grow great on a patio or porch and they grow by the bunch. Growing your own tomatoes will save you money and bragging rights about your successful tomato garden.

This method also has other noteable advantages. In my years of doing raised beds,I have noticed less attacks by devouring insects and less diseases in general. This is probably due to the fact that your planting soil is above the ground which gives you the means to control the soil that just exists in your raised garden.

Before I can discuss the size of your kitchen garden,it still requires some of the same thought given to an in ground vegetable garden. The location of your raised bed garden is very important in regard to sunglight,wind and water. The kitchen garden is going to require a minimum of five hours of sunlight per day up to a maximum of ten hours. The closer you can reach the maximum sunlight the better it will be for your vegetables. A spot should be picked where the wind is not going to be a major factor in beating up some vegetables or drying out your raised bed soil too rapidly.

It is important to locate your kitchen garden at least reasonably within hose reach of a water supply. A raised bed kitchen garden will require a little more attention to moisture than a garden planted in the soil of the earth. If you have the means,you may want to consider an overhead spinning sprinkler with a timer to provide daily moisture to your kitchen garden. Just remember when nature provides you with rainy days to turn off the timer or you may have more moisture than is necessary causing other growing problems.

The size of your raised bed can be almost any size as long as you have the ability to reach all areas of the kitchen garden. I would recommend a size ranging from 3×6 feet to 4×8 feet.You are not going to believe what can be grown in a kitchen garden of this size. The best structure for the bed is cedar boards at least 7 inches high. If you purchase 8 foot boards and have the yard where you bought it cut one board in half then you could have sides as high 10 inches. You can either nail the boards together or purchase corner supports,available on line from several garden spots or you can purchase the entire unit depending your budget limitations.

Other items required will be a roll of weed mat installed inside of your raised bed to prevent weeds from entering your raised bed. A layer of small stones about two to three inches deep for good drainage and last but not least bagged top soil to fill your raised bed. All of these items can be purchased at your local garden shop. You can also buy loose top spoil from some area shops and delivered to your site. This will result in a lot of extra work shoveling the soil into the kitchen garden rather than dumping bags.

Now what exactly can you plant lets say in a 3×6 raised bed that will provide you with an interesting vegetable garden and enough product to consume? You will need to pick the vegetables you like or want to grow and maybe it will be a few or many vegetables. Here is an example of a variety of vegetables placed in a 3×6 raised bed.

First measure it off into squares with each square equaling a square foot and this is what you could plant in a 3×6 raised bed utlizing a square foot for each vegetable. sixteen carrots,one broccoli,one eggplant,6 leeks,9 onions,two potatoe plants,sixteen radish plants,one winter squash,two plants of parsley,two plants of cumcumbers,nine plants of spinach and,because I like the following,these were planted in two of the squares, one tomato plant in each square,two basil plants each square,two peppers in each square and one square with two kale plants. As you can invision the combinations are endless and frankly provides for a tremendous variety but this mix can easily be changed to match your taste.You can also use other vegetables that are not listed here here by determining the space requirements for the each plant.

If you want to know how to plant each of the vegetables or other gardening information concerning your kitchen garden then go to gardenersgardening for more detail and a picture of the diagram discussed above go to site specified in the box below.

Tips for Improving your tomatoes:

Start with where you plant your tomatoes. Are you planning on growing the tomatoes in the garden or in a container. In either setting, a well drained, loamy soil is preferred, with a pH of somewhere between 6 and 7, which is slightly on the acidic side. Work in some well rotted compost, if it is not thoroughly decomposed it will rob nitrogen from the soil, and the tomatoes will suffer. If you going to use the garden, it may be preferable to use a raised bed garden to ensure proper drainage. It will also allow you to create the soil that your tomatoes want.

If you are looking at container grown tomatoes, there are several choices. A large self watering container, like the commercially available Earthbox is a great choice, as it solves one of the biggest problems with container grown plants, which is the tendency for them to quickly dry out.

Supporting your tomatoes is critical to their optimum production. This can be done with stakes or cages. But one other approach is to use hanging planters. By letting the tomato vines hang down from the planter, they are supported on the top end, and the need to stake or cage is eliminated. This is true for the upside down tomato planters as well, which also relieve the stress on the vine as it drapes over the edge of a traditional hanging planter.

Hanging planters have other advantages like eliminating the need for bending or stooping to work on them. And all the container approaches let you put tomatoes in places that normally can’t hold a garden, like and apartment or condo, or just the back patio or deck.

There are many other tips to great tomato gardening, like the proper selection of tomato varieties, the type of fertilizer to use, proper pruning, and plant spacing, when it’s best to plant, and more…

Tomatoes are the base ingredient in many products that you can easily make at home, and growing tomatoes indoors can make the entire list that much fresher! Among many other things, some of the more obvious things you can make from the fresh tomatoes you have grown are salsa, homemade spaghetti sauce just like from the old country, then of course there is juice and many other products.

For starters, you’ll want to choose from a variety of tomato that is not susceptible to cracking. These types will do better indoors under lights, and as an added bonus, these are also better suited when you want to make tomato paste and sauce. Next you will want to prepare a good starting soil mixture. The best I have found is a standard potting soil mixture that includes about 10% or so of worm castings already added. You can balance the ph of the soil by adding a teaspoon of hydrated lime to each gallon of potting soil. This is rich in calcium and is absolutely great for the tomatoes. This calcium prevents the blossoms from rotting later on down the line. You don’t want to start the soil too wet. Adding water a little at a time until you can get just about 2 or 3 drops of water out of it when you squeeze. Anything more than that and you will want to dry the soil out some before you start to use it.

Now, starting seeds is a critical time for the tomato plants. The resulting plants are delicate and need to be handled with care in the early stages of development. I recommend using nursery flats (these are the trays that have many sections) to start the seeds off. The larger ones are best. This way you don’t have to worry over transplanting them as they get bigger. By the time they outgrow that tray, they will be strong enough to handle easily.

Tomatoes germinate best at about 80 degrees and you’ll find that most of the seeds that you have planted will be up in about 12-15 days. Once they have begun popping up, you will want to remove the covers if they were used on the trays. At this point, you will want to use fluorescent lights placed about 6 inches above the plants and leave the lights on then for at least 18 hours of the day, and better still, leave them on 24 hours if possible.

By now you’re well on your way to having really great tasting tomatoes! Take good care of them and they will bear some fantastic fruit no matter what time of the year it is!

Watering and Blossom End Rot.Watering can be a tricky business when it comes to tomatoes especially if they are grown in containers. However, correct watering can help avoid blossom end rot, which is caused by a lack of calcium when the fruits are swelling and leaves a dark leathery patch on the underside of the tomatoes. The first aim should be to keep the entire root area moist by giving them a thorough watering once a week (especially when the fruits are swelling) and water moderately in between. The reason is that roots are only able to feed and absorb nutrients (including calcium) from areas of soil that are moist. If half of the soil that your plant is growing in is dry, calcium uptake may also be reduced by half. Increase Aeration.One way to keep tomato plants healthy, especially when grown in a confined space such as a greenhouse or where they may be planted close together, is to increase aeration. This may be done by removing old, lower leaves below the first truss to improve air circulation. Deleafing.Opinion about deleafing varies considerably. Some gardeners will leave most leaves on their plants which helps shield tomatoes from direct sunlight. Too much direct sunlight and heat can cause sun scald, greenback and blotchy ripening. Some growers, especially those who grow in greenhouses, remove all leaves below the truss that is producing ripe fruit. This enables plants resourses to be directed into the fruit rather than having to support lots of leaves. Plants grown in greenhouses do not usually have their fruit in direct sunlight for long periods, so avoid the problems of sun scald etc.Watering and Disease.When watering, avoid splashing soil up onto the lowest leaves which may transfer soil infections into a plant through the leaves. Splashing water up onto growing fruit may also create ghost spot which is caused by grey mould soil spores and displays small transparent water-like rings. It’s also a good idea to pull off suckers, side shoots and leaf branches by hand rather than cut them because the blades of knives and scissors can spread disease from one plant to another.