Tomato plants are one of the most popular plants for any gardener. They are a ready source of food for the family, they are an easy grow plant and depending on your climate you can grow tomatoes in greenhouses or in the garden. Other options are to grow tomatoes in pots or in a hanging tomato planter. Whichever option you decide on you will still need to take proper care of your tomato plants to have a successful crop.
The most optimum time to start growing tomatoes is in early spring but make sure you have had your last frost or you might find yourself in trouble. It is worth doing some research into which variety of plants will suit your particular climate and soil conditions for best results. Then when you have selected a variety that should flourish in your region make sure that you follow the planting guidelines on the seed packet as each type will have slightly varying requirements.
Tomato’s like lots of water, so before planting it is a good idea to add a rich mulch to the soil along with plenty of compost and some fertilizer. The mulch will help retain the water and keep the soil moist also when the plants grow and start to produce fruit the compost and fertilizer will provide much needed nutrients. Certainly when the plants do fruit it is worth adding a supplement tomato feed to your care program once or twice a week, using spent coffee grounds is also an effective and cheap way to feed tomatoes.
For best results it is pretty important that you water the plants 2 or 3 times a day or least enough to ensure that the soil never drys out. If it does the fruit will just tend to wither and often they will develop splits in the skin, if you see split fruit you will know that you have not provided enough water.
The other basic elements of tomato care are to keep the vines clear of the ground, to ensure they are well supported and to make sure you take care of predatory insects. Making sure the soil is free of weeds along with the occasional use of a suitable insecticide will help keep the wrong sorts of insects away.
