A tomato plant can be a very easy or very difficult plant to have success with depending on what you do. The best part about them is that you really only need to get a few things right and you are all set. The worst part is that if you don’t get them right things can quickly deteriorate into a real mess.
So in this article I will list the 10 most common problems that you will face in your tomato garden adventures.
1) Frost: Tomato plants cannot stand frost it is their number one weakness. Making sure that the frosts are over before you plant and warming the bed in preparation for your seedlings will ensure that you don’t suffer a loss of crops from this.
2) Bad Soil: If there is one thing that I am a broken record on it is the soil that your plans are in. The majority of problems that you can face are caused directly or indirectly from poor soil. If there is one thing that will benefit your plants more than any other it is plant them in soft nutritious deep soil.
3) Poor Sunlight: Tomato plants require 10 hours or more of full sunlight to reach their potential. Choosing a location that will allow this is one of the most important and least considered parts of tomato gardening. Get them in the sun.
4) Over-watering: The most prevalent of the errors that we can make in gardening. Different plants have different watering requirements. Tomatoes with their deep root systems need regular consistent deep soakings. The root supply should not dry out but neither should it ever be flooded.
Check the moisture content of the soil an inch or two below the surface every time before you water and if it is damp then leave it another day before checking again.
5) Over-pruning: Determinate varieties require little or no pruning but Indeterminate plants should be kept orderly and pruned to encourage growth. They should never be pruned so much that they lose the foliage cover for their fruits. Good pruning is a subtle art and one you must learn.
6) No Support: For the plants, not you. Like pruning, Determinate varieties will need little if any. However it is vital for Indeterminate varieties to be staked, caged or trellised to ensure that the vines and leaves remain free of the soil. Apart from keeping things tidy it is vital to reduce the likelihood of disease.
7) Wrong Nutrition: Tomatoes need a balance of N-P-K and not the super high Nitrogen diets that you would feed a lawn. They are a flowering fruit not a bowling green, feed them accordingly.
As you can see all of these problems can be completely avoided with a little knowledge and effort on your part and there are many places that you can go to get assistance.
Of course there are still diseases and pests that can effect your plant but you can expect to see little trouble from these if your plants are in top condition. So learn to do things the correct way and make your gardening experience an easy and a pleasant one.