For many people, tomatoes are often the first option when it comes to establishing a vegetable garden. Planting and nurturing your own tomato plants is not hard and the rewards of being able to eat fresh, organic tomatoes are immeasurable.
There are no fewer than 7,500 types of tomato plants to choose from, a fact that surprises most people. You may favour a smaller tomato such as Cherry tomatoes, purely for their taste, or you might choose the larger Beefsteak tomato, well suited to salads or making your own sauces. Given the ease with which can grow tomatoes, you can be sure of enjoying enough tomatoes at harvest time.
As a general rule, warm conditions are preferred by tomato plants to thrive in an outdoor garden because they are usually unable to withstand frost. The recommended growing temperature is between 18-30 degrees Celsius (65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and no cooler the 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) during the night. Between April and June is deemed to be the best period in which to grow tomatoes, or October to December in the Southern hemisphere.
When planting your tomato seeds, be sure not to plant them too closely together. As the plants grow, the roots will expand beneath the soil, requiring plenty of room. There is the risk that growing plants too close together often may result in them sharing pests and diseases. Close planting could also suppress the growth of the fruit by becoming shaded by the leaves of nearby plants that are too close together.
Tomato plants should ideally be situated between 30-60cm (between 12 and 24 inches) apart depending on the variety. Plant that are grown on a trellis require more room than the smaller varieties and should be planted further apart. Support for the larger tomato plants is provided by a trellis or a cage which prevent the fruit from rotting by holding them off the ground.
Tomato plants adore being in the sun and ideally should spend about 6-8 hours a day in the sunlight for strong growth. Tomatoes need to be watered on a regular basis and prefer soil that is moist and well aerated. Non-fruit bearing branches should be removed whilst pruning to enhance the harvest. It is essential to ensure good access to sunlight, so be sure to trim back any leaves block the sun. As the leaves play a part in adding flavour, be sure not to overdo it. Sometimes suckers grow on the plant and these should be removed as they drain energy from the plant.
Growing tomato plants outdoors is easy to do yet very rewarding as they are a hardy plant, well suited to growing by even an inexperienced vegetable gardener. You will not want to buy your tomatoes from the shops ever again, once you have eaten the first tomato from your garden!
Tom Brown is an experienced tomato grower. For more great information on growing tomatoes, visit http://www.lovetomatoes.com.
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