Grow the BEST Tasting Tomatoes
Tired of tomatoes that are rock hard and taste like cardboard? Stupid question! Use these tips to grow your own tomatoes bursting with flavour.
Tomatoes are the most popular home garden vegetable grown for good reason. They are easy to grow and will tolerate a wide variety of soil types. They are also incredibly versatile. The methods described here will suit most tomato varieties. And what a variety! Big fleshy 'Ox Heart', sweet cherry-type 'Tom Thumbs', Grosse Lisse, Roma, the list goes on and on.
If you are starting your plants from seeds, put them in trays with a good quality seed raising mixture and cover lightly. Water very gently, perhaps using a spray bottle, so as not to disturb the seed. They will germinate best in a temperature of low 20's Celsius (about 70F). In cooler climates start your seedlings indoors or use a cold frame. (see www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/start-seedlings-indoors.html)
Try to introduce them to periods of sunlight as quickly as possible to harden them off. You don't want them to be too spindly. Once they are large enough to handle, repot them into their own small containers of potting mix. Water them in well, but gently. Make sure the containers drain well. Tomato plants hate to sit in water. Small regular dressings of sulphate of potash will help your seedling form flowers and resist disease. Just a pinch a week watered in should do it.
In about 6 weeks, your tomato seedlings should be ready for the garden. If you are growing tall varieties, put your stakes in before the seedling so as not to damage the plants roots.
Tomatoes need full sun to grow. They also have plenty of fiberous roots just under the soil so don't allow them to dry out. But again, don't let them sit in water either. Water deeply to encourage deep root growth and mulch around the plant to protect the soil from drying out. Every few weeks, water in another dressing of sulphate of potash. A couple of tablespoons per plant (under the mulch) should keep them happy.
Harvest your tomatoes when they are pink and bring them indoors. Temperature rather than sunlight is what allows them to ripen to their rosey red. Put them inside in a dry place OUT of the sun to ripen. Putting them on the windowsill or in the fridge will rob them of their full flavour. Enjoy!
Judy Williams (http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com) splits her time between being an executive and an earth mother goddess. No Dig Vegetable Gardens represents a clean, green way to grow your own food. The site covers all aspects of growing, cooking and preserving your harvest.
Latest News
Sign up for landscaping, garden classes now Mirror, MI - Michael Saint, a certified master gardener and owner of Good Earth landscape Institute, will show you how to turn a neglected entrance, courtyard or side ... |
Green Thumb: White House garden exhibit comes to Collierville Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN - The lecture series includes: Wednesday, 11 am -- Landscaping for Small Spaces with garden designer Tom Pellett. Jan. 22, 11 am -- The Bee Friendly Garden ... |
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds San Jose Mercury News, USA - Everything from design, home improvement, décor, home entertainment, landscaping, gardening, and much, much more will be on display at this event. ... Seeds: Budding gardeners can take home a seedling |
Gardening angel spruces up shop Contra Costa Times, CA - That could have happened here, but thanks to a gardening angel, it didn't. Mitchell wrote to Kevin Davis of CLS Landscape Management Inc. in Chino and told ... |
Gardening: Florida’s snowfall weed Marconews, FL - Eileen Ward and her husband, Peter, own and operate Greensward of Marco Inc., a lawn maintenance and landscaping company. Besides completing horticultural ... |
Not your run-of-the-mill garden-variety dispute Naperville Sun, IL - Option 1A calls for the development of two multi-purpose athletic fields, parking, landscaping and trail areas in the southern portion of the West Street ... |
In the Garden: Resolutions for a gardening year Peninsula Gateway, WA - 30 for a seminar at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show (www.otshows.com/THS), “Edible landscaping with veggies and herbs.” In garden design, I see more yards ... |
Green stuff San Francisco Chronicle, USA - Aerin Moore discusses "How to Create a Beautiful Garden: Landscaping Techniques." 1 pm Tues. Public Safety Bldg., Alex Clark Room, 880 Tennent Ave., Pinole. ... |
Gardening Calendar, updated Jan 7 TCPalm, FL - "Florida Native Landscaping": University of Florida/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center; 2199 S. Rock Road, Fort Pierce; 4-7 pm, ... |
Horrocks honored for hitting the half-century benchmark Sentinel-Standard, MI - John Horrocks' farm specialized in travel gardening, but with Jack Horrocks creating the new business, the garden operation became a landscaping and nursery ... |
Resources
-
Sorry there are no resources available at this time