Grow Tomatoes Easily With These 5 Tips
Grow Tomatoes Easily With These 5 Tips
Article by Stella Dawson
Tomato is one of the most popular vegetable plants for indoor vegetable gardening. Simply look around the home gardens in your neighborhood; you will find that it is not surprising to find the tomato plant in almost every home garden. Growing tomatoes is relatively easy as it requires minimum attention from the gardener during the time of growth. For tomatoes to grow well, all it takes is adequate water, sufficient sunlight, love and a little patience. It is no wonder almost 90 percent of the vegetable gardeners have tomatoes in their garden.
Tomatoes love heat and do not usually grow as well outdoors during winter. If you love to have tomatoes all year round, you can consider growing tomatoes indoors. One of the key advantages of growing tomatoes indoor is that weeding is eliminated. However, as tomatoes require lots of sunshine, some gardeners might find the lighting in their homes inadequate. In such cases, a good alternative would be to use fluorescent lights.
Regardless of the type of tomatoes that you aspire to grow, here are 5 tips that would be helpful to you.
1. TemperatureTomatoes thrive in warm temperatures. If you want your tomatoes to grow strong and healthy, you should maintain the indoor temperature at 70 degrees Fahrenheit at all times.
2. Soil RequirementSoil is a key consideration in growing any plants. For your tomato plant to have a good headstart in growth, the soil must be well prepared. Mix the soil well with compost and rotten manure if you are using sandy soil. Alternatively, you can also mix the soil with sphagnum, vermiculite or peat moss. This will provide your tomato plant with the nutrients that it requires.
3. Proper DrainageAs with any indoor container plants, drainage is key to the survival of the plant. Avoid having stagnant water in the pot to prevent the roots from rotting. There should be drainage holes at the bottom of the pot to ensure good drainage.
4. Transplanting If you want to produce those big and juicy tomatoes, you have to help your tomato plant to have a robust root system that can support its rapid growth. Once the seedlings reach about 3 inches height, you should transplant them into a bigger and deeper container or pot to allow the roots to grow. While transplanting the seedlings over, do take extra care to ensure the roots are not damaged.
5. FertilizersFertilizers are akin to booster for growth in tomato plants. As soon as you have transplanted your tomato plant into the new container, you can start to add some fertilizers to ensure the plant is healthy. Do remember to water them well too. The soil should always be moist but not soggy.
Growing tomatoes can be fun and rewarding. It does not take up a lot of your time and it can also be a way to de-stress for busy, city dwellers. Besides, you can also make it a family activity to bond over growing tomatoes. This can be especially fun and enriching if you have young children at home.
Remember that tomatoes grow well almost anywhere. As long as you practice the above tomato growing tips, you should be on your way to enjoying a good harvest. Perhaps, you should start thinking about how you want to savor your juicy homegrown tomatoes.
About the Author
Discover indoor vegetable gardening tips and learn the tricks of container gardening at my Indoor Vegetable Gardening Blog. Get more gardening secrets and learn how you can grow vegetables in your home effortlessly.
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