Tomato Growing Tips & Tricks

04 Jan 2011

How can I grow bigger, sweeter tomatoes in my garden? What kind of tips will help me accomplish this?

Most home gardeners desire to produce large, sweet tomatoes that arrive earlier than their neighbors. After some searching and developing tomato growing strategies, I have come up with several tomato growing tips and tricks for filling your kitchen with beautiful red tomatoes.

First of all, make sure to choose multiple varieties. Growing several varieties of tomato plants will aid in reducing the instance of disease and fungal infections.
Give your plant plenty of room to grow. Most tomato plants should be at least 2 feet apart, but if you can give them 3 feet, that’s even better. Remember, tomato plants need air circulation in and among the leaves and fruit.
Add some kind of barrier to the soil. This can range from weed barrier to straw or mulch. It is important to provide some kind of cover to prevent soil to plant contact because of the possible diseases found in the soil.
Cage your tomato plants to aid in support and to assist in air circulation.
Provide a tomato fertilizer that is specifically designed to produce blooms and fruit. Fertilizer comes with a formula on the bag with three numbers. The numbers, from left to right, stand for the percentage of nutrients, N (for Nitrogen), P (for phosphorus), and K (for potassium) in the fertilizer. Those fertilizers should be lower in the first number, N and higher in the P & K. Phosphorus is absolutely critical for the production of blooms and fruit. Potassium is critical for good root growth. Sanco Industries, Inc. does produce a fine tomato fertilizer called TNT Tomato Booster. It is a liquid foliar fertilizer with the analysis of 5-16-12, heaviest in the P & K for fine bloom and fruit growth.
Maintain a consistent watering schedule. This should be about 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week. Water in the morning to avoid fungal diseases.
Watch for insects, especially tomato hornworms. Look for medium size droppings or signs of chewing damage on leaves. The hornworms can be found near the top of the plant and should be removed and destroyed.

Follow these tips and tricks and the reward will be tasty red tomatoes at the peak of the season!

For more helpful Tomato Growing Tips Contact Sanco.