Growing tomatoes in pots
Tomatoes are very popular vegetables in gardens. Growing tomatoes in pots requires some knowledge and commitment. I will show you how to sow tomato seeds to grow a nice seedling. When is the best time to plant tomatoes and what requirements this vegetable has. You will also learn which varieties of tomatoes are good choice for amateur cultivation.
Tomato varieties for pot growing
Small-fruit tomatoes are perfect for growing in large pots or containers on balconies. The undoubted advantage is their high nutritional value (they contain a lot of sugar and vitamin C). Small-berry species can form long clusters of several dozen fruits with a diameter of 2 to 3 cm. While they can also play a decorative role.
If you choose small fruit tomatoes for growing tomatoes in pots. It is worth to look for Siderno F1 cherry tomato, which is highly fertile and resistant to diseases.
It is perfect for potting on the balcony, but also for garden beds. The beautiful dark red fruits of this tomato variety weigh 15-20 g each. They are sweet and very aromatic.
The yellow fruit of the Goldene Königin will also work perfectly on the balcony. This tomato variety grows to a height of 100 cm and bears fruit very abundantly. The fruit weighs approximately 90g.
Tomatoes – sowing seeds and seedling production
You can buy tomato seeds in any garden store. Before you buy seeds check the expiry date. If you want to successfully sow tomatoes you should only buy seeds in shops and garden centers that you trust. Seeds sold in market stalls may have lost their ability to germinate due to poor storing conditions.
If seeds are stored in paper bags moisture can get in and destroy them. Unfortunately, this problem affects the vast majority of seeds.
If you want to be sure that tomato seeds are of good quality. Make sure you buy tomato seeds in are hermetic pack. Such packaging guarantees that tomato seeds will retain their germination capacity for many years, regardless of their storage conditions.
If you would like to grow from seedlings start in February or March in germinator. After about 4 weeks transplant young plants into pots. If you don’t have greenhouse you can put pots on windowsill where there is a lot of sun.
Sowing seeds
You should sow tomato seeds in a properly prepared substrate. It can be a special soil for sowing, bought in a garden shop or a substrate prepared by yourself on the basis of compost soil or peat-compost soil. To improve the air conditions, it is worth adding a porous material to such a substrate, e.g. bark compost, perlite or vermiculite.
You should seed tomatoes evenly, covering them with about 0.5 to 1 cm with a layer of soil. Finally, gently moisten the substrate with the sown tomatoes and keep it at 22-25 ° C until the first emergence appears.
To maintain high humidity and temperature of the substrate, use foil to cover boxes with seeds. However, you should remember to uncover seeds and air it out every day.
Maintaining a fairly high temperature of 22-25 ° C of the substrate is extremely important if we want tomato seeds to germinate well. If it is too cold or warm, no seedlings will emerge.
I emphasize that it is about the temperature of the ground in which the tomato seeds are located, and not the temperature of the air in the room. To make sure that the soil temperature is at the temperature and humidity required by tomatoes, it is worth reaching for an electronic soil gauge.
I recommend an electronic meter that will also show the strength of sunlight, soil moisture and its pH. Such a device will find many practical applications in the garden. However, if you are looking for the cheapest solution, you can buy an ordinary soil thermometer.
After the tomatoes have emerged, remove the foil and lower the temperature to 16-20 ° C, remembering to moisten the soil regularly. When the seedlings have decomposed the cotyledons and the first leaves are exposed, they are quilted. Tomato quilting is simply transplanting the seedlings growing in a box into separate pots where the plants can continue to grow.
For transplanting, choose the healthiest seedlings that have not been damaged by tomato diseases. The prepared tomato seedling will be healthy and ready for further cultivation.
Planting tomatoes into the ground
After frosts around mid-May, you can transplant tomatoes into the ground. However, before that you must harden those young plants. Its purpose is to adapt plants to worse climatic conditions.
You should do it about 7 days before planting by limiting watering, lowering the air temperature below 10 ° C and gradually increasing the intensity of airing. After this treatment, the tomato seedling will be ready for planting in the ground.
Remember!
Never plant tomatoes next to potatoes, as these vegetables are affected by the same diseases. Very often it is from the potato that the tomato catches potato blight. Cucumbers are also inadvisable company for tomatoes. It is worth growing parsley between tomatoes, which has a positive effect on the taste of tomatoes, and basil, which deters pests such as aphids, spider mites or greenhouse whitefly from tomatoes.
This is probably where the question arises in what spacing to plant tomatoes? If you would like to achieve high yield on a small area, you must regularly remove emerging side shoots, this applies to high-growing tomatoes. This will force plant to to concentrate it’s energy on fruit development. Plant those tomatoes with a spacing of 40 to 50 cm.
If you decide to grow bushy varieties, you should plant them between 30cm to 90cm. That depends on chosen variety.
Tomatoes – care
Tomatoes, like all vegetables, require watering, fertilizing and removing weeds from between plants. But there are also a few unusual treatments that are especially important in the cultivation of tomatoes.
Tie High-growing tomatoes to stakes. Ideally you should choose metal stick as a support for your tomatoes. This will prevent any disesase spread (most often fungi) if you decide for wooden sticks.
You can also use wires or string to tie your tomatoes. By tying tomatoes to stakes, the bushes will not lie on the ground, and the ripening fruit will ripen and dry out faster after rain.
Another important procedure in the care of this vegetable is the removal of side shoots of tomatoes.
Hoewever, sometimes tomatoes can grown into 2 shoots. The main shoot and one shoot growing under the first fruit cluster.
Tomato care is also necessary in the second decade of August. Topping tomatoes is to remove the top of the main shoot (or 2-3 shoots if grown with more shoots), leaving 2-3 leaves above the highest flowering cluster.
The aim of this treatment is to accelerate the maturation of tomatoes and minimize the formation of new fruits that would not have already matured before the fall cold weather.
Tomatoes – harvesting
With the above-described cultivation method, harvesting the tomato fruit will be possible from the turn of July and August, until the first frost.
Ripe fruit, depending on the species, ranges in color from red to yellow. For direct consumption, tomatoes should be harvested when they are fully ripe, because they are the tastiest and most valuable.
It’s best to harvest tomatoes on clear days, when the fruit is dry. Collect them without stalks and place them in openwork baskets or boxes. Do this carefully so you will not damage the peel and not crush the fruit.
The harvested tomatoes can be eaten raw, used as an addition to salads or used to prepare sauces, soups, juices, purees or concentrates. They are very healthy in every form 🙂
