Tomatoes can be grown in containers, raised beds, or in the garden. Tomato plants require full sun and consistent watering. Tomatoes are really fun to grow as there are so many different varieties. There are over 10,000-15,000 varieties of tomatoes. The colors are amazing: reds, purples, pinks, yellows, orange, black, white, and striped and the taste is far superior to store tomatoes.
If you want to grow tomatoes from seed you need to start them 8 weeks before the last frost date in your area inside. If you don’t have the room to start seeds you’ll need to buy plants. Penner Pumpkins sells 37 varieties of tomatoes.
How far apart do you plant tomato plants? Determinant varieties should be planted 2 feet apart. Indeterminate varieties should be planted 3 feet apart. It is important that tomato plants have good air flow around them to prevent diseases. When planting tomato plants you can plant them quite deep, approx 2/3 of the plant should be underground. This is to help the tomato plant develop a good root system.
It is very important to stake or cage indeterminate tomato plants as they can get to 6 feet tall or taller. There are various techniques such as the Florida weave or cages This article has good information on how to support tomato plants.
The most important thing to growing tomatoes successfully is watering. You don’t want tomato plants to get dry or get wilty. Tomato plants that get dry encourage disease and blossom end rot. If growing in containers that might mean watering the plants twice or more a day. In the garden it’s supplementing if it doesn’t rain for a while.
Another way to make sure you have a bountiful crop is to plant a couple of bee loving plants like calendula, lavender, asclepias, or bee balm. At the end of the season you can pick all the tomatoes off of the vine and slowly ripen them in the house. This article has good information on how to store and ripen tomatoes in fall.
Pumpkinist Lora 