How to make tomato plants grow faster

 

 

GROWING TOMATOES IN A CONTAINER

1. Choose sturdy and stocky seedlings when purchasing tomato plant(s). There are even different sizes for container tomato plant; they range from large containers and wheel barrels to baskets and hanging planters.

2. Get pots, hanging planters, wheel barrels, bushel baskets, or whatever else you would like to use for your tomato plants. Keep in mind that the container needs to have a good drainage system and enough room for your tomatoes to grow their roots.)

3. Wash out chosen container before using it; even if is it new. Tomato plants are very prone to diseases so if the pot contains bacteria or microscopic insect eggs from the previous plant or from just sitting on a shelf you will infect your tomato plant.

4. Put about one inch of material such as gravel, sand, or corncobs for extra drainage in the pot. Putting in a fiberglass screen at the bottom of the pot will also help the soil not to drain with the water.

5. Prepare the potting mix and fill your container with it. A good potting mix contains peat moss, compost, vermiculite, and sad. There are standard potting mix and premium potting mix, the premium potting mix will have additional nutrients, wetting agents, fertilizer, or extra water-holding capacity.

• You can also mix your own potting soil.
• Never use garden soil because it can contain bacteria and diseases.
• Potting soil is heavier then potting mix and tomatoes like soil with     good drainage.
• Mix the fertilizer into your potting soil before planting the tomatoes into the pot. Feed a small amount of fertilizer to your tomato plants once a week.
• Only fill your pot about ¾ full so you can bury part of the stem, up to its first real leaves, to grow roots along the stem.
• Moisten your soil before you plant your tomato plants into its pot.

 

6. Take your seedlings out of their nursery containers and loosen their roots gently so that it will fill into its new home.

7. Dig a hole in the soil deep enough to bury the roots and place the tomato plant into the hole. (Pluck out the “suckers” at the bottom of the stem, when you bury this part it will grow more roots producing juicier, more, and bigger fruits.)

8. Put up a stake or a cage at the same time being mindful of where the roots are, you will have to work around it but this will help prevent possible punctures to any roots.

9. Fill in the soil around the plant up to the first real leaves, packing it down lightly as you go.

10. Add a thin layer of mulch on the surface to help keep moisture in, block weeds out, raise or lower the soil’s temperature and protect tomatoes from resting directly on the soil.

11. Water seedlings in their new container and make sure there is enough water by checking to see if there is seepage from the drain holes. Water tomato plants once a week and watching to see if they need more or less watering.

12. Find a nice sunny spot for the tomato plant; it needs to have at least 6 hours of sunlight every day. If you are planting tomatoes in the winter then you will either need a greenhouse or an artificial light source for your tomato plant.

 

Extra Tips:

Put a fan on tomato plants every couple of days for about 5 minutes each time to help simulate an outdoor breeze to help tomato plants grow stockier and stronger, you can use a hand fan as well. This will also help the flowers pollinate when the flowers have bloomed.

 

WHAT TYPES OF TOMATOES TO GROW IN YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN?

 

Fruit size, fruit usage, time to maturity, growth habit, and disease resistance may be some of the things to consider when choosing a type of tomato to plant into your vegetable garden. The tomatoes you want to produce in your garden depend on what you want to use the tomatoes for. 

Tomatoes are a very versatile fruit to use; slice big beefsteak tomatoes to put into a sandwiching, cherry or grapes tomatoes to eat plain, with sugar or with ranch as a snack, cook into your pasta, or paste tomatoes to be canned for later use. Decide what you want to use your tomatoes for, if you have a big garden you can plant many different types of tomatoes but if you have a smaller garden you will have to choose your favorite.

  20 TIPS FOR PLANTING AND GROWING BEAUTIFUL TOMATOES

 

Tomatoes are a favorite plant amongst beginner and expert gardeners, produce a good crop of tomatoes by following these tips to maximize tomato yield in your vegetable garden.

 

TOMATO SEEDLING, NEWLY PLANTED.

1. When looking for seedlings avoid ones that are lush and leafy green with poor root systems, they will take a very long time to grow.

2. Get rid of non-fruiting branches (suckers) at the base of the tomato plant by snapping them off with forefinger and thumb;

• There should not be a need to use scissors or pruning shears, the branches should still be small and tender.
• The first leaves usually develop fungus problems, getting rid of these leaves will help.
• Do this for indeterminate plants only!

3. Tomato plants can grow roots all along the stems, bald, and plant up to the first true leaves when it is time to plant outside.

4. Use either a greenhouse or artificial light to give tomato seedlings the light they need through winter.  Keep the tomato seedlings only a few inches away from the artificial light source.

5. Turn on a fan for 5 – 10 minutes a day to simulate the outside breeze for tomato seedlings this will help the seedlings strengthen up, growing stocky and strong.

6. Only plant seedlings outside when there is no risk of frost left.

7. Before planting tomato seedlings outside, warm up the soil by covering that area of the garden with clear plastic for a greenhouse effect. This will also help tomatoes to fruit earlier.

8. To help stop the spread of diseases and bacteria through the plant, alternate you're tomato bed if possible.

9. Don’t damage the roots when putting a stake or cage into the ground, put them in when planting the tomato seedlings into the ground.

10. Using a 6-foot support system,  whether it is a steak or a tomato cage, for indeterminate tomato veins from the beginning so you don’t have to change it later.

11. Water tomato plants once a week and don’t forget or the blossom ends can rot or crack!  Water deeply, at least 1 in. of water per week.

12. Use the “soaker” option on the hose to help avoid the fruit or foliage when watering tomato plants.

13. Adding compost and trim while the first fruit and ripening will help encourage the plant to grow bigger, stronger, and more produce fruits.

14. Mulch tomato plants using a clean straw to help retain moisture in the soil and using plastic mulch will help retain heat, don’t mulch too early in the season wait for the ground to have warmed up.

15. Thin out a few leaves to help to ripen fruits get some sunshine, remember not to think too much as the leaves are what creates the sugar in tomatoes (grade 6 science, photosynthesis!).

16. Space tomato harvesting by planting three weeks apart, this will space out the harvesting time avoiding having to pick all the tomatoes at once.

17. Tomatoes that are too ripe can be mealy so harvest when tomatoes are full-sized and beautiful healthy color. Don’t over-ripen on the vein.

18. Putting unripe tomatoes in a paper bag with one ripe tomato to help ripen those green tomatoes.

19. Refrigerating tomatoes does not reduce ripening but will lessen their flavor; leave them on the counter instead.

20. Remember, the tomatoes will grow!  Patients are part of gardening.

Keep in mind when choosing what tomatoes to grow in a vegetable garden is size. There are two types of tomato plants, indeterminate and determinate, and they are quite different in size. Indeterminate tomato plant vines grow between 6 feet to 20 feet long needing a bigger garden while determinate tomato plant (bush tomatoes) vines grow to about three feet tall only, perfect for container gardening.

Asides from the size difference, indeterminate tomato plants take longer to mature and will grow fruit until the first frost has set in (lack of nutrients and diseases infesting the plant can also kill a tomato plant). Determinate tomato plants on the other hand flower early in the season and will grow only until flowers form at the vine tips, about a two-week period of fruits from each plant. 

The smaller determinate tomato plants are perfect  for planter gardening, apartment gardening, indoor gardening, raised garden bed, and other small gardens (or you just like that type of tomatoes).

Indeterminate tomato plants need more care in general though determinate tomato plant will need a good amount of work on them as well. Pruning is a must for an indeterminate plants as they grow to be so long but don’t prune too much: too much pruning will take away from the sweetness of the tomatoes. When planting your tomato seedlings into the ground outdoor there are a few steps to ensure an easy and stress-free transition for your tomato plants while aiding in growing sweet and juicing tomatoes, which includes:

1.      Warming up the ground.

2.      Pruning and burying your seedling to their first true leaves.

Stakes, cages or ladders will be needed to support the tomato vines and their fruits. Even though indeterminate tomato plants need more care they will produce fresh tomatoes all summer long.

The last thing to remember is that tomato plants are very prone to many types of diseases; these diseases will make the plant weak and reduce the yield. Looking for tomato plants that are disease-resistant is important and the best place to find out what kind of diseases are in your areas that are prone to tomatoes is by asking your local nursery or garden center. 

If a tomato plant is a disease resistant it will be marked on the package, like if the tomato plant is resistant towards verticillium or fusarium then it will be marked with a ‘V’ or an ‘E’ on the package.  Diseases are not the only thing that can prevent your tomatoes from growing beautifully in your garden as every garden is different depending on so many factors like:

1.      Weather in the area

2.      Soil that is being used

Again, it would be wise to consult your local garden center or nursery keep in mind that your garden is a very specific growing space so you may find that certain tomatoes will not grow as well as other types in your garden. You really will need to just grow different types of tomatoes to see what you like and what your garden likes.