tomatoes Use these 8 tips to grow them at home

 Stop buying tomatoes. Use these 8 tips to grow them at home

Tomatoes in the store are expensive. Fresh tomatoes can cost up to $ 2 per pound. It does not include all the tomato products you buy every year, such as pizza sauce, sliced ​​tomatoes, and ketchup. If you save your money every year and grow your own tomatoes, you can easily make all of those products at home.

Home-grown tomatoes are also healthy for you. Most tomatoes in stores are grown with pesticides. They are often picked before they are ripe and taken thousands of miles home. There is nothing comparable to eating tomatoes straight from your garden. The taste will explode in your mouth - nothing like what you buy at the grocery store!

These eight tips make growing tomatoes at home a breeze.

1. Do not walk them too close

There should be enough space for the tomatoes so they have good air circulation. How much space is enough? If you can sit in a lawn chair between your tomato cages, Survival at Home says your tomatoes will be well spaced.

2. Make sure they get a lot of light

Tomatoes need a lot of sunlight. If you put them in a shady place, you will never see beautiful red tomatoes. These plants work best when they receive at least six hours of direct sunlight daily. Strong artificial plant lights are needed for at least 14 to 18 hours to grow them indoors. You put a tomato plant near a window and you can’t expect it to grow because it won’t happen.

3. Avoid adding too much water to your tomatoes

Yes, you should water the tomato plants, but watering them too much is just as bad as being underwater. If water does not escape from the soil, the roots are left to sit in stagnant water, which can lead to their death by preventing them from receiving the vital oxygen they need to survive.

To avoid this, you can do some things like planting in beds higher than the ground. Larger containers would be nice, but they should be at least 18 to 24-inch pots. Some varieties of tomatoes, such as brandy, require a 4-gallon pot. Be sure to use high-quality soil free of clay and sand dirt.

4. Use organic mulch

Organic mulch is great for your garden. It helps to retain moisture, regulate soil temperature, and re-add vital nutrients to the soil. Before you start mulching, make sure you give the soil time to warm up. My favorite choice is grass cuttings because they are free and they add extra nitrogen to the soil as they decompose.

There are other choices you can make for organic mulch. Some favorites are compost, shredded leaves, and old straw. Note that I am not mentioning wood chips. This is because most of the wood chips you buy in-store bags are treated with chemicals. Keep as many chemicals as possible out of your vegetable garden.

5. Prune your tomato plants

Many people do not realize that you need to prune your tomato plants often. As the plants grow, the leaves and stems at the base of the plant should be removed. These are old leaves, and the fungus usually begins to grow there first. These leaves often receive low airflow and sunlight. When they touch the ground, they can introduce germs that can spread to your plant in the soil.

You also need to remove the sucking insects from the plant.

6. Add a support system

Tomato plants can reach great heights. Some plants can grow up to 6 feet tall! Almost all tomato plants need a cage, truss, or support stocks. They cannot bear their weight without falling down. To avoid damaging the root system, add a stacking system immediately after planting. Continue it when the plants get bigger.

7. Check for diseases frequently

Unfortunately, tomato diseases are very common. As you begin to research, you will soon realize that there are dozens of things that could be the end of your tomato season. One of the most common and devastating diseases is early blight, which causes spots on the yellow or lower leaves. You should treat it with a fungicide and remove the damaged stems and leaves.

Regularly inspect your plants to catch any disease or insect invasion before leaving the hand Allows you to. Diseases spread rapidly, especially if you overgrow plants or forget to prune lower stems. When tomato plants touch each other, those infections spread like wildfire, destroying all of your plants in a few days. Walk-in your garden every day and stay alert.

8. Remove before fully ripe

You have to wait until your tomatoes are very ripe before they are taken out of the vine. You can do this, but there is a risk that they will split or become insects for dinner. If it rains a lot tomorrow, that perfect tomato may split in half or suffer from large cracks. Selected tomatoes will ripen properly in your window. No need to wait any longer. Also, if you wait until the last minute to harvest, use them immediately.