How to Grow Tomatoes - Creating the Perfect Tomato Garden

If you love biting into a juicy, ripe tomato then you need to learn how to grow tomatoes. Nothing beats being able to pick a tomato right from your garden. Follow these simple tips and you will be on your way to creating the perfect tomato garden.

Select the perfect spot to plant your tomatoes. This can be the difference between success and failure. You want to choose a location that gets between six and eight hours of sunlight each day. Prepare the soil for max success. If the soil is not rich and fertile then add a layer of compost. Keep nitrogen levels minimal so as not to cause too fast of a growing. Believe it or not, making your plant grow too fast will produce fewer tomatoes.

Prep your seedlings by exposing them to the growing environment prior to planting them. You will do this gradually, a few hours at a time until they are ready to plant. This will ensure that you have a hardy plant ready to take on the outdoors. This often results in a more productive tomato plant.

For successful planting you will want to do so at a time when the soil temperature is at least 50 degrees consistently. This means that the last frost has passed. It is often recommended to plant later in the day or when it is cloudy to reduce the stress that excessive sunlight can cause on a seedling. You will want to plant them in holes deeper than their containers. Also make sure to leave enough space between each plant.

Proper maintenance requires mulching, fertilizing, and watering. As a rule, provide your plants with an inch of water per week. Monitor the soil to ensure it does not dry out, especially when the hot summer months have arrived. Add mulch to help retain moisture. And fertilize every two weeks in the beginning and then once a month after the plant has blossomed.

To get your plant to be super productive, then remove the first blossoms. This actually creates more tomato production and larger fruit. Removing the first blossoms will force the plant into greater production.

Harvest your tomatoes at just the right time. Once they have shown any sign of red you will want to harvest them. It is OK to leave them on til they are ripe, but you are going to compete against bugs and squirrels.

Remember to be patient and don't quit if your first attempt is not as successful as you hoped. As with anything there is a bit of learning involved and as time goes on you will create your own strategy that works best for you!

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