Tomato Gardening
Although technically classified as a fruit, tomatoes are a must in every vegetable garden. Some people have unique tomato gardens apart from their vegetable garden! Did you know there are over 4000 varieties of tomatoes? Tomato gardening is a hobby and a craze for many a gardener. There are devoted clubs and competitions all over the world, planned especially for the tomato gardener!
Picking the right spot for your tomato garden
Tomato plants have huge stems and you need to pick a spot away from your other plants if you are making a separate tomato garden. If you are planting your tomatoes in an existing vegetable garden, plant the rows at least 3 feet away from another plant, and maintain the same spacing between two rows of tomato plants a swell. A rectangular patch is a great way to go. Dig the soil to about a depth of eight inches and break it up really well – rake it smooth and you are now ready to plant your tomato garden. You could transfer the tomatoes here after the container stage. DO not use too much fertilizer on your tomato plants. This will only result in a lot of foliage, but lesser fruits. Tomato gardening can be used to make a beautiful piece of attraction on your property, if well weeded and maintained. You needn’t necessarily have the ‘behind-the-barn’ tomato patch that we here of all the time. Remember once you see the tomato fruit on a plant, it requires more moisture immediately. Water the plant well at the roots, but keep the surface of the soil dry to the touch, this gives support to the stem, and ensures set roots.
Gardening tomatoes
Tomatoes are generally grown in containers to begin with, maybe a shallow container near a southern window. Remember southern light is always better for a plant. You would need to transfer the plant(s) to a larger container once they are say 3-4 inches tall. You need to take a good amount of the initial soil along with the plant while you transfer it, so as not to damage the roots, and to help acclimatize the plant Once the plant is reaching maturity, you may want to give its stem additional support with the help of a short stake planted into the ground next to it. Did you know that you could grow tomatoes upside down? Although not a widely practiced phenomenon inverted tomato gardening does exist! What you can do to try it out for yourself is – after the plant is like 3 or four inches tall, plant it in a container, and hang it upside down. The growth of the shoot in the direction of gravity makes sure it grows quickly! You could either keep your plant this way, or use this as an intermediate stage to accelerate growth.
Tomato gardening is a great way to show a young child the magic of life! Planting a seed and eating a tomato a few months later from that very seed is a magical experience that every child cherishes!