Read more on Alameda Sun

Tweet This Post

Tweet This Post

Tomato plants are one of the easiest and most popular vine plants to grow but, as with all homegrown vegetables and fruits, it pays to do your homework up front to make sure you can successfully grow your own tomatoes or any other vegetables. Selecting the right location and using the right soil or compost mix will set you on your way to successful tomato crops.

One of the best options available to people with small gardens that will still allow them to grow a few tomato plants and enjoy the satisfaction of eating fresh homegrown tomatoes is to use a hanging planter, the planter can be hung in any convenient location, remembering of course that tomato plants need plenty of sun and plenty of water.

The main benefit of using a hanger in a small garden is that you need very little space in which to hang it and instead of spreading out to take up a large area they tend to hang straight down and occupy vertical space rather than horizontal space. So plenty of scope for the fruit to grow but in a long vertical line.

Other benefits are that you can clip the end of the plant to make sure there is no contact with the ground and therefore less chance of disease. There will naturally be good air movement around and through the plant, again good for keeping disease at bay.

The downside is that the hanging planter will need frequent watering, the fact that the soil is suspended in the air and in sunlight for most of the day means that it is bound to dry out more quickly than some other tomato growing options.

A great way of dealing with this is to employ the use of a plant watering system, particularly useful for this method of growing tomato plants. The main benefit is that it removes the need to lift heavy watering cans up to water the planter or as some people do lowering the planter down to water, not a good idea. Too much risk of damaging your plants and you still have to lift the planter back up after watering and now its full of water so heavier as well.

There are plenty of watering systems available that you can easily purchase from gardening centers, I would suggest a micro system for this type of planting as it is lightweight and can be controlled with a built in timer.

Tweet This Post

Tweet This Post

If you are happy with the tasteless red rocks the grocery stores sell, under the dubious title of tomatoes, then you may not want to read this article because it is about growing tomatoes. Yep, tomatoes you can actually eat! You’ll love tomatoes you’ve grown yourself

If you, like I, very much enjoy a real, sweet juicy tomato, then, you may be surprised to discover how easy it is to grow your own. And, fun, too! Here follows information regarding a few of the points tomato growers need to know about.

1. Tomatoes take a long growing season. Four months plus from seed to fruit, depending on the variety. Some are even longer. It is about 6 to 7 weeks from seed to seedling big enough to plant in the garden. You can shorten your efforts in this, by buying seedlings from the nursery. Pick out plants that have sturdy stems, and at least a couple blossoms.

When you get your seedlings home, set pot and all out where you plan to plant. Let them become acclimated for several days, even a week, before you plant into the ground, or container.  But, don’t do this until you are sure you are at least 2 weeks past the last freeze in your area,

2. Tomatoes like heat. They are definitely a warm climate vegetable. (Actually they are a fruit, but it is hard to think of them that way!) They even want the soil to be warm before planting.

But, this isn’t hard to accomplish.

You’re going to plant in the sun, right? Or in filtered sun if you regularly have triple digit temperatures, (even high 90’s). Covering the garden area with black plastic for a couple weeks before planting should take care of the warming of the soil.

Remember, you won’t plant until you are at least 2 weeks past your last freeze, will you? No? Good.

3. You will want to set up a regular watering schedule. Tomatoes want lots of water. Don’t let them wilt. Water deeply and regularly, applying the water to the base of the plant rather than from overhead as a sprinkler would do. Sprinkling can encourage mildew.

But, don’t flood them.  They don’t want too much either.  You’ll get the hang of it!

When the fruit begins to ripen you can cut back slightly with your watering. But, only slightly. Too much, and the plant will go into a snit and drop it’s fruit!

The best time to water is early morning, or evening. I prefer the evening so the plant has all night to make use of the water. No evaporation from the sun. But, either work well.

Growing your own tomatoes may surprise you as to how easy it truly is. And, they will be the rubies of your garden.  Believe me, you’ll love tomatoes you’ve grown in your own yard!

Tweet This Post

Reading about tomato gardening tips can be tricky because some of the advice depends on which part of the country you live in. Advice on basic care is pretty universal, but when it comes to the question, “When should I plant tomatoes?” so much depends on your climate. This article aims to compare the needs of different USDA hardiness zones in regards when you should plant your tomatoes.

You must be informed of your hardiness planting zone or you will be in trouble. These zones are based on average winter temperatures. Each zone has an average winter temperature that are 10 degrees higher(or lower) than their nearby zones. They use winter temperatures because trees and shrubs need to endure winters and annual flowers and vegetables must not be planted until all likelihood of frost is past.

The most crucial hardiness zone information concerning tomatoes is when that magical date for the last frost is. For instance in the Mid Atlantic states it is early May, but in Upstate New York it will be closer to June. Tomatoes require warm soil to develop. The tomatoes themselves will not really develop until the overnight temperature is in the 60’s, There are some great tomato gardening tips for beating the system and plant a week or two sooner, but you should not push it much earlier than that.

If you live in a place that either gets no frost or the temperature only goes below freezing in January or early February, you will be able to plant tomatoes from seeds or transplant greenhouse plants whenever you want to! The local gardening store, or nursery will have all sorts of tomato gardening tips for you that are geared for your particular no-frost climate.

Anyone living in hardiness zones where it isn’t until late April, May or early June can benefit from growing tomatoes from seeds only if you start them indoors and plant outdoors when that magic no-frost date comes. If not, you will transplant your tomato plants grown in a greenhouse when that date arrives. To find out your hardiness zone, search online or go to the United States National Arboretum Website.

People do not always think about the consequence that the sun has on a newly transplanted tomato plant. It is another aspect of when I should plant tomatoes to think about. The hot sun can make a new seedling shrivel up in front of your very eyes if you are not careful. Hazy days work the best, or coming up with some kind of temporary shade for a day or two. If you use good tomato watering practices you can prevent them from drooping away, but the sun will still exhaust energy needed to send energy to nurturing the developing plant.

There are quite a few tomato gardening tips that help you be sure to plant your tomatoes the right way. One of the most important is knowing which of the USDA hardiness zones you live in. this will make sure you questions on, “When should I plant tomatoes?” are answered. When growing tomatoes from seed or when transplanting hearty tomato plants from your local nursery, you will be sure you are getting them planted at the right time.

Tweet This Post

Tweet This Post

Tweet This Post

If you are an adventurous gardener then I have a new challenge for you. Try to grow upside down tomatoes! If you haven’t seen it done before it may sound strange but many gardeners successfully plant in this way. If done well it can look interesting and attractive and produce healthy tomatoes without the need for staking or support.

Upside Down Tomatoes In a nutshell
To grow tomatoes upside down you select a suitable container with a strong handle or support mechanism and create a hole in the base – just large enough for the stem of a mature tomato plant. Next you feed your seedling through the hole root or plant first which ever is easiest. Fill the container with your compost mix and suspend it from a sturdy structure at least 7 feet off the ground so that the plant is facing downwards. Now just maintain your plant as you would a regular container grown tomato. Your plant should grow quite happily downwards as long as it receives enough sunlight and you water it regularly.

Why Plant Upside Down?
There are two key reasons why you would want to plant upside down. Firstly it is an unusual method that will provide you with a challenge. If successful your plants are sure to attract attention and it will make you a better tomato gardener. The second reason is that you eliminate the need for staking by letting gravity keep your plant upright.

How Can I Make My Upside Down Planters?
You have a few options here. You need to select a reasonably large container with a strong handle or support. Most regular plant pots don’t have handles and the clay ones can be quite heavy which is not ideal when you are hanging it. Many people successfully use large paint buckets (around 5 gallons). While this is a great functional solution the old buckets can look a little unattractive. A prettier solution is to modify a hanging basket by cutting a hole in the base.

Can I buy specially designed containers?
The answer is yes – there are two main types of designs available. There is the regular hanging container style and there are larger structures that have stands and are not designed to be hung. The hanging containers are very similar to the method described earlier. The self supported structures are a little more expensive. The idea behind them is good as it removes the need to find a suitable support however many gardeners have reported problems with them. They can become top-heavy with the weight of the soil and plant above the base. Also the container and support structures can prevent sunlight reaching the plant which means fewer tomatoes.

You can find more useful information on how to grow upside down tomatoes including selecting the right tomato varieties at my site www.growingtomatoanswers.com

Tweet This Post

Read more on Bakercityherald.com

Tweet This Post