Top Tips For Growing the Perfect Tomato
Our love affair with tomatoes is intoxicating. This summer millions of gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere will take to the vegetable garden and the majority of them will be planting tomatoes. These juicy wonders that carry the flavors of so much of our cuisine are the world’s favorite crop Spring is here and the vegetable garden is calling out to be planted up for the season. So, how do you grow the perfect tomato?
Choosing the right seed is imperative. One of the joys of this fruit is that there are literally thousands of different varieties but only some of them will produce the results you want in your area of the country. Try to source your seed locally. Those that have been grown in the area generation after generation will have developed characteristics that help them to flourish in your climate. It’s all the more rewarding when you get your seed from the grandmother down your street who has grown them for 30 years after her mother brought them from some remote corner of Europe. The stories seem to add to the flavor!
If you buy seedlings try to choose small budless young plants. Make sure the leaves are dark green and are free of holes or spots.
Tomatoes like a neutral soil with a PH of around 6. The soil needs to be free draining, loose and granular. With compacted, heavy soils you add sand and compost.
Plant your seedlings up to the first leaves and give lots of room between plants so they have space to grow. A top tip for good growth is to plant your seedlings on top of a teaspoon of milk powder. This gives them a great source of calcium.
Plant your seedlings in full sun.
Tomatoes need plenty of water. At least one pint a day (600ml).
Let the plant grow for about two weeks then mulch around the base with a thick mat of straw or hay. You can even try black plastic sheeting.
Don’t over fertilize your plants. Their leaves will turn brown and wilt if you have.
Give your plants strong stakes. Dig them in deeply. With their leaves and fruit off the ground the plants will produce more and stay healthier.
Surround your tomato patch with nasturtiums and marigolds which will attract bees to pollinate them and keep pests away.
If you do have sick plants try this tip I used once to save my crop. Take a piece of copper wire and insert it through the stem. No, really it works!
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