Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetable plants grown in home gardens. it is easy to grow tomatoes in your garden and your reward is fruit that you can eat fresh from the garden, cook with, can or freeze. You’ve taken care to grow the tomatoes from seed or bought them from a nursery store, but that is only a fourth of the battle. Now you need to plant them into the garden and take care of them. Growing wonderful tomatoes in your garden requires some work, but the results are well worth the effort, especially when you sink your teeth into the fresh picked fruits.
After all danger of frost is past, you will need to harden the tomato plants off before you plant them in the garden. To do this, find a place outside that is out of direct sunlight and offers protection from the wind. Place the tray of tomato plants outside for one hour on the first day. The next day, leave the tray of tomatoes out for two hours. Increase the time the tomato plants spend outdoors by an hour each day over the course of a week.
Prepare the Garden Site
Prepare the garden site by tilling the area and incorporating the soil with compost and manure. Level the soil with the back of your rake and remove the rocks, sticks and other debris.
Plant the Tomatoes
When you plant tomatoes, dig the holes deep. the hole should be almost as tall as the tomato plant and pot combined. All you want to leave exposed is the top set of leaves. Roots will grow along the buried stem making your tomato plants stronger and sturdier. Backfill the holes and firm the soil around the tomato plant’s stem. Each hole should be spaced 2 feet apart and space each row 30 to 36 inches.
Watering Care
Water each tomato plant as soon as it is in the soil. Place your water hose close to the plant ant turn the water on to a slow flow and place it by each tomato plant as soon as it is in the ground. Throughout the season, water the tomato plants thoroughly and often. When you water, always try to water from ground level, avoiding overhead watering. When you water overhead, your tomato plants are more susceptible to diseases.
After-Care
When the tomato plants are three inches above the ground, remove the bottom leaves. This also helps prevent disease. When the leaves are left growing close to the ground they are the ones to develop disease first. This is due to the fact that they get little air circulation.
Inspect the plants as they grow and remove any suckers that develop where two branches join. It may seem mean, but if the suckers are left on the plant, they will not produce any fruit. They will just suck energy away from the plant.
Fertilize
If you want a your tomatoes to produce, you will need to fertilize them regularly. When you first plant them, use a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen. After the tomato plants blossom, change the fertilizer to ne that is higher in phosphorous and potassium. If you keep giving tomato plants a fertilizer that has a high nitrogen content, they will produce leaves and almost no fruit. Always read and follow directions stated on the fertilizer label.
Cage or Stake Them
If the tomatoes you planted are indeterminate, you will need to stake them. This helps to keep the foliage off the ground, reducing the chances of disease and insect damage. There are a number of ways to stake the tomato plants such as placing a wire cage around them, or placing stakes around the plants and loosely tieing the branches with twine to stakes.
Many gardeners place mulch around the plants after the soil has warmed. Mulch helps the soil to maintain moisture and also keep weeds from growing. Don’t mulch around the tomato plants too early in the season or it will shade the tomato plant’s roots, keeping the soil cool. Tomatoes like warm soil to grow.
Reference
Gardener’s Net: Growing Tomatoes
Tomato Gardening Guru: Tomato Care & Fertilizing
Fine Gardening: Pruning Tomatoes