Homegrown tomatoes tastes great, you just can’t replace the flavor of fresh tomatoes with store bought varieties. But not everyone find it easy to grow tomatoes in their gardens. We should know the right information or tips or tricks to harvest healthy tomatoes. In this article, we are going to see some mistakes that need to be avoided when you plant tomatoes and to increase the size and flavor of it.
8 Mistakes To Avoid When Growing Tomatoes:
- Not Hardening Seeds:
Forget to hardening seeds is one of the most common mistake many people make. Well, hardening process enables tomato seedlings to adapt the environmental changes such as wind, rain, and sunlight.
To hardening seeds, gradually increase the exposure of seedlings to natural environment about a month after germination.Make sure to keep plant out of direct sunlight during the first days of exposure. Expose them only for few hours and take them back to their seed bed.
For better results, expose seedlings seven days before transplanting tomato plants in outside garden.
- Planting Them Too Close:
Many people think that planting lots of plants in small place will give them healthy harvest. But, it’s not true planting tomato seedlings together stunt the growth of each other and results in dropping of fruit production.
Additionally, crowded plants will not get enough sunlight and lack of sunlight makes the seedlings perfect breeding ground for fungal diseases that love damp conditions.
So, when planting tomatoes make sure each plant has two feet of space between them or you can even try placing tomato cages.
- Choosing Wrong Variety:
There are mainly two varieties of tomatoes, one is determinate and the other one is indeterminate.
- Determinate tomatoes grow only to a certain size and can thrive easily with or without support and do not require pruning. They put out all their fruits and then die.
- Indeterminate tomatoes will grow to attain the size you want them too. It means, they need more space and require staking or tomato cage for its support.
Picking the right variety to grow in your space will help you to harvest healthy tomatoes.
- Planting Tomatoes In Shade:
Just like other vegetable plants, tomatoes also need 7-8 hours of sunlight per a day. Fruit production requires lot of energy and the main source is sun, so make sure it gets enough sunlight.
If they do not receive, it might result in producing lot of foliage and bear tiny fruits. You cannot use them to flavor your food.
- Not Doing Anything About The Soil:
Good well drained soil helps your tomato plants to produce healthy fruits. It also results in healthy growth too. Never use garden soil or dirt in your garden. Remember healthy soil that provides proper nutrients and minerals will offer you best tasting tomatoes.
- Not Pruning Tomatoes:
Pruning tomato plants is quite important, as they removes unnecessary leaves and suckers near and around the plant and provides better air circulation.
When you prune tomato plants, the nutrients directed to fruit growth instead in aiding the development of leaves.
To avoid infecting other plants, use sterilizes your pruning shears after pruning plants that has symptoms of diseases.
- Improper Watering:
It’s better to develop consistent watering schedule to water your plant. When growing tomatoes plants, allow them to dry out so they do not sit in water, but make sure they have enough water for their growth.
Water them early in the morning before the sun or in the evening after the sun. Damp leaves results in burning leaves or lead to other problems.
- Over Fertilizing:
Feeding your plant during its growth is crucial. However, feeding them too much results in having same effects just like not feeding them at all.
Fertilizing frequently cause some serious issues in plants by building up in the soil. For instance, applying fertilizer with nitrogen is important, but excess amount of it put more energy in to growing leaves than fruits. So, make sure use best fertilizer for tomatoes or opt for natural one.
So, keep avoid doing these mistakes while growing tomato plants in your space and enjoy having fresh tomatoes!