1. Choose a
bright, airy spot. 
Plant tomatoes where they get at least 10 hours of light in
summer. Leave room between plants for air to
circulate.2. Rotate, even a little.
Alternate your tomato bed between even just two spots and
diminish the risk of soil borne diseases such as bacterial
spot and early blight.
3. Bury the stems. Plant your
seedlings up to the first true leaves. New roots will
quickly sprout on the stems. More roots means more
fruit.
4. Water deeply, but infrequently.
Soak your tomato bed once a week or every five days at the
height of summer. Water directly on the soil, not on
the leaves.
5. Pinch the suckers. Prune off these
non-fruiting branches. This directs the plant's energy
into growing bigger, better fruit.
6. Stake them high. Use 6-foot stakes
or cages. Put the stake in the ground when you plant
your tomato to avoid damaging the root system later.
7. Add compost. While the first fruit
is ripening, encourage new grow and continued fruit set by
scratching compost around the stem. Don't use
fertilizer with too much nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages
green growth, not fruit production.
8. Plant again. Three weeks after you
plant tomatoes in your garden, put in another set so all
your harvest doesn't come at once.
9. Pick ripe, but not dead ripe.
Tomatoes that are too ripe can be mealy. Harvest them
when they are full size and fully colored.
10. Enjoy! |
