Tomato Plant Care - Even a Child Can Do It

On of the easiest fruit plants to grow right in your backyard is the tomato. Thats right - the tomato is a fruit, although many people mistake it as a vegetable. In fact, a very long time ago, people even thought this brightly colored "love apple" - as it was called then - was poisonous! Although even a kid can grow a tomato, there are some tips you need to know about tomato plant care.

First of all, know the type of tomato youre growing. They can either be determinate or indeterminate. Tomato plants belonging to the determinate group form a flower cluster at their terminal point of growth, and usually dont grow tall. Its important not to mix up these two varieities with each other to maximize your yields.

If you opt to plant them in a plot, there should be a distance of at least a foot away from each other in the row. Where you use stakes to support the plant, they should be placed about 15-24 inches apart. Some indeterminate tomato plants need even wider spaces between them.

Determinate tomato plants have a predetermined number of flowers, leaves, and stems, and stop growing once they reach their terminal growing point. One advantage of this variety is youll be able to harvest wonderful ripe tomatoes in a short period. You dont have to carefully prune them, but they would grow better when they have some support, such as stakes, to keep them off the soil.

Indeterminate tomato plants, on the other hand, will keep growing indefinitely and thus require wider spacing when planted. Their growth is only limited by the seasons length, and they can produce flowers, stems, and leaves for as long as they are alive. They thrive with staking and pruning.

An essential element in tomato plant care is regular watering. You cant miss several days and then make up for it the following week - this, sadly, causes blossom end rot. Another thing you have to remember is that once the fruits start to sprout, you should also reduce the amount of water so the growing tomatoes would concentrate their sugars, making for sweeter tomatoes.

Healthy, luscious tomatoes need plenty of direct sunlight. Choose the sunniest spot in your garden for the planting of tomatoes. If you use grow lights, make sure they are exposed for about 14-18 hours daily. Young plants must be placed just a few inches from fluorescent grow lights for a more robust growth.

Novice gardeners new to tomato plant care often overlook preheating garden soil. This is crucial as tomatoes thrive in heat, and if possible, cover the planting area with black plastic sometime before you start planting. This will raise the soil temperature a bit, making harvest time arrive more quickly.

When preparing the bed, dont forget to add a lot of compost - preferably covering the top 3 inches. This translates to about 5-8 pounds of compost per square foot in the garden. We know that mulching retains moisture and enriches the soil, too. A bag purchased from the store costs less than $5 a 40-pound bag. A large part of tomato plant care also involves fertilizing the soil from the very start with organic matter.

About The Author:
Balva Rudick is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com

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Title:	Tomato Plant Care - Even a Child Can Do It
Author:	Balva Rudick
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Tomato Plant Care - Even a Child Can Do It