12 secrets for growing tomatoes (+video)
June 11, 2022 107 Comments
Tomato, the king of the vegetable garden! The tomato is the most popular horticultural crop and is a key component of the Mediterranean diet. Tomatoes are used in all cuisines of the world as a fresh vegetable and in the form of red sauce.
Originally from Central and South America, the tomato plant belongs to the Solanoid family and is related to the pepper and eggplant, with which they have similar cultivation and care requirements.
The tomato has a high nutritional value, as it contains many vitamins, fiber and antioxidants. The most important antioxidant substance of the tomato is lycopene, which is responsible for the bright red of its fruits.
Of course, in addition to the classic red tomato, there are varieties of tomatoes with a darker color towards purple or light pink and yellow, with different fruit size and shape, as well as different quality characteristics and taste depending on the use for which they are intended.
Tomatoes are usually planted in the spring and harvested in the summer and fall. In recent years many amateur growers have been planting tomatoes in pots on the balcony with excellent results.
Although tomato cultivation is not particularly difficult, vegetable garden beginners may need some familiarization time to get the desired result and taste their first salads with delicious tomatoes from their garden.
In today’s article, we will cover all the stages of tomato cultivation, with what we need to know from planting to harvesting, to enjoy a bountiful production of the tastiest tomatoes from our garden.
1. What tomato varieties do we choose to plant?
There are thousands of tomato varieties and hybrids that are worth growing in our garden and balcony to enjoy unique flavors.
Tomatoes are initially divided based on the size of the fruit: a) into small-fruited (mini) varieties that give small cherry tomatoes, with a round cherry or acorn shape, and b) into large-fruited varieties that give the typical tomato fruits that we all know.
In terms of color, both cherry tomatoes and tomatoes are usually the classic red color. There are, however, many varieties with different colors such as yellow, orange, green, pink, and even black.
The black varieties of tomatoes give fruits with a characteristic dark purple color. They have a special aroma and taste, which is why in recent years we have seen them more and more often in grocery stores and restaurants.
Another way to separate tomato varieties is into climbing and bushy ones. Climbing varieties are usually winter tomatoes that are planted in greenhouses in the fall, while summer outdoor tomato varieties that are planted in the spring are usually in bush form.
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The main criterion for choosing a variety is good organoleptic characteristics, i.e. varieties that give delicious fruits with a strong aroma, sweet taste and rich flesh.
We prefer local or traditional tomato varieties of our region, or others that have been tested in the particular conditions of our place, in terms of temperatures, humidity and sunshine.
- Tomato hybrids : The best-known tomato hybrids cultivated for commercial use are Allians, Clodin, Ebia and Bobcat, while in greenhouses the climbing tomato variety Elpida and Ekstasis are quite popular.
In every region of our country, there are special traditional tomato varieties kept by local growers that are worth seeking out and cultivating. Some of the more popular local varieties are:
- Santorini tomato: One of the most well-known traditional varieties of tomato is the Santorini tomato, which is a product of designation of origin (PDO) and is excellently dried.
- Pomodoro tomato: Particularly popular is the pomodoro tomato, also known as the industrial tomato, which is widely used to make tomato sauce and tomato paste.
- Buffalo heart : One of the most famous and tasty varieties is the buffalo heart or bull heart, with a medium-sized fruit, irregular in shape, pink-red in color with a thin skin and a very delicious and aromatic taste
- Vravrona or Batala tomato : Excellent local large-fruited variety of tomato with excellent taste, aroma, and thin skin.
We avoid long-life tomato hybrids that lack flavor characteristics and have the main advantage of being durable for transport to distant foreign markets.
2. How do we create tomato plants from our own seed?
Tomato propagation is mainly by seed and it is good to keep the seed from our own tomato varieties every year so that we are self sufficient. To plant seed of tomato varieties, we make a special seed bed using suitable soil for sowing horticultural crops.
How to store tomato seeds (+video)
Wet the potting soil slightly and place 1-2 seeds in each position of the sowing disc, cover them with a new layer of potting soil, about 0.5-1 cm thick. Then water lightly with a watering can so as not to carry away the soil covering the seeds.
The seeds need ideal temperatures of 22-25°C in an environment of relative humidity to germinate in 2-3 weeks. It is important to gradually give the young tomato plants enough sunlight for them to grow well with photosynthesis.
We are careful not to overwater the young tomato plants, to avoid the creation of thin and weak shoots, and to avoid root rot. More information on how to create a seedbed can be found in the detailed article we have published.
How to make vegetable seeds (+video)
We can skip the stage of creating plants from seed and directly get ready-made plants from a nursery that we transplant into the ground. We have mentioned in the relevant article whether it is better to plant vegetables from seed or to purchase ready-made plants and the advantages of each option.
3. How do we plant the tomatoes and at what distances?
Tomato cultivation needs enough sunshine to grow and give us delicious juicy tomatoes. We choose sunny spots in our garden and avoid shady spots or spots near trees.
How we improve the soil, soil preparation for cultivation
When planting the tomato, we incorporate enough organic matter into the planting pits, in the form of compost and well-digested manure, as well as organic fertilizer rich in potassium. In this way, we enrich the soil with nutrients and at the same time make it fluffier with better drainage for water.
In loose soil, the roots of the tomato plant go further into the soil and have greater growth. Thus, the plant has better support and richer vegetation lays the foundations for higher and better quality production during cultivation.
We plant the tomato plants at the appropriate planting distances, depending on the variety of tomato, the soil and the climatic conditions. We avoid dense plantings and prefer to plant relatively sparsely for better production and healthier plants.
Appropriate planting distances for growing vegetables
The bush tomato varieties are planted at distances of 0.70 – 1 meter between the plants and 1.5-2 meters between the planting lines, to ensure the best ventilation and lighting of the plants. Climbing varieties of tomatoes are planted closer, at distances of half a meter.
We can use geotextile ground cover to limit the growth of unwanted weeds during cultivation and help our plants grow better.
Geotextile, how we use the ground cover fabric and what it offers us
4. How do we grow tomatoes in a pot on the balcony?
For growing tomatoes on the balcony, we choose large pots with a depth of 30-40 cm and a width of 40 cm. We use a special potting soil for vegetables that contains peat, manure, compost and perlite.
We place the pot in a sunny position on the balcony that receives at least 6-7 hours of sun exposure every day and is protected from strong winds.
During the period of high temperatures and intense summer sunshine, we make sure to move the tomato pots to a slightly more semi-shady place or put a special shading net from the sun.
Tomato: Planting and growing in a pot
5. What watering needs does the tomato crop have and when do we water?
Proper watering is very important to ensure good growth and abundant production of delicious tomatoes. We must note that tomatoes have different water needs depending on the growth stage.
Let’s look at some useful tips for watering the tomato plants we have in our garden.
- Be careful not to overwater the tomato plants, especially in the early stages, as this will create a weak surface root system and will not grow properly.
- During flowering, tomato plants need relatively small amounts of water. Excessive watering at this stage can cause the flowers to drop.
- In the spring season, we usually water our tomato plants 2 times a week during the tomato fruiting season.
- In the summer season, our tomato plants need more water and we water them every 2 days.
- In the southern regions of Greece, during the hot season, watering our tomato plants should even become daily.
- Installing a system for automatic drip irrigation is ideal for tomato cultivation, as the plants are watered better, using the right amount of water on each plant, while saving valuable personal time.
8 secrets for watering vegetables in the garden and in pots
6. What is the best fertilizer for our tomatoes?
Tomato cultivation has significant fertilization needs to give abundant fruiting and production of juicy and sweet fruits. In basic fertilization when we plant, we add complete organic fertilizer, which contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium.
The next fertilization of the tomato is done approximately 2-3 weeks after planting and we repeat the application of the fertilizer once a month. The addition of potassium to tomato plants helps to produce large and juicy fruits, while the addition of magnesium significantly helps the greening of tomato leaves, as it facilitates the functioning of photosynthesis.
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7. Why does the bottom of the tomato turn black?
A frequent problem encountered in tomato cultivation is the browning of the lower part of the fruit. This phenomenon is also known as «tapa» or dry top and is mainly due to the lack of calcium.
If our fertilizer does not contain calcium, we additionally add special organic calcium fertilizer to deal with the problem.
We avoid excessive fertilization with nitrogen fertilizer (ammonia) in the tomato and the addition of undigested manure, especially during the fruiting period, as it contributes to excessive vegetation, reduced production and susceptibility to fungal diseases.
The phenomenon of fruit browning can also be caused by irregular watering. Water the tomato plants at regular intervals using a drip irrigation system.
Dry top: Treating browning in tomatoes and peppers
8. Which tomato varieties need pruning?
Bush tomato varieties grown in spring and summer do not need pruning and are therefore also referred to as self-pruning. On the contrary, in climbing plants, we remove the side shoots to ensure better plant growth and more production.
Of course, in any case, it is important to periodically thin shoots that are involved inside the tomato plants and to remove the lower leaves to have better ventilation and lighting in our plants.
We also thin the tomato fruits, when they are very fruitful, to help them produce bigger and juicier fruits as well as their better ripening.
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9. How do we deal with diseases and insects in tomato cultivation?
Tomato cultivation can present several problems from diseases and insects that attack it.
For the ecological treatment of fungal diseases, such as downy mildew and tomato powdery mildew, alternaria and botrytis, we dust the foliage of the plants with sulfur and thiochalcine or spray with a solution of sulfur and copper.
How we use sulfur and thiochalcine in horticulture
To deal with the insects that attack the tomato crop, such as mealybugs, aphids, liriomyza and meligra, we use organic insecticides obtained from agricultural stores such as potassium salts and natural pyrethrin.
Alternatively, for amateur tomato crops, we can make improvised ecological preparations with natural materials (as we have shown in the video) with garlic, grated green soap, olive oil, which we apply every 1-2 weeks for the preventive treatment of tomato insect attacks .
Dusting the tomato or spraying the foliage with an ecological preparation of Thuringian bacillus helps to fight the tomato blight, an insect that attacks the leaves and fruits of the plant, causing significant damage to tomato crops in our country.
Treatment of Tuta in tomatoes
10. When do we harvest tomatoes?
The tomato harvest begins about 3-3.5 months after sowing or 2-2.5 months after transplanting young tomatoes in the garden, when the tomatoes reach their final size and begin to turn red.
If our tomato plants were planted at the end of April, we usually start picking our first fruits at the beginning of July. The duration of the harvest lasts 2-3 months and depends on the variety, the cultivation care and the weather conditions prevailing in the area.
Climbing tomato varieties, although somewhat late in production, have a longer production period of up to 4-5 months.
9 secrets to growing delicious cherry tomatoes
11. How do we store tomatoes and preserve them?
Regarding the storage and preservation of tomato fruits, tomatoes are kept outside the refrigerator at room temperature with relative humidity. Usually, tomato varieties with soft skin are kept ripe for 3-4 days while varieties with harder skin are kept for up to 1 week.
To achieve a longer storage period, we can cut the tomatoes relatively unripe, with a green-red color to preserve them even longer and leave them in natural conditions. When we store tomatoes in the refrigerator, they lose their natural flavor and become less juicy.
Another way to keep tomatoes longer is to dry them in the sun, make them dry and then preserve them in jars with olive oil.
12. And one last secret for growing tomatoes
We can grow tomatoes, along with peppers and eggplants on the same tree! We are referring to the solano tree, a wild tree that is also known as wild eggplant or wild eggplant.
The solano tree is used as a base (substrate) to graft tomato, pepper and eggplant plants onto it, which grow normally and give us abundant fruiting.
Solano tree, a tree that grows tomatoes, peppers and eggplants Share the article with your friends: