& GROWING TIPS
My Dad loved having a potted cherry tomato plant on his doorway, and my Mom is able to create a feast worthy of royalty, with nothing in her fridge besides tomatoes. Needless to say, they are a part of my heritage.
SMELLS LIKE A TOMATO
Homemade Ketchup, Barbecue Sauce, Tomato Sauce and more are right at your fingertips. Use this Vegetable Planting Schedule for Tomatoes to grow your own tomatoes and you’ll be Blanching Your Own Tomatoes rocking this Perfect Chili too. You can get a lot of fruit for your labour from even one plant, and these seedlings smell amazing! Almost seems too easy doesn’t it?
HOW MANY TOMATO SEEDS / PLANTS TO START
Start by determining the space you want to use to grow tomatoes. You should allow 2′ for every healthy plant. If you’ve got a 4′ x 4′ space, you’ll have room for 4 plants. So give yourself 50% more seeds, so in this case you’ll want to have 6 plants. You will end up thinning out the smallest and sickliest looking seedlings. Therefore you’ll need to start with 18 seeds. You can usually buy them in packages of 20, 50 and 100.
VEGETABLE PLANTING SCHEDULE FOR TOMATOES
- Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before last spring frost date.
- Harden off plants over the course of a week.
- Till aged manure or compost into your garden soil
- Put them in a part of your garden where they will have full sun and well-drained soil.
- Pinch off a few of the lower branches on transplants, and plant the root ball deep enough so that the remaining lowest leaves are just above the surface of the soil.
- Water the transplants very well.
- Put in stakes or cages at the time of planting. Staking keeps developing fruit off the ground, while caging let’s the plant hold itself upright
GARDEN GROWING TIPS FOR TOMATOES
- Mulch thickly to retain moisture and regulate soil temperature. They like a lot of water, but need to be in well drained soil.
- Don’t plant tomatoes near the Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower,Corn or Potatoes
- Tomatoes can be grown near Asparagus, Basil, Beans, Carrots, Celery, Dill, Lettuce, Melons, Onions, Parsley, Peppers, Radishes, Spinach and Thyme
- Inspect for insect pests regularly.
HARVESTING TIPS FOR TOMATOES
- Leave your tomatoes on the vine as long as possible.
- If your tomato plant still has fruit when the first hard frost threatens, pull up the entire plant and hang it upside down in the basement or garage. Pick tomatoes as they redden.
- To freeze, core tomatoes and place them whole in freezer bags or containers.
- If you end up with an over abundance, make homemade tomato sauce, or salsa! I recommend our Market Garden Salsa, and our Tomato and Pepper Salsa
FIND THIS USEFUL?
Get your printable Planting Schedule -Starting Indoors – for reference and to help keep you on track, and check out these other gardening posts to help you get the most out of your garden. Also, check out our article on the Easiest Veggies to Grow – it’s perfect for anybody just starting out, or who doesn’t necessarily have the time to devout to a garden.
Starting Seedlings , Laying out your Plot, Maintenance Planners, Journals, Planting Schedules for Direct Seeding, and Planting Schedules for Starting Seeds Indoors and don’t forget our growing tips for cabbage, broccoli lettuce and cauliflower.
