How to Plant Tomatoes | EASY SAVINGS AND HEALTHY

Learn how to save money on groceries by how to plant tomatoes in garden with these essential tips. You will learn how to plant and grow tomatoes in pots or in the ground while discovering the many benefits of growing them at home, and also boosting your health. Learn how to grow the tomatoes, the best month and when to plant the tomato plant and the best way to plant it. Best of all, find out the secret of growing tomato plants.

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HOW DO YOU GROW TOMATOES FOR BEGINNERS

I began my journey growing cherry tomatoes on my window sill. The excitement of planting my first seeds! Watching it grow made me even more determined to get those tomatoes and was not going to stop trying.

When I experience tasting my first cherry tomato, I knew I was in love, AND NOW IT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLANTS TO GROW. Many may know of my obsession with the orange accordion tomatoes, we grow them every season. If you love fresh, juicy tomatoes that taste so rich and not like water, you’re in the right place.

Growing your own vegetables can boost your mood, reduce stress, and provide you with one of the deepest connections to nature. Something about growing tomatoes is so rewarding. The small seed quickly transforms and ends up providing you with so much for a harvest. From cherry tomatoes to regular tomatoes and mammoth tomatoes like an orange accordion tomato. You want to learn how to save your seed? Ready the post ‘HOW TO SAVE TOMATO SEEDS for Next Year for Beginners!

Critical Factors to Consider when Growing Tomatoes:

Sunlight	6-8 hours depending on zone.
Watering	Water fully every 3 days or when the soil on top is fully dry. If you have a hard time watering, use a watering tray. (See link for product below)
Overwatering	Overwatering will cause diseases and kill your plants.
Yellowing Leaves	Add Epsom Salt to add magnesium for yellowing leaves, to help with absorption of nutrients.
Nutrients	Add Bone Meal for a rich source of nutrients
Blossom End Rot	Add calcium nitrate to help with end rot.
Fertilizer	Add fertilizer made for specific tomato plants when you first plant it. Wait 3 weeks or until after a big harvest. Follow product direction unless plant is too small and dilute further if using liquid.
Harvesting	Don’t harvest a day after it rains or after watering your plant. The fruit won’t be as sweet.
Splitting	See below image for cherry tomatoes splitting. This is cause by sudden changes on moisture on the soil. It can be caused by rain or overwatering.

Grab those garden gloves and let’s go and get you all the tomatoes you want!

WHAT IS THE PROPER MONTH TO PLANT TOMATOES?

I hear most new gardeners struggle with when to plant tomatoes outdoors. Last year was a rough one for us. We placed our tomatoes outside in June when the weather suddenly changed and got extremely cold. The tomatoes almost did not make it. The timing is key to the success of the tomato, but remember that gardening is a journey for providing feel-good vibes, so don’t stress about when to plant them outside. Do your best and enjoy the experience.

Depending on where you live and your climate will determine when to place your tomato seedling outdoors. You first hardened your plant before planting it outside. To harden the plant means slowly getting it used to living in the real world outdoors and slowly getting the plant adjusted to the sunlight, wind, and temperature fluctuations. Start by taking it out one hour the first day in the shade and adding a few hours next time. Slowly introduce it to sunlight and in 5 days, it should be ready for reality.

You can usually plant your tomato plant outdoors right after the last day of frost. But from experience, you need to make sure the soil is warm enough to not shock your tomato plant and killed or stunt it. So if you are in a cooler region, like I am, wait until summer to plant tomatoes outside. This goes for how to plant tomatoes in containers also, check the soil temperature and take that into account.

On my DIY Garden Ideas For Small Spaces | 5 GARDENING LESSONS!, I provide you with my top 5 DIY’s that will help you with the garden.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PLANT TOMATO PLANTS

You have now determined the right time to plant your tomato plant on the ground, tiered planter, garden bed or container.

It is time to get your hands dirty and enjoy the gardening process!

Next step is to select the best location for your tomato plant. Locate a great spot that gets 6 hours of sun, or even better 8 hours, if you are not in a super hot zone. Tomato plants need plenty of sunlight to thrive, otherwise they will grow, but won’t provide you with the wonderful fruit.

Do Tomatoes Grow Best in Pots or In The Ground?

After you complete the search for the right location and how to plant the tomato plant, the advantage is the flexibility you will have in deciding what you want to grow the tomato plant on by selecting the right variety of tomato. You can even learn how to plant tomato plants in a pot or, how to plant tomatoes in grow bags by using the same process you are learning here.

• Mini Tomatoes – These are wonderful for containers or tiered planters. They are compact and will not take over the space allocated for them.
• Indeterminate Tomatoes – These tomatoes will require plenty of support by a trellis or some other manner since they will continue to grow. You can grow these on large grow bags or pots by adding some type of trellis.
• Determinate Tomatoes – These are great if you do not have the space or required support for the tomato plant. They are great for small gardens, raised garden beds, containers, pots and grow bags. Determinate tomatoes just means that they grow only a determinate height and size.
• Cherry tomatoes – These yummy ones will require a tall trellis or even better an arch trellis. This is my favorite way to grow them because they create amazing drama in the garden!

Now is time to prepare the soil. clear the weeds, any debris and add compost. I like fish compost a lot, don’t use any cow or chicken manure. These type of composts can pass on diseases to your tomatoes so stay away from them. I also add some worm earth casting, epsom salt, bone meal and tomato fertilizer.

HOW DEEP TO PLANT TOMATOES

What I am about to tell you will change growing tomatoes for you! I do this with the baby seedlings indoors and again when I placed them outside. Don’t skip this, you will not regret it!

When you plant the tomato seedling, bury as much of the stem as possible. The little hairs on stem will turn into roots when buried under the soil and make for a much stronger plant when it grows. See below image; remove all leaves below where my fingers are, bury the full stem up to the new first set of leaves above my fingers. You will get an amazingly strong root system on your tomato plant.

If you are in a warmer climate, add some mulch. I don’t do this in my cooler zone because it attracts the pesky slugs into my garden bed and I have found that it is not needed since I do not wish to go out in the dark to chase them. Now, just water thoroughly and make sure it is supported, if needed, by tying it to the trellis or cage. Do not water daily, you want to wait until the soil on top is dry. Overwatering will cause blight or other diseases. I know we want to baby it, but instead you can smell the leaves, watch it move with the wind, take note of its transformation, as a relaxing moment.

You want to create another dimension to your garden? Check out ‘Easy Garden Ideas for Beginners | GROW TOMATOES on a STRING!”

SAVING MONEY BY GROWING YOUR OWN TOMATOES

Growing tomatoes is on top of my list that provides me with the best feeling and biggest reward. You can save a lot of money from all the fruit you can get and how you can preserve it by canning, freeze drying, hydrating, etc… We all know groceries are so expensive, but by growing your very own tomato plant, you can get a steady supply or organic produce.

Some Advantages of Growing your Own Tomatoes:

1. TASTE: Tomatoes that are grown at home have the most incredible taste, they don’t taste like water like the store bought ones.
2. ORGANIC: You can easily grow organic without the added cost and save on pesticides.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL: Growing your own will help the environment by reducing the carbon footprint and not using pesticides that will impact our already in danger pollinator.
4. COST: The cost of starting from seeds is minimal compared to buying tomatoes. But if you even get a seedling at the store, you will still come ahead. I do recommend starting your own seeds to make the biggest impact. But start where you feel most comfortable. Even better, save the seeds if you have heirloom tomatoes to get the same one next season.
5. BENEFITS: Growing tomatoes is such a fun hobby that will benefit your wellbeing and health. This will begin to estable health ritual for eating healthy and exploring new recipes.
6. SMALL GARDEN: Growing tomatoes are perfect for a small garden. They don’t require a lot of space and the harvest is plenty for a family.
7. STARTING: You will need to spend and invest on a setup for starting from seeds. But if you have a south side window, you can start them using that. I have grown tomatoes this way in the past with success. Wait until you feel comfortable to get a grow rack set up and spend the money.

WHAT IS THE SECRET OF GROWING TOMATOES?

The secret on how to grow tomato plants faster is simple. It requires patience to wait for the right soil temperature and get the best advantage for a healthy plant. Just because the weather is sunny and beautiful, does not mean the soil is warm enough for them.

I like to wait until my soil is around 75 degrees, which requires quite a few consecutive warm, sunny days of sun to achieve. One day of a hot day may not be enough if you live in a cooler zone like me.

The same goes for a warmer climate zone; don’t plant your seedling in the middle of a very hot day. Plant it in the morning when it is cooler to provide the best scenario for establishing your plant and not shock it. Water thoroughly and watch it grow.

Never plant your tomato seedling at the end of the day. You need to water it and you don’t want the water to just seat on the soil through the night. I find it takes more for my plant to deal with the fluctuation of the soil water content and the temperature. By planting it in the early morning on a not-too-hot day, I provide it with some time to get used to her new home.

SHOP BELOW FOR TOMATO GROWING ACCESSORIES!

Bonus Tips for Growing Tomatoes for Beginners!

• BASIL: Make sure you add basil around the tomato plant. This is a great companion plant to grow with tomatoes. You can find so many different varieties, so you create great dishes with tomato and basil.
• LEAVES: Trim off all the extra leaves to allow the plant to use all the energy on producing the fruit instead of foliage.
• CHIVES | PARSLEY: Another favorite of mine to grow with tomatoes are chives and parsley. It is just handy to make tomato dishes. Grow the herb you are going to use to cook along with tomatoes, but that won’t be invasive.
• WATERING: Try to use a drip system or if not, water the soil around the plant, but try not to wet the leaves to prevent diseases.
• VOLUNTEERS: Beginning of every season, check the garden bed. I get volunteers and it makes my life so easy! Volunteers come from seeds from last season’s plant that was in the location. The seed germinates and provides you with a new plant. No hassle and you get the benefits.

Check out more about how to start your own garden Read the post ‘Gardening for Beginners | You Must Know this First!

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF GROWING TOMATOES?

YOU ARE READY TO GET GOING WITH GROWING YOUR OWN TOMATO PLANT!

Now that you have all the information to get started, I must remind you not to expect perfection, but enjoy each moment; Observe, learn, experience and live.

Tomatoes are a perfect plant to grow at home, because of how much you will harvest, learn and the amazing health benefits. It is about connecting with nature and enjoying all the steps and the benefits that each offers. For me, growing tomatoes plants provided anticipation and excitement to see how the plant was doing each day, and awareness that I am not alone on gowing the tomato plant and depend the bees to help me pollinate.

Gardening improves your, physical and mental health. Create your own cozy cocoon in your small garden where you will be inspired to be more creative and continue exploring nature’s possibilities. Have fun my sweet cocoon friends!

Your Cocoon Awaits You

Stay Creative!

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