10 Tips that helped me Grow the Most Tomatoes

In my last article, “ Growing Your Own Food”, I promised to do an article for each of the plants I listed with tips I have learned that have helped me when growing them in my small space garden. I chose each of the varieties on that list because I was able to successfully grow them and get a decent harvest from each of them whether they were planted in the ground or in a pot. Some of them I even was able to successfully grow indoors. I will include all of that info in each of the articles for each of the varieties. I also mentioned some recipes that I have used to change it up a bit and keep it interesting, and those will come in separate articles as well. Each article will contain my top 10 or fewer tips that I found that made gardening with those particular plants the easiest. I chose to only do the most important 10 or fewer because when I was starting out gardening too many facts would become information overload and I would end up forgetting most of them and becoming frustrated. I remember growing up as a child when I would garden with my mother, she was like a fountain of knowledge and I could literally ask her anything and she seemed to know everything. Now that I am older, she has taught me that the information really does not come out of a book, but from experience. You learn as you go, it is the hard experiences that stick with you the most. So remember, if you kill a plant and you know what you did wrong that caused it, you are on your way to becoming a fountain of plant knowledge as well. Do not get discouraged, like I mentioned in my last article, I have even managed to kill off all my seedlings (story for another article, another day), every “failure” is really just an opportunity to learn how not to do things. Grab that bag of seeds, or re purchase that plant start and start over!

Here are my 10 tips for tomatoes, they are in my opinion the best plant to start with when you begin growing your own food. They're very forgiving and also very rewarding and there are hundreds, if not thousands of varieties! There are so many different things you can do with tomatoes as well which is perfect if you are gardening in a small space.

1. The most important tip that I have learned while growing tomato plants is to “learn your plant”, plants, like us, don't all need the same thing as each other all the time. Just because a book you read about tomatoes says to only water 2 inches a week, but your tomato plant is wilting and thirsty looking, water it until it is content! Don't get bogged down and overly technical when you are reading up on tips and suggestions and go with your gut!

2. Keep a journal, this one is also a big one. Keep a journal or a log of what times you feed and water. If you start noticing things going wrong with your plant, having a log to look back on will really help you to pinpoint where the issue is in enough time to hopefully save your plants. I find it easiest to use the calendar in my phone since I typically always have my phone on me and do not always have a pen and paper near by.

3. Use good soil, it may sound tempting to save money by purchasing a cheaper soil, but it is really important to use a good soil you can trust, especially if you are trying to garden organically. If the bag does not specify that it is organic, chemical/pesticide or hormone/harsh fertilizer free, it most likely is not and now everything that is in that soil is going to get into your plant and then into you and your families body when you and they consume the fruit from this plant.

4. Number four also deals with soil, make sure you use the right soil for how you are planting your plants. For example, do not use raised bed soil if you are gardening in pots.

5. Another dirt related one, if you are planting in ground, be sure to also pick up soil to mix in after you till your soil up and get it ready for planting. It will help freshen your soil up and provide more nutrients for your plants that will also save you money and time in the future.

6. Use support for your tomatoes, whether they are in ground or in a pot. Tomato cages are readily available and fairly cheap, however, use what you have if you do not have the money for several of them. They run about $5 to $7 a piece so if you just have one tomato plant it is no big deal, but if you are a plant hoarder, like me, it will get really pricey. I actually purchased a roll of galvanized fencing wire to fence off my 30x15 garden area from the pets, and used the remainder that was not needed to fence my garden and made tomato supports out of them. I even had enough to make little trellis' supports for other plants that need support as well. For around fifty bucks I had enough material to make a garden fence and 12 tomato cages and several other plant trellis'. I still have wire left over. And I am able to reuse everything each garden season.

7. If you are planting in pots, remember to fertilize a little more often than if you were planting in the ground because the soil will become depleted much faster.

8. Fertilizer. Another important one that you want to make sure you use a good trustworthy brand that does not use any harsh chemicals you would not want getting into your food.

9. Watering, it may seem tempting to water everyday, but tomatoes seem to do better with every other day to every 2 days, unless you live in a really dry climate. I live in 9b, which is a good thing for you to know when starting out. An easy google search of you zip code will easily tell you what gardening zone you live in. Over watering will drown your roots and under watering will dry them out. Both are equally as bad.

10. Pest control. Last, but most certainly not least. I recommend using neem oil mixed with water and dish soap, it will kill just about every harmful pest including fungi and molds.

This is my top 10 tips to hopefully help you get a head start on your gardening adventure. There are so many more tips and I would be more than happy to answer any of your questions if you want to reach out to me on Instagram or Twitter @Garden4Solace. I will also be sharing some tips and photos periodically so please head on over there and give me a follow and say hello! I am by no means a garden pro, so I would love it if you would share your suggestions with me as well! If you are reading this article on Vocal and enjoyed it, consider leaving a tip to help support my urban farm! Wishing you a happy, healthy and wonderfully abundant gardening year!