If you don't have the space or patience to do outside
gardening but would love to have home grown tomatoes,
here's some good news. You can raise tomatoes in
containers right in your own home. There's no digging in
the soil, or pulling weeds, no worries about the birds and
insects, unless you want to place your plants on your porch
or balconies during the sunny hours.
First you need to find the right size container for your
plants. If you want the little cherry tomatoes (which are
excellent in salads) then you can use the regular size
hanging baskets, but if you prefer the larger tomatoes
you'd do best to purchase five gallon buckets, because your
plants need plenty of room to grow, you don't want them to
be cramped. Next you need to go to a nursery and purchase
your tomato plants. You don't want to get too large of a
plant, you can buy a determinate tomato plant, that stops
growing after they reach a certain size, or indeterminate
that will continue to grow and produce larger tomato
plants. Two very popular indeterminate tomato plants are
Big Beef and Better Boy, which are also very resistant to
plant disease and will give you tomatoes for a longer
period of time.
Now you're ready to begin planting, make sure you put some
holes in the bottom of your container for proper drainage.
You don't want your plant to become overwhelmed with excess
water. Remove a few of the bottom leaves and place in the
container. Make sure you don't use a flimsy, light weight
container, because when your tomatoes are in bloom they may
be top heavy and could cause the plant to topple. Putting
some type of stakes in the container and tying the plant to
them will help to keep your tomato plants straight. Use
healthy potting soil with natural organic matter. Ask at
your neighborhood nursery for help in picking out the
proper soil and fertilizer for in home planting.
Plants need plenty of sunlight, at least 6 to 8 hours a
day. It's probably a good idea to pick up a grow light for
the days that are cloudy, because a lack of light can be
harmful to your plants. Be sure to water them daily,
forgetting to water them for a couple of days and then
starting to water them again, and then you once again
forgetting; this back and forth process can cause the death
of your plants. So please, be consistent with your care
for them.
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Articles and resources on growing tomatoes
http://growing-tomatoes.net
Home Gardening
http://bettergardeners.com
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