Protecting Tomato Plants: How to Take Care of Tomato Plants

Planting tomatoes can be a great addition to your vegetable garden, as they do not require much care and maintenance, and in return yield one of the most popular vegetables of the world, red and delicious tomatoes. You can not only raise them in garden, even growing tomatoes in pots or containers and raised beds will do. They can be grown from both seedlings and seeds.

Tomato Plant Care

For growing tomato plants, first decide whether you are going to use seeds or seedlings. In the regions where the winters are really cold, seeds will have to be sown in seed boxes. Within five to six weeks, the seedlings grown from the seeds would be ready for transplantation. If you do not want to use seeds and prefer seedlings for that purpose, then select the smaller plants that have not yet started budding. There are mainly two types of tomatoes, known as indeterminate and determinate tomatoes. Indeterminate tomatoes are vine or cordon plants that require limited space and produce fruits for an extended time period, while the determinate type takes up a larger area and fruit production will be confined within a limited time period.

Now choose an area that gets at least 6 to 7 hours of sunlight throughout the day, as tomato plants need lots of sunlight to grow rapidly. Prepare the soil by adding fertilizers, preferably compost, as organic matter is beneficial for the plants. Now test the pH of the soil, which should be within the range of 5.8 to 7. If the pH level of your soil does not fall in this range then correct it. As warm soil is more suitable for these plants, cover the top of the soil with simple plastic bags. You can plant the seedlings with the bags intact by making some holes for them. At the end of the winter, plant the tomato plants in deeper holes, placed at least 18 to 20 inches apart. Winter is not an ideal time for planting tomato seedlings as they can not tolerate frost. However, this does not mean that tomatoes cannot be grown in winter. Growing them in winter will require additional measures for their protection. Cover the seedling to protect it from frost.

Just remember that they need adequate exposure to sunlight, and this can be achieved by leaving sufficient space among the plants. Pruning should usually involve removing the bottom leaves and some of the lower branches. Pruning should be done in such a way that all leaves get enough sunlight. This is an essential step for protecting tomato plants from the growth of fungus and other pathogens. However, shading may also be required in some places, which get too much sunlight or heat. Once the plants start producing fruits, they would need some shade and hence at that time, the frequency of pruning can be reduced. Also remove the suckers, the shoots that come up between the stalk and the branches in order to make the plants stronger.

They usually need support, for which you can build tomato cages or stakes to maintain their upright position. Otherwise, the weight of the rapidly growing leaves and branches would bend the plant. For watering tomato plants, use a garden hose and water at the base of the plants. The ideal time for watering them is early morning. Placing protective collars around the bottom of the plants can protect them from cutworm invasion, while many gardeners place floating row cover to protect them from pests. But these floating row covers need to be removed, once the plant starts blooming to facilitate pollination. Covering the top of the plants is beneficial to protect them from blight. Do not forget to check your plants, especially the leaves, once or twice a week to detect the symptoms of the common plant diseases and pests. Also remember that though plants need considerable water, over watering should be avoided.

Following these simple tips would help you grow large, fresh and nutritious tomatoes in your garden.