5 Tips For Tomatoes In Pots
Organic Garden Tips – Tomatoes In Pots
Growing tomatoes in pots can work quite well. It’s a great way to grow tomatoes close to the house, or grow them when you don’t have a garden space and don’t want to dig holes in your yard.
Growing tomatoes in pots will allow for a succession of healthy and tasty tomatoes all season. There isn’t any difference in taste. However, tomatoes in pots may not grow as big or produce quite as many tomatoes as those in the ground, but there’s still plenty for good eating!
Here’s some tips on getting the best results from container grown tomatoes.
Organic Garden Tip #1 – Make sure you put tomato plants in a really big pot.
The root systems need to have plenty of room so they won’t become pot bound. Your tomatoes need a big pot of at least 10 inches in diameter to have enough room for the roots. Standard clay terracotta pots work well, but any wide and deep container will work fine.
Organic Garden Tip #2 – Use good organic garden soil in the pot.
The tomatoes are going to be feeding off the soil in the pot, so be sure to give them all the nutrition they need with some good organic garden soil. If the soil available is poor, add some amendments like compost. It’s important to use the best soil possible so your tomatoes will have food to grown on.
Organic Garden Tip #3 – Water your tomatoes even if it rains.
Even if there is lots of rain, you need to check pot grown plants more regularly. Since there is a limited amount of organic soil in the pots, it can only hold so much water, plus the thick leaves of the tomato plant prevent some of the rain water from reaching the soil in the first place. The tomatoes will wilt quickly if not kept well-watered, especially on hot summer days. Make it a habit to check your plants every day, or even every morning and evening.
Organic Garden Tip #4 – Be ruthless with pinching out side shoots on the tomato plants.
You can get by with allowing more suckers on tomato plants in a garden space, but when growing them in a pot, it’s important to channel the growing energy into a smaller number of stems and tomatoes. Check the tomato plants in pots at least once a week and remove side shoots to be sure that the fruits will be big and juicy.
Organic Garden Tip #5 – Remove excess foliage once you have the tomato fruits.
The idea is to take away excess leaves to allow the sun to ripen the fruits better. You can ripen your tomatoes indoors but they taste better when left on the plant as long as possible to get ripe. Removing some of the leaves that are covering up tomatoes also gives you slightly bigger tomatoes.
Be Ready For Growing Tomatoes Next Year
For most of us, the tomato season is over for this year. That just means it’s a good time to start planning ahead for your tomato growing in 2009. When the new seed catalogs start pouring into your mailbox, you can dream and plot what to put in the pots!
Cause pots and containers are excellent for growing tomatoes! You’ll love having your own fresh home-grown tomatoes, so give it a try!
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