If you are looking to turn and harvest an incredible crop of yummy tomatoes this year from your garden , raised beds or container tomato industrial plant – it all start with keeping your plant warm and healthy mighty from the starting !
There is little question that healthy plants farm lots of great - try tomato plant . But when it comes to arise tomatoes , save disease , plant issues and pests aside can often be a difficult challenge .
permit ’s present it , nothing is more depressing than to watch your tomato industrial plant scramble . Whether it ’s from blight , heyday end rot , mold , or simply a lack of usable food or moisture in the grime .
Unfortunately , plants that maturate weak do n’t only under perform , they also become an easy objective for pestis to assault and destroy . The downward spiral can not only head to full works failure , but a whole lot of frustration for the gardener too !
The good news is that armed with a few round-eyed tips and secrets , you could eliminate all of the above offspring , and in the process , grow some jolly amazing tomatoes . With that in psyche , here is a spirit at 6 simple tips to keep your plant vibrant and strong all year long .
6 Simple Tips To Grow Healthy Tomato Plants
If you do nothing else to assist your tomato plants , give them a novel space and place to grow this year . develop tomatoes in the same garden space or in the same container soil year after year is inviting disaster .
tomato are one of the most susceptible vegetable plants to ground - gestate disease . And by set your tomatoes repeatedly in the same filth space , it makes it well-fixed for tomato blight and other disease to take hold . And once they do , they can stay in that soil for 5 years or more !
By rotating where you implant every year , you instantly minimise the potential for blight and disease . If you turn in containers or pots , that mean changing out your soil every year too .
For garden or raised bed space , attempt to never grow tomato in the same space for a lower limit of 3 years . Four or five age is even better . Not only does it help protect against disease , it also can keep pests at bay too .
When plants occupy the same infinite , pests can instal a dwelling house in the soil justly below . And when they do , they can come back easily to tear into your plants ever summer . Planting in fresh areas and grime also give way the tomato establish a fresh supply of nutrients to draw from as well .
sinister rot and blossom putrefaction are two of the most common tomato offspring gardeners grimace . Both are triggered by a lack of Ca in the soil , or the plants inability to pull up calcium from the ground below .
revolve crops will help alleviate this issue as it pay plants new , more fertile dirt each time of year . But to really solve the issue , it ’s best to add even more into your soil as you plant .
As the egg shells dissolve into the dirt , they provide much - require calcium to the etymon of the tomatoes , eliminating disgraceful rotting and heyday rot . As you implant your love apple , add up in the pulverise shell of two to three egg shells for each and every plant .
Crush the shells as exquisitely as possible , mixing it into the hole as you plant . And to boost your plant ’s health even more when planting , add in compost , umber ground and worm castings too .
All of these will help oneself with your plant ’s wellness and power their early growth . See : How To habituate Egg Shells To Power Your Garden , Flowerbeds & More
intend mulching your tomato plants is only to help oneself prevent weeds ? Think again !
Mulching your tomato plant not only helps keep competing locoweed from stealing valuable nutrients from your tomato harvest , it also helps to regulate soil temperature and continue wet for the root .
Even more , it can add another bed of protection against soil borne disease . The spores that stimulate blight can endure in the soil below . And when it rain or you water , that soil can easily splash up on the leaves . But with mulching , you reduce or even rid of the problem entirely .
We use a combining of compost and stalk as our mulch , making sure to not lead any filth bare for at least 18″ around each plant life . The compost leaches nutrients below to the tomato plant ’s roots , and the straw helps protect the respite of the clear soil orbit .
Believe it or not , cut back your tomato plant as they grow can help keep them intelligent , warm , and most significantly , productive !
As your plants grow , keep the bottom of each plant life trimmed up to at least 6″ above the stain line of credit . This allows light and circulation to make the inside of the plant . This is a immense help in continue cast and fungal disease at bay .
keep foliage from being near the footing is also another great way to protect against blight spores from splashing up on your industrial plant . eventually , pruning also make it harder for crawling and climbing dirt ball to find a drive up onto the plants .
Low foliage on the plant can make fore easy access for all kinds of tomato pests . See Our OWG Article : How & Why To clip Your Tomato Plants
When pruning , always take out any foliation that show sign of injury or disease – even if they are not on the bottom of the works . This can keep disease from spreading . It also helps the plant from wasting its push and resources on repairing confused stem and branches .
No matter how strong your soil might be early on in the growing time of year , your Lycopersicon esculentum plant can promptly wipe out that soil of nutrients . alas , when the dirt runs out of energy , so will your plant .
The compost around your plant ’s base will help , but additional big businessman is even better . One of the best ways to fertilize love apple flora course is with compost tea leaf . Made from just water and compost , it can be applied as a liquidness to the root and leaf of plants .
you could also expend a respectable quality constitutive liquid fertilizer as another option for extra nutrients . There are some smashing all - natural liquid fertilizer options on the grocery . A few , likeEspoma Tomato Plant Food , are even create with powering tomatoes in mind .
For best results , fertilize your Lycopersicon esculentum plant lightly every two to three hebdomad for the first twelve calendar week . It is better to supply them regularly with a slightly weaker dose than a single big dose or two . See : How To well Fertilize Tomato industrial plant
And last , one of the most crucial labor to keep your garden and next Lycopersicon esculentum industrial plant respectable is to verify you sack out your tomato works ( and all vegetable industrial plant ) at the end of each growing season .
allow former works to over - winter is inviting disease and insect trouble to take hold in the garden soil . Pull up your plant as soon as they are done producing – roots and all . As for the compost pile , it is really good to will out your tomato works .
There is plainly too much probability to pass on disease when composting . We really cut ours in our fire pit to kill off any spores , bacterium or insects , and then add the ashes to our sight . This summons also get rid of hundreds of volunteer tomato plant seed from get up in our compost the following year .
Here is to keeping your love apple plant goodly this year , and to grow an amazingly delicious harvest ! Happy gardening , Jim and Mary .
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening , DIY and formula article and book for over 15 yr from their 46 Akko Ohio farm . The two are frequent speaker system on all things gardening and love to travel in their superfluous time .
