Five tips to ensure tomato growing success
2024-09-16T15:46:12+10:00
With the right care, these juicy, flavour-packed fruits can thrive in your garden, providing fresh produce all season long. These five organic growing tips will get you started.
Growing tomatoes is a rewarding experience for any gardener. With the right care, these juicy, flavour-packed fruits can thrive in your garden, providing fresh produce all season long. These five tips will get you started.
Timing is key
Tomatoes flourish when daytime temperatures are between 15–29°C. In cool to warm temperate regions, they thrive in spring and summer. In tropical and subtropical areas, it’s best to plant them in autumn, with an additional spring planting in subtropical regions.
Seed starting
Kickstart your tomato growing season by sowing seeds or starting seedlings 6–8 weeks before planting them out. If it’s still chilly, start them indoors on a sunny windowsill. Begin with seed trays and then move the seedlings to individual pots, feeding them weekly with a liquid fertiliser to encourage robust growth. If you miss the early start, buy established seedlings or potted plants to get you up to speed.
Soil preparation
Choose a sunny, well-drained location that hasn’t had tomatoes for at least two years to avoid soil-borne diseases. Two weeks before planting, enrich the soil with compost and an organic fertiliser such as blood and bone or pelletised chicken manure.
Plant with care
Transplant your seedlings into the garden or containers once the weather is consistently warm and the danger of frost has passed. Plant them deep, to encourage additional roots to form along the lower stems. Space the plants 50–60cm apart, water thoroughly, and cover the soil surface with organic mulch to help retain soil moisture and inhibit weed growth.
Pruning and maintenance
Depending on your training system of choice, prune the plants to maintain one or two main stems and regularly remove any unwanted suckers and sideshoots to prevent overcrowding. Remove any diseased foliage early to help prevent disease from spreading. Sterilise secateur blades with methylated spirits between each plant use to avoid spreading disease.
Phil Dudman’s full article about training tomatoes with extra growing tips can be found in the Spring 2024 issue (OG 152). Subscribe to Organic Gardener magazine and you’ll get eight issues delivered to your door, filled with great organic growing ideas and practical solutions.
