These tomato growing mistakes are easy to make, but simple to avoid.
Don’t let a few tomato growing mistakes stand between you and a plentiful harvest.
Mistake 1: Planting tomatoes too early or too late.
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
Gardeners in cold regions routinely set out tender young plants before thelast frost of the season.
Freezing temperatures zap seedlings in short order.
Tomato growers inwarm regions experience a different timing challenge.
Credit: Brie Williams
Tomatoes grow best when daytime temperatures are between 70 and 80F and night temperatures are between 60 to 70F.
Peter Krumhardt
Mistake 2: Starting with poor seedlings.
Bigger is not better in the case of tomato seedlings.
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Tall spindly seedlings and blooming plants often take weeks longer to establish in the garden than stocky seedlings.
Mistake 3: Shallow planting.
Tomatoes, unlike most plants, can produce roots along their main stem.
Plant seedlings so that the top of the root ball is two to three inches below the soil level.
Mistake 4: Inconsistent watering.
Tomato plantsthrive when theyreceive about 1 inch of water per week.
Bottom line: Be suretomato plantsreceive about 1 inch of water per week.
Mistake 5: Overhead watering.
When watering tomato plants, avoid splashing the leaves.
This direct-to-the-roots watering method helps discouragefoliage diseases, especially those that get splashed up from the soil.
Mistake 6: Not staking tomatoes.
Sink a stake or tomato cage into the ground near the plant atplanting time.
As the plant grows, thread stems through the openings in the cage or tie stems to the stake.
Mistake 7: Planting seedlings too close together.
Tomatoes plants, except forbush or patio types, grow best when planted at least 3 feet apart.
Foliage that dries quickly is less likely to succumb to disease.
Mistake 8: Planting in the same spot year after year.
Dontgrow tomatoesin the same location every year.
Experts recommend establishing a 3-year crop rotation for tomatoes and their close relativespeppers,potatoes, andeggplants.
Mistake 9: Neglecting to harvest.
Hot weather can ripen and then rot fruit quickly.
Rotten fruit harbors pathogens that can spread to nearby plants and cause trouble the following growing season.
Whentomatoes begin to ripen, plan to harvest daily.
Take two harvest pails to the gardenone for ripe fruit and one for rotten fruit.
Leave no ripe or rotten fruit behind.
