how to plant tomatoes?

If you love tomatoes, rather than buying bland or underripe fruit, why not get into gardening and grow tomato plants yourself this year? We explain how to plant tomatoes at home and how to maintain them to delight you this summer in the sun.

To plant tomatoes, there are two solutions. One is more economical but requires more time and care (in other words, the failure rate is not zero), while with the other, you are (or almost) guaranteed to harvest tomatoes during the year. The first method of planting is by sowing seeds of tomatoes. The second, to buy plants in already “large” pots. It’s up to you to choose your way of planting!

Before planting your tomatoes, you will be confronted with a choice of fruits, a vast choice of varieties even … But then, which varieties of tomato to choose this season? There are so many colors (reds, yellows, blacks and even green tomatoes), shapes (beef heart tomato, retort, cherry …) and therefore tastes … To help you decide. in this step, you are offered two varieties, preferably organic: the cornabel tomato, which forms a sort of horn of about 15 cm and which, according to tomato lovers, is one of the best varieties of the fruit; and the famous heart of beef tomato gourmandia, with a tender and fleshy heart.

On the same subject

Obtaining tomato plants from seedlings

You can sow during the year, from January or February (in a greenhouse), knowing that the seeds will take between two and three months to transform during the season, into young plants ready to plant.

How to sow tomato seeds? Seedlings are the most economical way of growing, our advice: sow tomato seeds (no more than 2 seeds per cm2) in small pots filled with potting soil that you will keep in the sun and warm at home (or even in a greenhouse), cover with a little potting soil (0.5 cm) and moisten with water regularly (the ideal is to do this with a sprayer). In ten days, the tomato plants sprout!

Transplant the tomato plants into the ground: Once your plants have developed a little (2 to 3 weeks after sowing), it’s time to transplant: select the sturdiest plants, place them in larger pots for the roots and add fertilizer regularly. , while sprinkling them with water less and less often and putting them in a slightly cooler area, to accustom them to their future development conditions in the vegetable garden. The “good plant” is 20 cm high and its foliage is very green (without flowers).

The right time to plant your tomato plants: Are your plants turning yellow? They may have exhausted the earth: better than watering and fertilizer, it’s time to transplant them to their final place or plant them in a larger pot for the roots.

Our selection of tomato seeds for planting

Plant your tomato plants

It’s all a matter of the right time of year: as the tomato plants don’t like the cold (but not at all), nor the torrential rains, we advise you to wait until May (some recommend wait until mid-May and the “Ice Saints”, period of the year after which frost is no longer to be feared) to plant your tomato plants in your garden or in a planter on your balcony.

Where to plant your tomatoes? It is also a question of place. Because the tomato is greedy in sun and does not like the wind. It needs at least four or five hours of sunshine a day, whether on your balcony or in your garden! Choose a South or South-East orientation.

On the neighborhood side, tomatoes appreciate the cohabitation underground with vegetables such as asparagus, garlic, cucumber, pepper, onion, radish, or aromatic herbs such as mint, basil, parsley, sage, thyme or rosemary. On the other hand, avoid vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes or fennel near tomato plants in your garden.

When you transplant your plants, be sure to space each foot about 40 cm (except for the smaller varieties, which you can space less). Dig as many small holes in the ground as there are plants to be planted. At the bottom of each hole, place a few stems and leaves of nettles: this advice from grandmother allows tomatoes to resist diseases better.

Then, plant in the ground a stake of 1m of minimum height next to each plant because the tomatoes, it climbs, and when the fruits arrive, the branches will bend under their weight and risk breaking if they are not supported by a rod. Push the stake into the earth for 20 to 30 cm, then tie the plant (with raffia or string), remaining loose enough not to damage the base of the fruit.

How to maintain tomato plants?

Sprinkle them with water every day (except when it’s raining) and add compost regularly.
Another little tip: you need to “pinch” your tomatoes. That is to say, cut by hand the small side shoots (the “greedy”) on the edges of the branches, which use the sap of the plant which will be much better in your fruits! Step to be done as soon as these small shoots reach a few cm.

As your plant grows in your vegetable garden, attach its stem to the stake (every 20 to 25 cm). When the plant exceeds 1 meter above the ground, strengthen the ties, because the weight of the fruit at this stage increases the pressure on the stem.
When your plant begins to bend under the fruit clusters (at least 3 or 4), cut off the top of the plant.

Some tips for planting your tomatoes well …

  • Do not eat the leaves of the tomato, they are not edible! (we say that just in case for gourmets …)
  • Adapt the cultivar to the container size : in a small planter, choose cherry tomatoes.
  • When your tomatoes start to redden, you will improve their flavor. by no longer watering them (but hey, obviously, once the harvest stage, resume watering … at least if you want to have more!).
  • Pinch your tomatoes in dry weather, to avoid diseases.
  • At the end of the summer, the plant must be topped to prevent new flowers from appearing (they would not have time to bear fruit). If your plant is a late variety, postpone to the end of September, or even October, depending on the climate of the season.
  • Do not remove the leaves of your plant! Not only would it not help the fruits to ripen faster, but it would decrease their sugar content. Which would disappoint many gourmets.
  • For the last tomatoes harvested green at the end of the season, it is enough to wrap the fruits separately in newspaper so that they naturally acquire a nice red color after a few days.

What if your tomato plants are sick?

If your plant ends up with big brown spots on leaves and stems, and white appears under the leaves in wet weather, it is likely to be attacked by downy mildew! This happens more often when growing organic tomatoes. Our advice: remove and destroy the affected leaves and branches (do not throw them in the wild or put them in the compost!). If too much of the plant is affected, discard it whole.
Two solutions that work to cure your plant of this disease: water the plant with a horsetail decoction (or rather drink a part of it, because it is excellent for your health, then pour the rest on). You can also enter a copper rod in the stem of the plant, which produces a reaction that protects it.

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Happy growing tomatoes!

Sophie Fleury

Every day, aufeminin’s editorial staff addresses millions of women and supports them in all stages of their lives. The aufeminin editorial staff is made up of committed editors and …