Grow your own tomatoes for dummies – Birds of Paradise Magazine

A plant that should not be missing in the garden of true birds of paradise is the tomato plant. The tomato is very versatile and you can see how it develops from a green ball to a shiny red tomato. You can also choose from different types of tomatoes: if you like pasta, for example, choose a vine tomato. If you prefer to snack on the tomatoes as a snack, you can opt for snack tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. With the following tips you can easily grow tomatoes yourself in your own vegetable garden.

Grow your own tomato

Growing tomatoes yourself is quite simple, so it’s fine to take your first steps in the gardening world with a tomato plant. In addition, you can always eat tomatoes, for example during a diet with protein shakes and proteins, but also in a lighter meal such as a salad. In fact, you could say that there are 3 phases: sowing the plant, maintaining and caring for the plant and finally harvesting.

Sow the tomato plant

The tomato plant grows large, but when sowing we recommend that you start in a small container or pot. Fill it with sowing soil and place the seeds about half a centimeter deep. Then cover them with a little soil. Then it is time to let the plant grow and bloom. Water the plant and place the container in a warm place with plenty of light. For example, near a window is the perfect place!

Not a fan of the standard jars? Then create a new creative hobby by painting it or providing it with another nice decoration!

repot

When the seedlings are big enough, about 7 to 10 centimeters, you can repot the plants to a larger pot. After all, this gives the plant even more room to grow. How do you handle that? Choose a pot that has a diameter of about 20 centimeters. You fill this with potting soil. It is important that excess water can drain properly from the pot, because the roots of the tomato plant should not get too wet. Therefore, choose a specimen with sufficient drainage holes if you are going to grow tomatoes yourself and it is time to repot the plants. When repotting, also make sure that you handle the tomato plants carefully, because it is of course not the intention that you damage the roots.

Further care

When growing fruit and vegetables, two things are important after sowing: watering and a soil with sufficient nutrients. This is no different if you start growing tomatoes yourself. In this case you have to water the plant about 2 to 3 times a week. The soil should be moist, but not soaking wet. If you want to give the plant an extra boost, you can look for a special fertilizer in the garden center.

Harvest

We advise you to wait with harvesting until the tomatoes really have a deep red color and are ripe. In a favorable case, this can be after 50 days, but also only after 100 days. So check regularly how the plants hang. A ripe tomato also feels firm if you want to know if they are ripe for picking. Do you want to pick them earlier than perhaps intended? In fact, that is not a problem, but put them in a sunny spot for a while so that they are still fully ripe.

As mentioned, it is best to pick the tomatoes when you want to remove them from the plant. Gently twist the tomato so that it comes off easily. Do not break off the branches either, because you can damage the plant. You should, however, remove superfluous stems (also known as armpit shoots) in between. Tomatoes do not grow on these branches and hinder the growth of the plant and therefore also of the tomatoes. We also recommend that you remove older branches. In addition to being healthy for your plant, the whole thing also looks a lot nicer.

Growing tomatoes tips

• As mentioned, the plant needs sunlight. Therefore, choose a place with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day
• Tomatoes also need support for maximum growth. For example, use a stick or wire.
• Tomato plants can be subject to many different diseases. To prevent this, it is always important, if you use a greenhouse to grow the tomatoes, to ensure good ventilation

Tomatoes are not the only vitamin bombs in our vegetable garden. For example, read more about picking apples here, also one of our favorites!