How do i tend to a tomato plant?
Dig your holes deep and put each individual plant up to it's top leaves in hole. Fill holes w/dirt and water well. Burying them so deep will make them put off roots higher on the plant and make the stem stronger and hardier. If they are planted in the ground, uses cages for support or if you put a thick layer of straw in your garden you can let them grow "as is". In pots, use cages or buy "bush" variety that stays shorter and bushier. Make sure that you give them plenty of water and sun and I usually fertilize with Miracle-Gro every couple of weeks. Or you can use coffee grounds, eggshells and veg. scraps too...but watch out for drawing the attention of slugs with scraps. If you smoke, make sure you wash your hands before handling plants....some varieties can contract tobacco mosaic virus from the nicotine on your hands. After that, there isn't much else...they'll do their own thing and you'll be eating tomatoes.
Reply:Get a cage to support them. 7 Dust for the insects. A net to keep away birds and squirrels, heavy mulch and daily watering.
Reply:First, tomatoes are heavy feeders and need plenty of nutrients so be prepared to fertilize every two to three weeks. I use a fish emulsion. They also love heat and full sun and like the soil to be warmer than 65 degrees and nights to be in at least the 50's. If you are going to use mulch, don't rush to put it down until the soil warms up well.Tomatoes also need to be watered quite frequently during their growth cycle. However, water the ground and not the plant. Damp leaves predispose them to diseases. Also, make sure the soil is light and drains well.
Each person has their own preference as to how to stake up or support tomatoes, especially the indeterminate varieties. Some use a wooden stake and some kind of twine, twist-ties, or even old panty hose to attach the plant. Some use tomato cages or wire cages. Some even train them to a wire on a trellis. Whatever works for you. Just so ou know, indeterminate plants are vines, they grow and grow until frost takes them out which means they can get pretty large. These really need to be trellised or staked and also pruned. Determinates are more of a bush type but can benefit from a cage or low trellis. These reach a certain size and stop growing. In general the indeterminates have better flavor and yields than determinates.
Reply:you should pinch off the "false" branches .. that is the little sprouts that appear at the junction of "real" leaves and the main stem.. they seldom produce fruit OR they are not sturdy stems and are easily broken.. they basically just sap the plant's energy from producing blossoms and fruit.. tomatoes get bushy like jungle vines if you don't control some of the growth with pruning.. your tomatoes will also grow larger without the excess growth draining resources.
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