Planting Tomatoes in Pots Tips and Trick for Beginner
If you love tomatoes but do not have a big space in your garden then you can try planting tomatoes in pots. This will make the tomatoes easy to reach and you do not have to worry about space as long as you have enough sunlight. Here are some tips that you need to do if you want to grow the tomatoes using pots.
Planting Tomatoes in Pots Tips and Trick for Beginner
Choose area with sunlight Tomatoes need at least 6 hours of sunlight. So, you need to find a spot in your house with good sunlight. You can choose a spot on your balcony if you do not have a backyard. If you want more than one tomato then you can group a few pots together to form a cluster. But make sure that their leaves do not touch each other since it will make disease easier to spread.
Choose the right tomatoes There are a lot of tomato varieties that you can find. They can be used for slicing, sandwich, cooking, snacking and everything. So, it is important for you to choose the right tomatoes based on what you want to do with them. Some tomatoes are better suited to grow in pots such as determinate type tomatoes. So try to choose that variety if you are planting tomatoes in pots.
Choose the pots Make sure to get pots with the right size. You should know that tomatoes will grow very big so they need enough space for the roots to grow. It is better to get a pot in 18-inch diameter if you want to plant determinate tomatoes. But if you plant indeterminate tomatoes then you need a 24-inch diameter pot.
Use high quality soil Since you will be using pots then you need to use potting soil instead of regular soil for garden beds. Make sure that the soil is fluffy and light so moisture and air can easily move around. Then you also need to add aged compost that will enhance the soil quality.
Plant the tomatoes Start planting the tomatoes after the last frost has gone away since tomatoes need warm temperatures to grow. Then create a hole inside the pot so it will be deep enough for 2/3 of the stem to be buried inside. This is important to encourage the root to grow.
Put support When you plant tomatoes in pots, do not forget to add the support at the same time. That way, it will not disturb the growth which can happen if you put the support later on. You can use a cage, tomato tourtour, stake, or trellis as the support.
Put the soil in After you put the tomato in next you need to put in the soil. But make sure to leave at least 1 inch of space from the rim of the pot open. This is important so you can put mulch to the open space to protect your plant.
Water the plant You need to provide enough water so the tomatoes can grow. The soil should be moist enough but not too saturated since it can make it root. Do a test each time you want to water the plants. If the soil on top is dry then you need to water it. You might also need to pay attention to the season. During summer tomatoes might need daily watering since the heat will dry up the soil faster.
Give nutrient Even though you already use high quality soil with added nutrients when planting the tomatoes, you still need to give it nutrients. The initial nutrient will be enough for the plant to start growing but you need to give them fertilizer during the growing season. With enough nutrients your plant will be stronger and it can produce a lot of tomatoes.
Cleaning up Once the tomato season ends and the plants are spent then it is time for you to clean them up. Remove any remnants from the pot and discard the soil as well. Scrub the pots so there won’t be any soil left inside. Then you need to use bleach water to sterilize the pot. You can then use the pot to grow other plants after it is fully cleaned.
As you can see, planting tomatoes in pots is actually pretty easy. So, you do not need to worry if you do not have a big backyard and can just start planting tomatoes now.