Seeds, herbs, and vegetable garden

Taming Your Tomatoes: Planting and Care

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End of May, beginning of June: it's time to plant tomatoes outdoors. Tomato plants, especially those with indeterminate growth, can quickly expand and become uncontrollable. If you want to have abundant harvests while keeping some order in the garden, here are a few tips to help you.

The type of soil and location

Tomatoes appreciate rich and light, well-drained soil. When planting, add Compost marin Passion Jardins to the planting hole to properly nourish your roots. Place your tomatoes sheltered from the wind, in a well-lit location where there is between 6 and 8 hours of sunlight daily.

Planting

Tomatoes have the ability to produce roots all along their stem. Therefore, take advantage of this quality by planting the tomatoes almost horizontally to encourage optimal rooting. You can bury the stem up to halfway, taking care to remove the leaves. Add mycorrhizae to promote root development. If your plants already have flowers or fruits, remove them so that the plant focuses first on its rooting. Sprinkle your plantings with natural vegetable and fruit fertilizer Passion Jardins to optimize growth and fruit production.

Staking

One to two weeks after planting, install a tomato cage or a stake to help control your plants, which could grow in all directions and whose branches could break under the weight of the fruits. The longer you wait, the harder the task will be. There are several types of stakes for tomatoes in addition to the traditional cages: the straight stake, the tipi, the trellis... ask for advice on the best stake suited to your situation from a professional at your favorite Passion Jardins retailer!

And what about the suckers?

A question that often arises regarding tomato plants: should we cut the suckers or not? Suckers are secondary stems that grow in the leaf axils and can, in the case of tomatoes, produce fruits. It is not necessary to cut them, but it is not forbidden either! Pruning some secondary branches can help you keep your plant more compact and give you space to move around. Also, since the plant doesn't need to provide energy to the secondary stems to produce fruits, those on the main stems will be a bit larger. It’s therefore up to the gardener’s choice!

By applying these few tips, you should maintain a nice, clean garden and have well-behaved tomato plants that, hopefully, will offer you an abundant harvest!

 

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