Tomato Growing Tips

We all want to get started early in the spring planting our tomatoes, but we need to know when to plant them. But it doesn't pay to start them at the wrong time. Too early and you end up with leggy transplants that won't get a good start. Too late and you will miss the prime growing season for tomatoes. Here is a look at the best time to plant your tomatoes.
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One of the more popular varieties of tomatoes are beefsteak tomatoes. These are some of the larger tomatoes most gardeners grow, so they take some extra pride in them. Here are some tips to help you get the best beefsteak tomatoes around.
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You can always get the best selection and timing of when your tomato plants are available by starting your own tomato plants indoors, for example with an indoor greenhouse. Here's some tips on how to get your tomato plants started without those weak and spindly seedlings we all dread.
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Cherry tomatoes are a favorite of many gardeners. Cherry tomatoes have a few advantages over some of the larger tomato varieties that make them a must have in many tomato gardens. Here's a few tips on how to grow cherry tomatoes.

One thing to note is that most cherry tomato varieties are indeterminate tomatoes, which means that the vine will keep growing larger as time goes on. This is a good thing from the standpoint of extending the harvest, but it also means that cherry tomatoes are not a particularly good choice for use in a hanging tomato planter. Many gardeners make the mistake of thinking that small tomatoes means a small plant.
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When you have good luck with starting your tomato seedlings indoors, they may get too big for the starter tray before it gets warm enough to put them out. The best solution to this is to transplant your tomato plants into peat pots. Here's a simple procedure to safely transplant your tomatoes.
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There are a mind numbing variety of tomato breeds out there. Which tomato varieties will work the best for your garden? Here's a quick overview of what the different classes of tomatoes are, and a few suggestions for your garden.  And it's not just the old standby varieties.
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In our zeal to get those early spring tomatoes out, one of the best things we can do is start our own tomato seedlings at home.  Once we've gotten them to start, we may want to move them to something larger to keep them growing well and to help harden them off.  This article gives some pointers on successfully transplanting tomatoes to peat pots to give them room to grow.

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When spring is near we all want to get the jump on starting those new tomato plants in the hope that maybe this year we can get some tomatoes out of the garden earlier than normal.  However, all to often we are disappointed by the onset of a late frost or even a killing freeze.  Here are a few ideas on how to keep Jack Frost from stealing those early spring tomatoes away from us.

First, it's good to set aside a few plants just for the purpose of getting those early tomatoes.  Be sure you've chosen a variety that is not only a little more frost tolerant (there is a limit to how much cold any tomato can take before it is zapped by the cold) but just as importantly one that will set fruit in cold weather.  Check your seed catalog description to find the ones best suited for the cold.
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There are a variety of hanging planters you can used for your tomato planting.  There are the simple bags that hang a single plant upside down like the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter, and you can also find stands that hold more than one plant, or even a tomato garden that holds more than one tomato plant and a variety of herbs and/ or flowers as well.  Most of these can be put on a patio or balcony so that almost anyone can use these to house your garden.
Read more on Hanging Tomato Planters – A Look at the Alternatives…