When planting tomatoes, choose a warm and sunny location and do not neglect rotation: mildew or alternaria are carried by fungus spores capable of surviving several years in the soil.
There is no shortage of tomato varieties: one piece of advice: choose quality plants with well-developed plants and a stem the size of a pencil.
Tomatoes like
- A rich soil, ideally fertilized before planting.
- A very sunny exposure.
- A regular watering without wetting the foliage to avoid diseases.
Contents
Where to plant your tomatoes?
The tomato is a summer vegetable that needs warmth to ripen its fruit, offer it full sun.
Plant your tomatoes in moderately moist, humus-rich soil. Soils that are too rich in nitrogen reduce the flavor of the fruit and the productivity of the plant.
All soils are suitable, especially the light ones, except for those that are too clayey. Clean the plot of all its weeds.
Light soils are best for early cultivation, heavy soils are better suited for late tomato production.
In a row vegetable garden: count 5 feet per square feet.
In a vegetable garden in squares: one tomato plant is grown per square, in the center.
Where to plant tomatoes in your vegetable garden?
Respect the principles of crop rotation: do not plant your tomatoes where they were the previous year or where there were other plants of the same botanical family, that of Solanaceae (potatoes, peppers, chili peppers, eggplants …).
Since tomatoes need heat, find them a sunny location, preferably at sunset which offers a longer exposure to the heat, or against a sunny wall, for example.
Planting tomatoes in a greenhouse
The advantages of the greenhouse
The greenhouse makes it possible to fight against the tomato’s number one enemy: mildew! But yes, those brown spots that appear on the fruit and leaves that dry out. Quickly, the mildew gains ground and infests all tomato plants if we do not react, crops gone up in smoke.
The culture in cold greenhouse avoids the humidity of dew and rain, one controls the water supply and one limits greatly the appearance of this so dreaded disease. Moreover, it is warmer, the fruits ripen earlier and faster!
When to plant tomatoes in greenhouses?
Under greenhouse, we sow as early as February and plant as early as April, which saves a little time, depending on the region.
Where and how to find the best location to plant your tomatoes
– Choose for your tomato plants a warm and sunny place, sheltered from the wind.
– They appreciate a fertile and well-drained soil, rich in humus, amended and supple. Soils that are too nitrogenous or too clayey should be avoided.
– Respect the planting distances: generally planted in rows, keep 30 inches apart and leave 22 inches between the feet. In southern regions, you can space them further apart because their development is more generous. On the other hand, it is not recommended to tighten them more in cool climates, because even if you prune them a lot to get fruit faster, moisture is eliminated less quickly and therefore more possibility of mildew.
– Respect crop rotation: some diseases are carried by fungus spores that survive for years in the soil and some crops exhaust the soil or on the contrary enrich it with certain elements. You will plant tomatoes after leafy vegetables, lettuce, spinach, chard, or on a fallow bed or planted with a green manure the year before. After the tomato you can plant seed vegetables (peas, beans, broad beans).
– Place your tomato plants near: tagetes, marigolds, zinnias, marigolds, which will keep nematodes away, and are good insecticides. Aromatic plants are also essential, sage, basil, parsley have their place, and alliaceae are known to protect tomatoes from mildew.
– On the other hand avoid the vicinity of fennel, potatoes, cabbage.
Tomato harvest
Tomatoes are harvested in the summer and can be harvested in the fall if the climate permits.
- Harvest the tomato when it is well colored, usually 4 to 5 months after sowing.
- Some fruits can arrive very late in ripening.
- You can pick them and ripen them in your garage or on a window sill.
Summary
The tomato is a sun vegetable that likes pleasant temperatures to grow. To obtain a plentiful harvest, choose a sunny place well sheltered from the wind. Tomatoes will grow better the warmer it is.
We give you several hints about where to plant the tomatoes.
