Tomato Growing Tips

Homegrown tomatoes are beyond delicious and truly embody the taste of summer.  I like to grow specific types, and those varieties of plants are not available for purchase where I live.  This means that I start my tomatoes from seed. 

 

Once the tomato seeds sprout and get their second set of leaves, they are ready to be transplanted.  One issue is that tomatoes are often “leggy” meaning they have long, thin stems. 

 

 

These tomato stems also have lots of tiny “hairs” which are actually the beginnings of additional roots.  To take advantage of these extra roots and to strengthen your tomato plants, you should always plant them as deep as possible anytime you move them.  That means the seedling above now looks like this when transplanted.

 

 

This plant could even have been planted a bit deeper.  I like to plant them as close to the top set of leaves as possible.  This may mean that you need remove some leaves from lower on the stems and that you may need to lay the stems flat or even curl them around.  Do what you need to get them as deep as you can in the dir.  This gives you a stronger root system and a stronger plant.

 

A final tip for strengthening your indoor seedlings/plants is to mimic the wind by gently brushing your hand across the top part of the plants.  This action signals to the plant that it needs to grow a stronger stem to withstand the “winds”.  I try to do this daily once the plants have their true leaves.