Tomato Plants
Image: gardeningknowhow.com
For the past 15 years, Jeanne Marcis has served as Senior Multimedia Solutions Consultant at the Lake County headquarters of Clipper Magazine, where in her first year at the company she was nominated for the Sales Rookie of the Year award. Outside of her work life, Jeanne Marcis enjoys vegetable gardening and raises different types of plants, including tomato plants.
Growing tomatoes at home can be a rewarding and culinarily advantageous experience if done correctly. For beginners, there are certain gardening practices to keep in mind that will give tomato plants their best chance to thrive. Here are three of the most important things to do when growing tomatoes.
Ensure seedlings have adequate growth room if starting plants from seeds. If planted too closely, the seeds will compete for resources, which at best will result in stunted growth, and at worst can lead to the plants developing diseases. When they start showing their own leaves it’s time to move them to their own pot, ideally 4 inches in diameter.
Keep the plants in direct sunlight, or under a growing light if keeping them indoors. When using growing lights, the plants should be kept close to the light – only a couple of inches away – adjusting the light or the plant as growth dictates.
In order to promote healthy stem growth, tomato plants should be planted where they can experience a breeze. If growing them indoors, using a fan to blow air past them between 5 and 10 minutes two times a day should be adequate.
Jeanne Marcis 