A supply of homegrown tomatoes can make all the difference to your diet. And with just a few suggestions, you’ll be growing ripe, juicy and perfectly firm tomatoes in no time.
Sweet-smelling desi tomatoes are an essential part of a balanced and healthy diet due to their balanced profile. And fortunately, tomato is incredibly easy to seed at home in India. Even if you are short in space and do not have a garden, you can grow delicious and juicy tomatoes in containers without much effort. Simply grow and follow our guide Choose your favorite variety to enjoy a gift of sun-kissed crop tomatoes.
Selecting Tomato Seeds
Tomatoes are one of the most versatile varieties of vegetables (or fruits, pick your clan) used almost regularly in salads, sandwiches, juices, sauces, or in most dishes around the world for salsa and ketchup and authentic Indian cuisine. goes. The tomato that you plan to grow at home will largely depend on the plan to use the crop.
Some popular varieties of open-pollinated heirloom tomatoes are San Marzano, Paste Tomato or Plum Tomato, Cherry Tomato, Amish Paste, Yellow Pear, Rose, Black Crim, Cherokee Green, Cherokee Purple and Nepal.
All these varieties can be broadly divided into tomato determinations and indeterminate types. Prescribed varieties will produce shoots until the flowers bloom on the vine, while precarious varieties will flower with shoots and continue to grow until the weather conditions are favorable.
Thick-walled plum tomatoes are particularly popular due to the fact that the meat content is higher than that of seed cartons. The sweet touchiness of tomatoes is favored by chefs for their chewy meat and low water content. On the other hand, cherry tomatoes are a very tasty variety, often eaten raw in salads, pastas and pizzas. If you are looking for a juicy variety of tomatoes, then these brightly rounded red cherry tomatoes are your go-to variety. Both varieties of tomatoes are high in vitamins A, C, iron and lycopene, making them an ideal ingredient for a healthy diet, which increases immunity against cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
You may choose heirloom open-pollinated variety of tomato seeds online for all your home gardening needs.
Grow Tomatoes at Home in Pots
Tomato is a summer season vegetable and is usually grown yearly in summer. Tomato seeds should start indoors between March and June. How to grow tomatoes in your flower pot garden.
- To begin, plant tomato seeds 3 to 4 inches deep in pots or in medium to fertile soil to start seeds at a depth of approximately ately inches.
- Soil pH is best for tomatoes from 6.0 to 6.8. Tomatoes will grow in almost any type of garden soil except for heavy soil soils.
- The ideal temperature required for tomato seed germination is between 21 and 27 ℃ (70 to 80 germ). For best germination results, keep the pot in a warm and dark place. Transplanting should be visible in 10 to 14 days.
- The secret to growing healthy tomatoes at home is in the soil. Maintaining optimum soil moisture is essential for successful tomato growth.
- Seeds require very little water until germination. Use a spray bottle to mist the seedlings to keep the top of the soil moist. If you think the soil has become too moist, simply place the planted plant in an area with increased airflow.
Tomato Plants Care
The seeds should be sown at least 6 to 8 weeks in advance so that you can plan to plant them outside. For example, if you plan to transplant in early June, the seeds should be planted in mid-April. Once your tomato seedlings are five to six inches long, it is time to take them out of your small indoor pot to deep and large pots or outside your home garden, which gets 6 to 8 hours of good sunlight is. It is also called hardening from the plant. Follow these steps to get the young tomato seeds out easily.
- A good tip to remember for deciding on transplanting is to wait until the transplanting is three times the length of the pot.
- Start with a big clean utensil. Mix together well-drained soil and compost (if available). Select the healthiest plants to transplant on the road. Pinch the lowest branches of the plant to promote a healthy tomato plant with a healthy stem with a few branches at the top.
- Gently start loosening the original area of young plants and raise them with some soil at the roots. Do not pull the plants from the stems.
- Place the tomato seedling inside the new container filled with soil and cover it with soil to remove some of the outside. To grow strong tomato plants and large tomatoes, cut two-thirds of the plant at the time of planting.
- Water the seedlings immediately after transplanting so that they can settle well. Keep watering once every two days to keep the top layer of soil moist.
- If you are replicating plants directly in the garden, beware of dry soil as water can easily evaporate and damage the plants.
Common Problems of Tomato Plant
The tomato plant is susceptible to many garden pests including Aphids, Cutworms, Flea Beetles, Whiteflies and Hornworms. Garden pests can be avoided by keeping a regular check on the plant and pinching it on the affected foliage where there is a large concentration of pests.
Apart from these, some common diseases that can affect your tomato plant are:
- Late / Early Blight: This is a common fungal disease of tomato plants that can damage the entire plant. Blight can also spread to potatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
- Blossom & Rot: With the tomato ripening, a darker blot will appear on the bottom. This means that the plants are deficient in calcium. Therefore, calcium-rich organic manure can be added to the soil before planting to avoid this problem.
- Leaf rolls: Fully grown plants can start curling their leaves near the bottom due to very high temperatures, high moisture soils, and pruning.
- Blossom Drop: The tomato plant will flower but fall without any fruit. This is due to change in temperature, lack of moisture or lack of pollination.
- Fruit cracks: Cracks will develop due to moisture or insect bites in ripe tomatoes.
If you want to eradicate the common pests and diseases of tomato plant then organic pesticides like neem fertilizer is another option. In addition, frequent testing of the plant is another way to protect the plant from some common problems. In addition, organic seaweed fertilizer is a great way to promote more fruit in the plant. You can also dilute the liquid seaweed concentration depending on the needs of your plant.
Harvesting and usage
Tomatoes enjoy the vine best for its taste and flavor. After transplanting, you will start seeing fruits within 65 to 70 days. A fully ripe tomato will be softer than cripples. Each variety of tomatoes also varies, but most tomatoes are prepared late in summer, planted in early spring.
Grasp the fruit with your hand and gently pull it from the stem. Store tomatoes at 13 ° C to 21 ° C (55 to 69 ° F) or in a cooler if you want to keep the tomatoes longer, and check regularly for ripening.
In addition to using fresh tomatoes in salads, pizzas, and pastas, you can use them for chutneys, pickles, etc. in a variety of Indian dishes.
Growing tomatoes is an easy way to go to your home gardening and get fresh ingredients for your soups, salads, sandwiches and more. Start in a variety of ways to grow and enjoy a blissful harvest from your home garden.
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