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People who grow tomatoes look forward to summer because it’s when they get a lot of juicy veggies. But there are a few important things you need to do in the spring before picking season that will affect the amount and quality of the goods your plant makes.
Here are 10 things to do this spring to get the huge tomato harvest and have more tomatoes than you can handle by the end of summer.
1. Planting Seedlings
You should move your plants as soon as the last chance of frost has passed in early to mid-spring and the ground has warmed up.
This is the first thing you should do in the spring. You might have bought them at a local store or started them from seeds inside.
When the tomato plants are about 3 to 4 inches tall, they are ready to be planted. This time is very important for the plant’s long-term growth because it sets the stage for the rest of the season and decides how well your plant will grow and how many crops you will get. How you move your plants is just as important as how you improve the soil, which we’ll talk about next.
When the plants are replanted, the key to strong root systems and, finally, a better harvest is found.
It’s amazing that roots can grow all the way down tomato stalks. This means that any part that touches the ground will make the root system stronger.
When moving a plant, it’s important to cover as much of it as possible, about two-thirds, to strengthen the roots at a young age and help the plant grow in a healthy way.
There are two different ways to do this. The first way is to dig a hole that is two-thirds as deep as your plant, place it in the hole, and then cover it.
The second method is to put the plant sideways in a hole that is twice as wide as the plant and twice as deep. Once the stalk is buried, it will start to grow toward the sun while staying strong and straight.
2. Improving the Soil of tomato plants
Before you move, you should also check the soil to make sure it will help your tomatoes grow in the long run.
Once you’ve planted all of your tomato seeds, poor soil will hurt your summer crop in a huge way and will be hard to fix quickly.
Tomatoes grow best in the dirt which has a pH range from slightly acidic to neutral and is full of organic matter. Start by mixing a healthy amount of soil into the ground. Integrate it well to get to the roots that will grow deeper into the ground.
You can also add bone meal or Epsom salts to your soil if it needs more phosphorous or if it needs more magnesium.
Even though these additives are only needed if your soil doesn’t have enough nutrients, you should test your soil first. Any of these minerals can be given too much too soon, which will hurt your summer crop.
If your soil is more silt than clay, you can also add more things that drain, like river sand or perlite. Add peat grass or coconut coir, both of which can be used again and again, to help the soil absorb more water.
3. Weeding technique in tomato plants
After you move, your young plants will be more likely to fight with each other, which will slow root and stem growth and make them bloom later.
Weeds need to be pulled out regularly, and young plants should be pulled out before they have a chance to grow strong roots. This will lower the chance of getting sick by avoiding crowding and ending competition for food.
Read More:
- Will Tomato Plants Regrow Every Year?
- Why Tomato Leaves are Beneficial for Your Garden? (5 Solid Reasons)
- White spots on tomato leaves: their causes and fixes
4. Implement drip watering
We all know how hard it is to take care of veggies. They need a lot of water all through the season to grow those tasty crops. Even a few days without water can hurt your crop in a huge way.
Depending on how much rain falls in your area and how bright the sun is, you may need to water your tomatoes every few days in the spring.
As the temperatures rise in the summer, you may need to water them more often. Early water absorption is important for strong growth later on.
Your plants could die from the spread of bacterial and fungal diseases caused by overhead watering. It is also important to water deeply, especially in the early spring, to get the roots to go down.
One way to do it right is to use a line and pay attention to the soil, but drip watering is much easier and more reliable. Even though it can be pricey, the benefits of summer are well worth the cost.
The best time to set up a drip watering system is right after spring sowing or right before it. This means that you can put them right next to your plants without changing how they grow.
5. Plant Partners with tomatoes
If you haven’t already, early spring is the best time to plan for your tomato patch’s long-term season. In your tomato garden, there are many plants that can help with things like making the tomatoes taste better and keeping bugs away.
Basil should be one of the first things you choose. Basil should be grown low so that the lower parts of the plant don’t get too much shade. Pests like whiteflies, thrips, and mosquitoes are often found in tomato plots.
It is also said to give tomatoes a smell and taste like basil, which makes them taste better. They are also great to help when it comes to cooking.
If basil isn’t on your list of things to grow, there are lots of other things to think about. One is garlic, which is said to keep aphids and spider mites away because of its strong smell.
Nasturtiums can be grown close to your fruit-bearing plants as a catch crop to keep bugs
away. Marigolds are also a good choice because they can keep pests away and their flowers are very pretty.
6. Fertilize to help leaves grow
Even though some farmers like to move first before feeding, this does increase the chance of fertilizer burn. Instead, feed the plant in the spring, about a month after you move it. This will help the stalks and leaves grow and give the plant a strong base for making a huge tomato harvest.
Later, more phosphorus is needed to make flowers grow better. But in the spring, it’s best to pay attention to nitrogen. First, find out how much nitrogen is on the earth.
If the minerals are at their best, a 10-10-10 fertilizer that is spread straight on the ground is ideal. If the nitrogen amounts are less, use a 10-5-5 instead.
Just before the fruit is ready to be picked, remember to feed it again with a fertilizer made for growing and fruiting. Too much nitrogen will make the leaves grow at the expense of the fruit.
7. Providing support to plants
Most types of tomatoes need some kind of support to keep their vines off the ground. This keeps the plant from dying from rot or disease before you can pick it.
Even though some small fixed plants can grow on their own without help, anything longer than 1 or 2 feet will need something to hold it up.
After planting seeds in the spring, supports must be put in place right away. By doing this, you keep the structure from causing damage to the roots, which could affect your crop.
The best time to move is right after because you’ll know where the roots are. However, you can also move soon after. It is better to add support later than to not add it at all.
Again, you can choose between a few things. For smaller plants, burying a simple stick near the main stalk and tying it to the stalk as the plant grows works well.
Tomato frames are also helpful for smaller plants, but it is easier to use hand-built trellis systems for bigger, irregular plants.
8. Pruning in tomato plants
Most of the time, trimming is done at the end of the growing season for most plants. Tomatoes are the only thing that breaks this rule.
Trimming the plant regularly in the middle and end of spring helps shape it and strengthen the main branches, which makes it more likely to bloom later.
Suckers are the stems that grow out between stalks at an angle of 45°. If you don’t pay attention to them, they will eventually grow into full arms. But this can make the plant too crowded, so it puts most of its energy into growing new stems and leaves instead of fruit.
As roots grow from the bottom of the plant, cut them off with a pair of sharp cutting scissors or break them off with your finger.
Cut off any leaves that are sick or hurt, as well as any branches that are touching the ground while you work. Because of this, the plant will stay strong and be ready to bear its first crops in the summer.
9. Propagate in tomato plants
Luckily, cutting leeches back doesn’t have to be a huge pain. You can use these seeds to grow huge tomato plants that you can put outside later in the season. This will help you keep getting tomatoes until late summer or even later.
Put in a bowl of water any branches that are 4 inches or longer and cover about two-thirds of the stalk. Every few days, change the water and keep it clean so roots can grow along the stalk. Once the roots are about an inch or two tall, you can put these cuttings in pots or right in the yard to keep growing.
By far the best way to increase your summer crop is to grow your general stock and, as a result, your overall crop.
Read More:
- Unveiling the Tomato Calories: How Many Calories Are in a Tomato?
- Tomato Powder: Preserving the Essence of Fresh Tomatoes for Longer
- When to Feed Tomato Plants: A Comprehensive Guide
10. Mulch in tomato plants
The best way to save your summer crop is to keep the soil moist (but not soaked), because tomatoes need a lot of water to grow and ripen. How many crops you get, how huge they are, and how tasty they depend on how much water your plant gets.
Mulching is an easy way to keep the dirt moist without directly soaking it. As soon as the temperature goes up, put a thick layer of leaves around the base of your tomato plants to stop them from losing water through their leaves.
It also stops plants from growing and makes it easier to get rid of the ones that do.
Choose a fertilizer that breaks down slowly over time to help the earth. Check out our list of the best tomato mulches for a full rundown.
Conclusion
Take Pleasure in the Increased Production of Your Tomatoes this spring. If you follow these things, you should be able to increase your tomato production, allowing you to take advantage of your delectable production for the entirety of the spring.
