Growing and caring for tomatoes at home

Tomatoes are an excellent source of tomato calories, vitamins A and C, containing a lot of other nutrients such as the powerful antioxidant lycopene, low in fat and cholesterol free. Tomato is often used in family meals or as a juice due to its high calorie content of healthy tomatoes. The technique of growing tomatoes at home is not too difficult, as long as you persistently follow the instructions, the results will be great.

1. Prepare

- Seeds, location, pots, soil, watering can

Tomato is a fruit with the ability to grow strongly so you can plant it at any time of the year, but to get the most delicious tomatoes, the best you Should be planted in cool climates, where the weather is warm, the night temperature must be continuously above 15 ○ C.

+ Choose tomato varieties

Currently, there are many different varieties of tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, black tomatoes, organic tomatoes, ... In which, organic tomatoes are considered to be easy to grow and produce large fruits. You can buy seedlings about 1 month old from reputable nurseries for easy planting, or grow from seeds by purchasing seeds, getting seeds from ripe berries, but growing from seeds will be more difficult and take a lot of work. more time.

+ Tomato growing location:You should grow tomatoes in a location with lots of light, ventilation, continuous sunshine for about 6-8 hours / day, such as balconies, terraces, outside the yard, ... So the tree will produce ripe fruit berry, fresh and delicious.

+ Choose pots to plant:Tomatoes should be planted in a large pot or foam bin because it has enough space and can easily be drained out. If you don't have a foam bin, you can use other large pots, as long as they need holes for the plant to drain.

+ Choose soil types to grow tomatoes

For best results, you should grow them on organic, nutritious soil. This soil type can be easily found in bonsai markets. Or you can also make your own soil and use composted cow and chicken manure for nutritional supplementation. If you build the soil yourself, you should keep the soil in the sun for a few days to reduce the risk of pests and diseases in the soil.

 2. Steps to grow tomatoes

(There are 3 ways: Growing tomatoes from seeds, Growing tomatoes from tomatoes or growing tomatoes from small plants purchased already)

 + Growing tomatoes from seeds

Materials, tools: Seeds, soil, nursery tray, watering can, lid (or food wrap)

Step 1: Soak the seeds with a little warm water (about 2 hours), then keep in a damp towel for 6 hours.

Step 2: Spread clean soil into the holes in the seeding tray, gently compress the ground about 0.5cm from the edge of the tray. Create sowing holes, each tray makes 2 holes, each hole about 1- 1.5cm deep. Do not make holes too deep, as this will not allow the seeds to rise.

Step 3: Sow seeds into holes of soil, 1 hole for sowing 1 seed. After sowing seeds, spread a thin layer of soil to cover the seeds.

Step 4: Water just enough, use a lid (or film wrap) to cover the surface of the nursery tray to maintain moisture. Then put the seedling tray in a dark place, shield it from insects, monitor the humidity regularly and wait for the seed to sprout and bloom.

+ grow tomatoes from the fruit

Materials and tools: Tomato fruit, Nursery pot, Soil, Watering bottle

Step 1: Choose ripe tomatoes, cut into thin slices just right.

Step 2: Put the soil in the nursery pot and place the sliced ​​tomatoes in the pot. Then cover with a thin layer of soil, water with enough moisture, monitor moisture daily and wait 7-10 days after seeds germinate.

+ Growing tomatoes from seedlings

You use trees that have been planted with fruit or seeds, you can buy seedlings from seedling nurseries and should choose to buy from a reputable place.

Materials and tools: Tomato seedlings about 1 month old, Pots / foam bin, Soil, Watering tank

Step 1: Put loose, porous soil into the pot / foam bin, then cut small holes 50-70cm apart and place the tomato plant down, about the depth of the tree.

Step 2: Water the soil moist and bring the pot to the sun gradually for the plants to get used to first. After about 1 month, let the tree sunbathe directly from 6-8 hours / day.

 3. How to take care of tomatoes

+ Watering

The right time to water your plants is early in the morning or in the afternoon. When watering, only water directly on the stem or soil. Do not water the leaves. Depending on each growing stage, plants will need different amounts of water, but at least 500ml of water for two plants in one watering. Pay attention to adjusting the amount of water with each growth stage of the plant.

When the tree is mature, choose about 2-3 times a week to water more than usual, about 4 liters of water / time. Note that when it is hot, increase the amount of water or decrease the amount of water when it rains.

+ Land for planting

Planting soil must always be kept well-ventilated, only maintained in a moderate humidity and avoid waterlogging.

+ Make a rack for tomato plants

When the tomato plant begins to grow about 1.5 - 2 months after planting, the stem is prone to falling, so you have to make a scaffold for the plant before flowering. You can use bamboo stakes, wooden slats, iron, plastic ... to fix them as supports. You should choose suitable puncture sizes and materials.

+ Fertilizer for tomatoes

When the plant reaches its flowering stage, you must add a good amount of nutrients to the plant through fertilizer. During this period, organic fertilizers should be used to provide nutrients and stimulate fruit growth.

+ Pests and diseases tomatoes

Gray worm: often appears when the tree is young. During the day they hide in the ground and will bite trees at night. To prevent this worm, before you start planting tomatoes, you should dry the soil in the sun for a few days to clean the soil, limiting the appearance of gray worms.

Fruit borer: The worm usually lays eggs on the leaves, when hatching into a child, they will chisel the leaves and eat the fruit. If you encounter this pest, you should visit plant protection stores for advice on the right pesticides.

+ Harvest tomatoes

When a Tomato is ripe, you just need to harvest you, use scissors or a knife to gently prune ripe fruits, without disturbing the rest of the plant.

+ Preserving tomatoes

Choose ripe fruit that is shiny and firm, rinsed and then drained and sealed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, which will ensure the calories in the tomatoes.

Hope with the information you just shared about how to grow tomatoes will be useful to you. Good luck!