Hey again tomato guru’s! Hope the garden is going well. As you already know (well, you probably don’t seeing that I’m the only loyal follower of this blog so far!), yesterday I started off writing a series called How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks, you should read it first if you haven’t as yet. This is part two and in this article I will delve deeper in this topic and lets see how far I can go.
Again, I have not yet completed this series and am writing as it comes to me, so forgive me if the structure is not perfect. I would rather write this article and concentrate on providing solid info as compared to worrying about the technical details. Hope that you feel the same way!
Don’t forget to read part 1 on How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks-Collecting Organic Materials first.
Just to quickly re-cap yesterday, I spoke about what you should use in your tomato gardening compost heap, and what you should not use.
Very briefly:
USE: Leaves, hedge stems, woody twigs and dry branches, tree bark; Grass cuttings and weeds; Old cardboard boxes and newspaper; And the best off all Cut Tomato Plants.
DON’T USE: Any cooked food and dairy products, and human faeces.
Okay then tomato gardeners, shall we get our hands messy? Yes? Great! You should put some gloves on first. You do know why right? To keep germs off your hands off course!Get ready to make organic compost that tomatoes love! I’m done babbling sorry, time to get to work! Lets make some great organic compost that tomato plants will absolutely love. They may even reward you with some great tomatoes! Oh, no I’m babbling again aren’t I…
1) Shredding all of the organic matter into smaller pieces:
Since the aim of this project is to make compost really quickly, we need the matter to decompose as soon as possible. Shredding up all of the branches and twigs will greatly reduce the time that it takes to breakdown and release stored nutrients.
There are two ways of getting the shredding done, and NO, I don’t mean getting someone to do it for you! You could either use a metal shredder that you can purchase from most gardening stores. I’m not really sure about the price of them coz’ I don’t use them. They are however, apparently much more quicker to use and therefore may be great choice for you if you have the money to spend. Also, they cut up the branches into much smaller pieces and this will help it to decompose faster.
The cheaper method is to manually chop up the branches into finer pieces. You can do this by using the side of a spade like a jackhammer. The edges of a spade are usually quite sharp and with some force it will easily rip through a small tree branch. I recommend that you lay the braches and twigs flat on the ground and then start chopping away. You should do this in a vacant piece of garden soil as a miss with the spade could easily damage a concrete floor. Take note though, this method is really hard work!
Now that you have all of your materials in small pieces, we can move onto the next step of making organic compost that tomato plants really love…
2)Getting soil to mix with the rest of the organic matter:
the next thing that you need to get is soil for your compost heap. You can just add all of the organic matter into a compost bin and expect it to decompose! I suggest that you get as much soil as you can (well, a barrel full should be enough. Don’t be a “real” tomato gardener and order a truckload!). I suggest that you get se good quality topsoil, which you can get from most gardening nurseries or even from your own garden. The reason we need top soil is because it will have microbes in it that play a vital role in decomposing the organic matter. Wherever you get the soil from you need to make sure that it doesn’t have Any weeds in it or even any seeds as they will grow and spoil your tomato gardening compost. That’s why I suggest that you get the soil from a nursery, as it will probably not have this problem.
Okay tomatoes, and that’s it for today. No, its not that I’m lazy to write more its just that its human tendency to NOT take action if given too much of information at once. For today you will need to shred up all of your gardening materials and then get some topsoil for your organic tomato compost heap.
Tomorrow I will try to close up this series on How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks. now that you have collected the materials and are going to cut it up, all that’s left is to actually make the compost. That’s the fun part and also the easy part! I’m going to tell you about a way that will allow your organic matter to decompose as quick as possible.
I hope that you are enjoying this series so far? Am I doing this blogging thingy right? Do I need to provide more info? Should I have just turned this whole series into one Long article (around 2500 words)? Please give me some feed back tomato gardeners, I really Do want to provide solid info that benefits all of you guys! Chat tomorrow guys, don’t forget to water the tomatoes!
Check out the final part of this series, How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes will Love, in 12 weeks-composting-part 3
Rabu, 09 Desember 2009
Selasa, 08 Desember 2009
How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks-Collecting Organic Materials-Part 1
Hey all you tomato gardening fanatics, how’s the tomatoes growing? Well, if they look a bit down and dreary rest assured you can help! I wrote this article to walk you through the steps that you need to take to make your own tomato gardening compost that your favorite plants will just love. The best part of this all? You can have your organic, and nutrient rich tomato growing compost ready in as little as twelve (yes, 12) weeks. Never again will you have to worry about your tomatoes being well nourished, and producing poor crops.
This article will probably span out into two or three parts, I’m not sure because I want to write as it flows. In this part (part one) of the series, “How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks” I will tell you about the types of materials that you can use in your tomato heap and will also tell you what you should not use.
The thing that I really like about making my tomato gardening compost compared with buying it is that you get to control what goes into the heap and what stays out. If you don’t want to add something to your compost heap, no problem, its totally up to you!
Another great thing about making your own organic gardening compost for tomato plants is that it saves money, a lot of it! Now every body wants to save a buck or two, or maybe even three or four, so why not try making your own tomato planting compost before you rush out to buy it.
Lets start off by looking at what you COULD use in your organic tomato heap:
- Grass cuttings and weeds. You’ve heard it before but its so true! But, what you probably haven’t heard is that they are nitrogen rich and will do a world of wonders for your tomatoes. You have to have grass cuttings in a compost heap for this process to work, and honestly I don’t see any excuses you as to why you can’t get any. You could mow your lawn, or better yet mow the neighbors’ lawn! You’ll get grass for your garden and a thumbs up from the neighbor’s, it’s a win-win situation really. Wherever you get it from, just make sure you have some for your tomato-composting heap.
- Leaves, woody branches and twigs, hedge prunings (like rose stems), and even tree bark. These contain carbon and are essential for the healthy growth of your tomato plants. However, since they decompose super slowly, you need to keep them to a minimum if you want your tomato gardening compost to be ready in twelve weeks.
- Cardboard, newspaper, and egg cartons. This is one of the simplest types of materials you can find and will work well in a tomato compost heap. The reason being is that they decompose fairly quickly and they are environmentally friendly so that makes them pretty cool to use for
tomato gardening. A note here: Don’t use any thing that has to much of color on it, as the color ink is not so environmentally friendly. Also, shy away from the glossy types they take much longer to decompose.
- Old tomato plants themselves- The Granddaddy of compost material for growing tomatoes in. did you know that old tomato vines are one of THE BEST materials that you could use in a compost heap for tomatoes? Well, its true! Tomatoes just love growing from the nutrients provided by decomposing tomato plants, I don’t know why, but they do. To use tomato vines for a compost heap, you need to first shred the vines up into smaller pieces so that they can decompose faster and be ready for the tomato gardening in around twelve weeks.
Now, let us go on to the material that you should not use for your tomato garden, I’m just going to list them very briefly as there is much to say except, DON’T USE THEM. They are: Meat (raw or cooked); dairy products like milk etc.; cooked food fruit or vegetables included; dog or human faeces (you’d be surprised at how many people think that you can, but you CAN’T); and anything inorganic like plastic, glass etc.
That’s’ it for this article folks, now its your turn to get involved. How about we set a challenge for today. Try to gather as many and much of the things that you are going to be using for your tomato compost heap today, and tomorrow we will go into how to use them. Get some grass cutting, leaves anything that will be going into your tomato gardening compost heap, and you can put them into a plastic bag for now, or a compost bin if you have one. But, before you do that, why not tell me what You think should go into our tomato gardening compost heap? I’d be glad to et your opinions in the comments section. Oh, and check back tomorrow for part two of this series in making organic compost that tomatoes will love.
Read part 2 of: How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks-Shredding and Getting Soil.
Or, check out part 3: How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes will Love, in 12 weeks-composting-part 3
This article will probably span out into two or three parts, I’m not sure because I want to write as it flows. In this part (part one) of the series, “How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks” I will tell you about the types of materials that you can use in your tomato heap and will also tell you what you should not use.
The thing that I really like about making my tomato gardening compost compared with buying it is that you get to control what goes into the heap and what stays out. If you don’t want to add something to your compost heap, no problem, its totally up to you!
Another great thing about making your own organic gardening compost for tomato plants is that it saves money, a lot of it! Now every body wants to save a buck or two, or maybe even three or four, so why not try making your own tomato planting compost before you rush out to buy it.
Lets start off by looking at what you COULD use in your organic tomato heap:
- Grass cuttings and weeds. You’ve heard it before but its so true! But, what you probably haven’t heard is that they are nitrogen rich and will do a world of wonders for your tomatoes. You have to have grass cuttings in a compost heap for this process to work, and honestly I don’t see any excuses you as to why you can’t get any. You could mow your lawn, or better yet mow the neighbors’ lawn! You’ll get grass for your garden and a thumbs up from the neighbor’s, it’s a win-win situation really. Wherever you get it from, just make sure you have some for your tomato-composting heap.
- Leaves, woody branches and twigs, hedge prunings (like rose stems), and even tree bark. These contain carbon and are essential for the healthy growth of your tomato plants. However, since they decompose super slowly, you need to keep them to a minimum if you want your tomato gardening compost to be ready in twelve weeks.
- Cardboard, newspaper, and egg cartons. This is one of the simplest types of materials you can find and will work well in a tomato compost heap. The reason being is that they decompose fairly quickly and they are environmentally friendly so that makes them pretty cool to use for
tomato gardening. A note here: Don’t use any thing that has to much of color on it, as the color ink is not so environmentally friendly. Also, shy away from the glossy types they take much longer to decompose.
- Old tomato plants themselves- The Granddaddy of compost material for growing tomatoes in. did you know that old tomato vines are one of THE BEST materials that you could use in a compost heap for tomatoes? Well, its true! Tomatoes just love growing from the nutrients provided by decomposing tomato plants, I don’t know why, but they do. To use tomato vines for a compost heap, you need to first shred the vines up into smaller pieces so that they can decompose faster and be ready for the tomato gardening in around twelve weeks.
Now, let us go on to the material that you should not use for your tomato garden, I’m just going to list them very briefly as there is much to say except, DON’T USE THEM. They are: Meat (raw or cooked); dairy products like milk etc.; cooked food fruit or vegetables included; dog or human faeces (you’d be surprised at how many people think that you can, but you CAN’T); and anything inorganic like plastic, glass etc.
That’s’ it for this article folks, now its your turn to get involved. How about we set a challenge for today. Try to gather as many and much of the things that you are going to be using for your tomato compost heap today, and tomorrow we will go into how to use them. Get some grass cutting, leaves anything that will be going into your tomato gardening compost heap, and you can put them into a plastic bag for now, or a compost bin if you have one. But, before you do that, why not tell me what You think should go into our tomato gardening compost heap? I’d be glad to et your opinions in the comments section. Oh, and check back tomorrow for part two of this series in making organic compost that tomatoes will love.
Read part 2 of: How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes Will Love, in Twelve Weeks-Shredding and Getting Soil.
Or, check out part 3: How to Make Organic Compost that Tomatoes will Love, in 12 weeks-composting-part 3
Senin, 07 Desember 2009
Growing Tomatoes In a Tire-Its Fun, Easy and Interesting
If you live in a climate that is warm but dry, and often experiences frost-growing tomatoes in a tire is for you! This is a simple method of gardening that allows you to grow large, round, juicy and tasty tomatoes without having to spend a lot of money or time. Also, it works well when conditions are not so favorable to tomato plants like wind and heavy rain. You will soon be able to overcome these problems however by growing tomatoes in a tire.
It’s really simple to start growing tomatoes in a tire and its very inexpensive. I will go through the steps that you need to follow when you are using this style of tomato gardening. If you want to grow great tomatoes all the time, then this technique will suite you quite nicely.
First let me explain exactly what I mean when I talk about growing tomatoes in a tire. It basically requires you to place old tires around some organic, nutrient rich compost and then planting your tomato plants in the compost. The tire surrounding the plants acts as a barrier to the elements.
To start growing tomatoes in a tire, you need to gather up a few old and large tires (which you can get for free if you politely ask the guy at your local service station). Depending on how many tomato plants you are growing, you will need two tires for each plant. The larger the tire, the better for your tomatoes, and it also enables you to grow up to three tomato plants per tire.
The process of growing tomatoes in a tire is really a simple one. First, you need to add some compost to a small area (just a little larger than the circumference of the tire) of ground and mix it in thoroughly. Then you need to place the tire onto the ground and slightly push it into the ground so that it stays firmly in place.
You will now need to plant your tomato seeds in the compost. The depth of planting will be the same as regular tomato gardening so I will not go into detail here. If you chose a tire that is fairly large, then you will be able to comfortably plant about three tomato plants.
After you have sown the seeds in to the ground, you will need to fill some water into the sides of the tire. On almost all tires, there is a sight “trough” around the inner part of the tire. You need to fill this part up to the brim with water, but don’t let it overflow as it will make the soil soggy.
Now, you will need to cover the top of the tire with a plastic bag/ sheet. I suggest that you use clear plastic so as not to interfere with the tomato plants ability to absorb the radiant energy from the sun and produce large sweet tomatoes. You just need to pull the plastic sheet over the top of the tire and then you can pin the overlapping sides into the ground. You have to make sure that no moisture can enter the tire so and no heat can escape.
The plastic over the tire creates a warm moist environment for the tomatoes to thrive in. during the day; the tire will absorb the heat energy off the sun therefore warming up the air in the tire. The water will also warm up. At night, the warm water will cool slower than the surrounding air (this is because water is transparent and stationary unlike land which is opaque which only allows the top layer to be warmed) and will therefore keep the tomato plants warmer for longer.
Once your tomato plants start growing and blossoming, its time to remove the plastic so that the plant can get fresh air and produce healthy tomatoes. You can still leave the tires around the tomato plants if you want, as they will continue to protect the tomatoes form the elements and possible damage.
There now, its not that difficult to start growing tomatoes in a tire is it? If you follow my advice, you will surely be able to grow great tomatoes all of the time and enjoy having a tasty and nutritious snack available at any time that you or your family desires, or I Could Follow Your Advice, Do You Have any Ideas/ Tips to Share. What’s you experience with growing tomatoes in a tire?
It’s really simple to start growing tomatoes in a tire and its very inexpensive. I will go through the steps that you need to follow when you are using this style of tomato gardening. If you want to grow great tomatoes all the time, then this technique will suite you quite nicely.
First let me explain exactly what I mean when I talk about growing tomatoes in a tire. It basically requires you to place old tires around some organic, nutrient rich compost and then planting your tomato plants in the compost. The tire surrounding the plants acts as a barrier to the elements.
To start growing tomatoes in a tire, you need to gather up a few old and large tires (which you can get for free if you politely ask the guy at your local service station). Depending on how many tomato plants you are growing, you will need two tires for each plant. The larger the tire, the better for your tomatoes, and it also enables you to grow up to three tomato plants per tire.
The process of growing tomatoes in a tire is really a simple one. First, you need to add some compost to a small area (just a little larger than the circumference of the tire) of ground and mix it in thoroughly. Then you need to place the tire onto the ground and slightly push it into the ground so that it stays firmly in place.
You will now need to plant your tomato seeds in the compost. The depth of planting will be the same as regular tomato gardening so I will not go into detail here. If you chose a tire that is fairly large, then you will be able to comfortably plant about three tomato plants.
After you have sown the seeds in to the ground, you will need to fill some water into the sides of the tire. On almost all tires, there is a sight “trough” around the inner part of the tire. You need to fill this part up to the brim with water, but don’t let it overflow as it will make the soil soggy.
Now, you will need to cover the top of the tire with a plastic bag/ sheet. I suggest that you use clear plastic so as not to interfere with the tomato plants ability to absorb the radiant energy from the sun and produce large sweet tomatoes. You just need to pull the plastic sheet over the top of the tire and then you can pin the overlapping sides into the ground. You have to make sure that no moisture can enter the tire so and no heat can escape.
The plastic over the tire creates a warm moist environment for the tomatoes to thrive in. during the day; the tire will absorb the heat energy off the sun therefore warming up the air in the tire. The water will also warm up. At night, the warm water will cool slower than the surrounding air (this is because water is transparent and stationary unlike land which is opaque which only allows the top layer to be warmed) and will therefore keep the tomato plants warmer for longer.
Once your tomato plants start growing and blossoming, its time to remove the plastic so that the plant can get fresh air and produce healthy tomatoes. You can still leave the tires around the tomato plants if you want, as they will continue to protect the tomatoes form the elements and possible damage.
There now, its not that difficult to start growing tomatoes in a tire is it? If you follow my advice, you will surely be able to grow great tomatoes all of the time and enjoy having a tasty and nutritious snack available at any time that you or your family desires, or I Could Follow Your Advice, Do You Have any Ideas/ Tips to Share. What’s you experience with growing tomatoes in a tire?
Sabtu, 14 November 2009
Fertilizer For Tomato Gardening-Make Your Own Or Buy It
If you have or are planning on starting a tomato garden, then you will know that you have to choose the correct fertilizer for tomatoes to ensure that your plants will grow healthily and disease free. Many people make the mistake of not deciding on which type of fertilizer they will use beforehand and as a result often end up with a bad crop.
There are two main options when it comes to fertilizer for tomatoes, and in this article I will discuss them both so that you have the necessary information to make the right choices when you are ready to use fertilizer for tomatoes. Below, I will provide my opinions on making your own fertilizer for tomatoes and buying it.
1) Making your own fertilizer for tomatoes, its hard work but its super fun!
This option is the cheapest method and is therefore a popular choice amongst many tomato gardeners. Like the name suggests, you simply make you own fertilizer for tomatoes instead of buying it. There is a wide variety of materials that you can use to make fertilizers for tomatoes, and some of the LESS COMMON options are to use horse manure, egg shells, bon meal and even worm castings. Each of the types of organic compost come with their own pros and cons and I would like to write a few posts in the future about how to use the different types. If you have any experience with any of these types or others, please feel free to share them in the comments section.
The biggest advantage of making your own organic fertilizers is that you can save a lot of money. The disadvantage however, is that it can be fairly hard work to consistently make the compost so that you can regularly add them to your tomato garden. If you plan on making your own, you will probably have to dedicate entire days just to do it. If you have enough time, and the will to do it, then making your own fertilizer for tomatoes is a great idea.
2) Purchasing the fertilizer, the easy way out if you don’t have the time and can afford it
This option is a better one if you do have the money to spend, and would prefer not to go through the tiresome process of making your own tomato gardening fertilizers. Note however, most of the compost that you can buy is not organic so you will be causing the environment harm and the fertilizer for tomatoes may have been made using harmful stuff. But, there are quite a few fertilizers for tomatoes that are organic and this is a much better choice. You will be paying a higher price though, but I believe that its worth the extra buck.
As you can see, the comparison that I have made above is not an in-depth one between buying and making your own tomato gardening fertilizers. It is however, the most important things that you need to consider, as it will have an impact on your garden and gardening later on. Do You Buy Fertilizers For Your Tomato Garden, Or Do You Make Your Own?
There are two main options when it comes to fertilizer for tomatoes, and in this article I will discuss them both so that you have the necessary information to make the right choices when you are ready to use fertilizer for tomatoes. Below, I will provide my opinions on making your own fertilizer for tomatoes and buying it.
1) Making your own fertilizer for tomatoes, its hard work but its super fun!
This option is the cheapest method and is therefore a popular choice amongst many tomato gardeners. Like the name suggests, you simply make you own fertilizer for tomatoes instead of buying it. There is a wide variety of materials that you can use to make fertilizers for tomatoes, and some of the LESS COMMON options are to use horse manure, egg shells, bon meal and even worm castings. Each of the types of organic compost come with their own pros and cons and I would like to write a few posts in the future about how to use the different types. If you have any experience with any of these types or others, please feel free to share them in the comments section.
The biggest advantage of making your own organic fertilizers is that you can save a lot of money. The disadvantage however, is that it can be fairly hard work to consistently make the compost so that you can regularly add them to your tomato garden. If you plan on making your own, you will probably have to dedicate entire days just to do it. If you have enough time, and the will to do it, then making your own fertilizer for tomatoes is a great idea.
2) Purchasing the fertilizer, the easy way out if you don’t have the time and can afford it
This option is a better one if you do have the money to spend, and would prefer not to go through the tiresome process of making your own tomato gardening fertilizers. Note however, most of the compost that you can buy is not organic so you will be causing the environment harm and the fertilizer for tomatoes may have been made using harmful stuff. But, there are quite a few fertilizers for tomatoes that are organic and this is a much better choice. You will be paying a higher price though, but I believe that its worth the extra buck.
As you can see, the comparison that I have made above is not an in-depth one between buying and making your own tomato gardening fertilizers. It is however, the most important things that you need to consider, as it will have an impact on your garden and gardening later on. Do You Buy Fertilizers For Your Tomato Garden, Or Do You Make Your Own?
Selasa, 15 September 2009
Growing Tomatoes Indoors-The Good, The Bad, and The Tasty
There are many pros and cons of growing tomatoes indoors and in this article I will provide you with some of the main things that you need to consider. I personally enjoy the idea of growing them inside as you can watch them grow and its quite interesting to watch how they ripen, slowly but surely.
Firstly, whether you grow tomatoes indoors or outside, they are great plants, fairly easy to grow and provide you with some DELICIOUS fruit. However, since this article is about growing tomatoes indoors I will not go into detail about other gardening styles here.
The advantages and disadvantages that I have listed are just the basics things that you need to consider when you are growing tomatoes indoors.
1) Advantages of growing tomatoes indoors:
- It is easier to maintain, as you will be working with a smaller area. This means that there is less hard work involved and you will not need as much time to tend to you tomato plants.
- You can decide whether or not you enjoy it. Growing tomatoes indoors means that you can try it out for the first time just to see if you like it or not (although I am pretty sure that you will!). If you don’t enjoy it, then you would not have wasted a lot of money, time and effort into it.
- Requires minimal space. A major reason that many people are growing tomatoes indoors is because it doesn't require too much of space. In fact, you can grow quite a great tomato garden from your own kitchen!
2) Disadvantages of growing tomatoes indoors:
- Space is limited. Unless you have a huge kitchen, growing tomatoes indoors will mean that you are only able to grow one or maybe two trees. This is not necessarily a problem though, as one healthy plant will produce many tomatoes.
- You need the right conditions in your home (sunlight). You will have to place your tomatoes planting pots in a place where they will receive adequate sunshine and warmth. The best place may just be on your windowsill.
- Not much exercise. A lot of people engage in gardening as a form of exercise and relaxation. When growing tomatoes indoors however, you are not going to be doing much hard work and will be inside, defeating the relaxation purpose.
More often than not, most people start of growing tomatoes inside as its much easier to do and allows one to gain experience. As you get better at tomato gardening, you can confidently take on the challenges that come with regular outdoor tomato gardening, challenges that are both fun and interesting.
Firstly, whether you grow tomatoes indoors or outside, they are great plants, fairly easy to grow and provide you with some DELICIOUS fruit. However, since this article is about growing tomatoes indoors I will not go into detail about other gardening styles here.
The advantages and disadvantages that I have listed are just the basics things that you need to consider when you are growing tomatoes indoors.
1) Advantages of growing tomatoes indoors:
- It is easier to maintain, as you will be working with a smaller area. This means that there is less hard work involved and you will not need as much time to tend to you tomato plants.
- You can decide whether or not you enjoy it. Growing tomatoes indoors means that you can try it out for the first time just to see if you like it or not (although I am pretty sure that you will!). If you don’t enjoy it, then you would not have wasted a lot of money, time and effort into it.
- Requires minimal space. A major reason that many people are growing tomatoes indoors is because it doesn't require too much of space. In fact, you can grow quite a great tomato garden from your own kitchen!
2) Disadvantages of growing tomatoes indoors:
- Space is limited. Unless you have a huge kitchen, growing tomatoes indoors will mean that you are only able to grow one or maybe two trees. This is not necessarily a problem though, as one healthy plant will produce many tomatoes.
- You need the right conditions in your home (sunlight). You will have to place your tomatoes planting pots in a place where they will receive adequate sunshine and warmth. The best place may just be on your windowsill.
- Not much exercise. A lot of people engage in gardening as a form of exercise and relaxation. When growing tomatoes indoors however, you are not going to be doing much hard work and will be inside, defeating the relaxation purpose.
More often than not, most people start of growing tomatoes inside as its much easier to do and allows one to gain experience. As you get better at tomato gardening, you can confidently take on the challenges that come with regular outdoor tomato gardening, challenges that are both fun and interesting.
Jumat, 28 Agustus 2009
Planting Tomato Plants-3 Tips to Help you Grow Better Tomatoes
In this article, I will give you some information on how to start planting tomato plants. I will go through the soil requirements, and provide some tips/ advice on planting tomato plants that are healthy. Tomatoes have been a long time favorite to many gardeners, and many of them have actually started gardening by planting tomato plants.
The points listed below is just some basic information that you should consider before you start planting tomato plants.
1) Indoors or outside:
You have two choices before you start planting tomato plants and those are to have your garden either outdoors or inside.
If you choose to plant outside, then you will have to put in more work, as there will be a larger area to cover. You will however, be able to grow a variety of different types of tomatoes. This is a good idea, as you will have a wide variety of choices on which tomatoes to use on any particular day.
Planting tomato plants indoors will limit you on space, but there is much less work involved and you can control the conditions in which your tomatoes are growing. This means that a bad spell of weather won't be able to wipe out all of your hard work.
2) Planting tomato plants Organically- or not:
You can either use organic compost and soil or you can use regular soil when planting tomato plants. Regular soil may be cheaper, but there you may be growing your tomatoes with harmful chemicals. These chemicals may harm the ground in which they are used, and how safe do you think they are for the tomatoes that YOU are going to eat? I certainly don’t like taking those kinds of chances!
If you are going to buying organic compost, then you will need to spend quite a bit of money. There is another option however, and that is to make you own organic fertilizer for tomatoes. If you are planting your tomato plants in this soil, you are pretty much certain to get tomatoes that are healthy and full of nutritious goodness.
3) Best season:
If you are planting your tomato plants outside, then you will need to take this factor into major consideration. If your growing tomatoes indoors, then this won’t be as much of a problem. Probably the best time to start planting tomato plants is mid spring. The temperatures are starting to warm at this of year and the tomatoes should start growing by and ripening towards the end of summer. Although many people will argue on the best time to start growing tomatoes, I would say that mid-spring is a fairly safe option.
Planting tomato plants are great fun and they provide us with some tasty fruits. It is however essential to research the specific type of tomato that you want to grow and the best time to grow them in your area. I hope that the information in this article will help you when you are ready to start planting tomato plants. But first, share you experience with growing tomatoes in the comments sections, I’m interested to hear your opinions.
The points listed below is just some basic information that you should consider before you start planting tomato plants.
1) Indoors or outside:
You have two choices before you start planting tomato plants and those are to have your garden either outdoors or inside.
If you choose to plant outside, then you will have to put in more work, as there will be a larger area to cover. You will however, be able to grow a variety of different types of tomatoes. This is a good idea, as you will have a wide variety of choices on which tomatoes to use on any particular day.
Planting tomato plants indoors will limit you on space, but there is much less work involved and you can control the conditions in which your tomatoes are growing. This means that a bad spell of weather won't be able to wipe out all of your hard work.
2) Planting tomato plants Organically- or not:
You can either use organic compost and soil or you can use regular soil when planting tomato plants. Regular soil may be cheaper, but there you may be growing your tomatoes with harmful chemicals. These chemicals may harm the ground in which they are used, and how safe do you think they are for the tomatoes that YOU are going to eat? I certainly don’t like taking those kinds of chances!
If you are going to buying organic compost, then you will need to spend quite a bit of money. There is another option however, and that is to make you own organic fertilizer for tomatoes. If you are planting your tomato plants in this soil, you are pretty much certain to get tomatoes that are healthy and full of nutritious goodness.
3) Best season:
If you are planting your tomato plants outside, then you will need to take this factor into major consideration. If your growing tomatoes indoors, then this won’t be as much of a problem. Probably the best time to start planting tomato plants is mid spring. The temperatures are starting to warm at this of year and the tomatoes should start growing by and ripening towards the end of summer. Although many people will argue on the best time to start growing tomatoes, I would say that mid-spring is a fairly safe option.
Planting tomato plants are great fun and they provide us with some tasty fruits. It is however essential to research the specific type of tomato that you want to grow and the best time to grow them in your area. I hope that the information in this article will help you when you are ready to start planting tomato plants. But first, share you experience with growing tomatoes in the comments sections, I’m interested to hear your opinions.
Rabu, 19 Agustus 2009
Watering Tomato Plants-A Few Things You Need to Know
How often you should be watering your tomato plants has been a topic that is constantly being debated. In this article, I will provide you with the method that I use when watering tomato plants. I have had success with this method more often than not, so I hope that it will be able to help you too.
There are two main things to consider when deciding on when you should be watering your tomato plants and I have discussed them below.
1) Temperature:
This factor goes hand in hand with the season. During summer, you will need to be watering your tomato plant around every two days. This is because the sun will dry up the soil fairly quickly and your tomatoes will start to wither and wont produce healthy fruit. This rule is not set in stone however, and there are times when you will need to water your plants twice a day and times when you don’t have to water for a week.
Natural rainfall is a great example of this. Its nature's way of watering tomato plants, and if there is enough rain then you wont have to manually water your garden. Also, its a better idea if you water your tomatoes early in the morning during mid summer and maybe around mid-day during the cooler months. The reason for watering your tomato plants early is so that they can absorb the water and stay hydrated. Also, there is less evaporation taking place in the morning so your plants can absorb the most amount of water. It’s usually fine to water around midday during the cool months however.
2) Indoor or Outdoor Tomatoes?
If you are growing tomatoes indoors, then you will only have to water your tomatoes every third or fourth day as the soil remains most for a longer period of time. If you are growing tomatoes outside, then you will need to follow the information that I provide under "temperature". If your home is very warm inside however, then you may need to be watering your tomato plants more often. Also, keep your tomatoes in a place that has enough sunshine if you are planting tomato plants inside.
Whether you are growing tomatoes in containers or outside, when you are watering tomato plants you should soak the soil thoroughly. If in a container, then water until the water starts to seep out the drainage holes at the bottom of the container. If in a normal container, then add, as much water as you think is required to soak the ground right to the roots.
I hope that the information above helps you in making the rights choices as to watering tomato plants. The tips above are ones that I use, and they work quite well most of the time. However, there may be a few things that you need to do differently when watering tomato plants, depending on your climate. How often do you water you tomatoes? What time of day do you water them? Feel free to share your tips in the comments section and I’m looking forward to learning what YOU do.
There are two main things to consider when deciding on when you should be watering your tomato plants and I have discussed them below.
1) Temperature:
This factor goes hand in hand with the season. During summer, you will need to be watering your tomato plant around every two days. This is because the sun will dry up the soil fairly quickly and your tomatoes will start to wither and wont produce healthy fruit. This rule is not set in stone however, and there are times when you will need to water your plants twice a day and times when you don’t have to water for a week.
Natural rainfall is a great example of this. Its nature's way of watering tomato plants, and if there is enough rain then you wont have to manually water your garden. Also, its a better idea if you water your tomatoes early in the morning during mid summer and maybe around mid-day during the cooler months. The reason for watering your tomato plants early is so that they can absorb the water and stay hydrated. Also, there is less evaporation taking place in the morning so your plants can absorb the most amount of water. It’s usually fine to water around midday during the cool months however.
2) Indoor or Outdoor Tomatoes?
If you are growing tomatoes indoors, then you will only have to water your tomatoes every third or fourth day as the soil remains most for a longer period of time. If you are growing tomatoes outside, then you will need to follow the information that I provide under "temperature". If your home is very warm inside however, then you may need to be watering your tomato plants more often. Also, keep your tomatoes in a place that has enough sunshine if you are planting tomato plants inside.
Whether you are growing tomatoes in containers or outside, when you are watering tomato plants you should soak the soil thoroughly. If in a container, then water until the water starts to seep out the drainage holes at the bottom of the container. If in a normal container, then add, as much water as you think is required to soak the ground right to the roots.
I hope that the information above helps you in making the rights choices as to watering tomato plants. The tips above are ones that I use, and they work quite well most of the time. However, there may be a few things that you need to do differently when watering tomato plants, depending on your climate. How often do you water you tomatoes? What time of day do you water them? Feel free to share your tips in the comments section and I’m looking forward to learning what YOU do.
Sabtu, 08 Agustus 2009
Organic Tomato Gardening-3 Three Things You Must Know
If you are considering organic tomato gardening, then this article may just have the information that you need! Whether you are new to gardening or are an old timer who wants to conserve the environment, organic tomato gardening is a simple way of providing healthy and nutritious tomatoes right from your own back yard! In this article, I will provide you with three things you need to consider before starting organic tomato gardening.
1) Indoors or outdoors:
You have two choices when doing organic tomato gardening, and those are having your tomato plants inside or having them outdoors. I will quickly go over the pros and cons of each option, and allow you to decide on which method to use.
Indoor organic tomato gardening will mean that you need to plant your tomatoes in a container. This will limit the space that you have. The biggest advantage of this option however, is that you will be able to easily add compost to the soil and its not hard work to maintain.
Outdoor gardening gives you the option of growing many tomato plants at a time. This is sometimes better as there is a higher chance that at least one of your trees will grow healthy and produce great tomatoes. It is however, harder to maintain and control so you must have quite a bit of time to devote towards your garden.
2) Type of tomatoes:
When you are doing organic tomato gardening you can quite easily grow either cherry tomatoes or large tomatoes. Both of them will grow healthy and be nutrient packed, as you will be using natural and healthy soil. Whichever type of tomato you choose to grow can be made according to what you want to do with the tomatoes. Generally, growing cherry tomatoes adds a nice color to your garden, while the organic tomato gardening of larger tomatoes will provide you with fruit (you did know that tomatoes are considered as fruits and not veggies?) that can be used in the kitchen.
3) Budget:
Your budget will play a large role on your organic tomato gardening endeavors, so you will need to plan wisely so as to make the most of it. Now, unless you are planning on spending a wheelbarrow full of cash you cannot just rush out and buy everything that even mentions tomato gardening on it! The most important investment that you will make will be in buy organic tomato seeds. This is usually a once of investment however, as you can use the seeds of the tomatoes that you grow. You can even make your own compost from home (a much cheaper idea if you are doing organic tomato gardening).
The three things that I have outlined above should be given some thought if you are going to start organic tomato gardening. I feel that this method of growing your own veggies is great as you can have fun, save money and also save the environment. What Do You Think About Organic Tomato Gardening, Have You Tried It?
1) Indoors or outdoors:
You have two choices when doing organic tomato gardening, and those are having your tomato plants inside or having them outdoors. I will quickly go over the pros and cons of each option, and allow you to decide on which method to use.
Indoor organic tomato gardening will mean that you need to plant your tomatoes in a container. This will limit the space that you have. The biggest advantage of this option however, is that you will be able to easily add compost to the soil and its not hard work to maintain.
Outdoor gardening gives you the option of growing many tomato plants at a time. This is sometimes better as there is a higher chance that at least one of your trees will grow healthy and produce great tomatoes. It is however, harder to maintain and control so you must have quite a bit of time to devote towards your garden.
2) Type of tomatoes:
When you are doing organic tomato gardening you can quite easily grow either cherry tomatoes or large tomatoes. Both of them will grow healthy and be nutrient packed, as you will be using natural and healthy soil. Whichever type of tomato you choose to grow can be made according to what you want to do with the tomatoes. Generally, growing cherry tomatoes adds a nice color to your garden, while the organic tomato gardening of larger tomatoes will provide you with fruit (you did know that tomatoes are considered as fruits and not veggies?) that can be used in the kitchen.
3) Budget:
Your budget will play a large role on your organic tomato gardening endeavors, so you will need to plan wisely so as to make the most of it. Now, unless you are planning on spending a wheelbarrow full of cash you cannot just rush out and buy everything that even mentions tomato gardening on it! The most important investment that you will make will be in buy organic tomato seeds. This is usually a once of investment however, as you can use the seeds of the tomatoes that you grow. You can even make your own compost from home (a much cheaper idea if you are doing organic tomato gardening).
The three things that I have outlined above should be given some thought if you are going to start organic tomato gardening. I feel that this method of growing your own veggies is great as you can have fun, save money and also save the environment. What Do You Think About Organic Tomato Gardening, Have You Tried It?
About This Blog
Hey Dudes and Dudetts (males and females…)! I’m The Tomato Dude, and do I love tomato gardening! I really enjoy getting out there in the garden and playing with sod, Don’t you? What’s more fun than rolling around in a mass of compost, or jumping face first into the compost bin!
I created http://planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com (this blog) as a place to share my tips and experience with other tomato gardeners in the hopes that I will teach and learn at the same time. Writing about tomato gardening is a fun pastime to me and I would love to share my knowledge with all you Tomatoes (please don’t get offended, okay I’m sorry!), so get ready to be informed!
My aim for this blog is to turn it into a tomato gardening community in which we can all share our experiences, knowledge, questions, answers, tips, successes and even failures! I would love it if YOU joined OUR community! Please feel free to jump right in, the compost heap is in the back yard :)
I suggest that you follow me on Twitter, subscribe to my RSS feed and become a regular commenter on Our blog. Share your ideas and the rest of us would be glad!
I hope that this blog helps you to grow better tomatoes as that’s my goal, for YOU and ME both to grow great tomatoes every time. I believe that we can do it! How about you?
I created http://planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com (this blog) as a place to share my tips and experience with other tomato gardeners in the hopes that I will teach and learn at the same time. Writing about tomato gardening is a fun pastime to me and I would love to share my knowledge with all you Tomatoes (please don’t get offended, okay I’m sorry!), so get ready to be informed!
My aim for this blog is to turn it into a tomato gardening community in which we can all share our experiences, knowledge, questions, answers, tips, successes and even failures! I would love it if YOU joined OUR community! Please feel free to jump right in, the compost heap is in the back yard :)
I suggest that you follow me on Twitter, subscribe to my RSS feed and become a regular commenter on Our blog. Share your ideas and the rest of us would be glad!
I hope that this blog helps you to grow better tomatoes as that’s my goal, for YOU and ME both to grow great tomatoes every time. I believe that we can do it! How about you?
Disclaimer For This Blog
planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com is a blog created for the purpose of providing information about tomato gardening, tomato gardening tips, tomato gardening information, tomato gardening equipment, tomato gardening tools, tomato gardening methods etc. The expressions and views in this blog are solely of the owner’s/author’s/ bloger’s opinion and therefore the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed.
The author will not be held liable for any loss or damages to you directly or indirectly as a result of you use of the information provided in this blog.
I hope that you will succeed in growing tomatoes. Tomato gardening is really a great pastime and can provide you with no only exercise, but also a tasty fresh snack. I really enjoy tomato gardening and I know that you will too.
Whether you are new to tomato gardening or are already taking part in this great hobby, I’m sure that this blog will teach you something new. I hope that the information in this blog is not only interesting but also informative to you.
The author will not be held liable for any loss or damages to you directly or indirectly as a result of you use of the information provided in this blog.
I hope that you will succeed in growing tomatoes. Tomato gardening is really a great pastime and can provide you with no only exercise, but also a tasty fresh snack. I really enjoy tomato gardening and I know that you will too.
Whether you are new to tomato gardening or are already taking part in this great hobby, I’m sure that this blog will teach you something new. I hope that the information in this blog is not only interesting but also informative to you.
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You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.
If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at avinash.r.jivan@gmail.com.
At planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com and how it is used.
Log Files
Like many other Web sites, planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
Cookies and Web Beacons
planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com does not use cookies.
DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.
planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. planting-tomato-plants.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.
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