7 tips to succeed with your tomato crop
Elin Burén, growing expert at Nelson Garden gives you her top seven tips to succeed with your tomato growing! Growing tomatoes is one of the easiest vegetables to get started with. You can grow them in pots on your balcony, or outside in your garden. What’s more, it’s great fun to grow tasty little cherry tomatoes for the kids – they’re like little treats!
From small cherry tomatoes, to big, juicy beefsteak tomatoes. There are tomatoes for every taste!
Elin Burén, cultivation expert at Nelson Garden, shares her top 7 growing tips that make growing tomatoes easy and fun – from variety selection and sowing to care.
1. Choose one or more varieties that suit your growing situation.
Yes, because everyone can grow tomatoes! Do you grow in a pot or on a balcony? Then choose an ampel or pot tomato. For those with more growing space, there are both tall and low varieties for both outdoors and greenhouses.
2. propagate for earlier harvest.
Sow your seeds indoors about 6-8 weeks before it’s time to plant out. Don’t forget the lighting, it will give you much stronger and more stable plants!
3. Keep an eye on the temperature before planting out.
The soil temperature should ideally be at least 12-15 degrees before the seedlings dive into the soil. This is usually in late May or early June depending on where in the country you live.
4. tomatoes love sun!
Therefore, choose a location with at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day for your tomato crop. This gives the tomato plants the very best conditions to give you a maximized and tasty harvest!
5. Tomatoes want a nutrient-rich soil.
A well-drained, nutrient-rich and light soil is the very best! It is filled with microlife and nutrients throughout the season.
6. Keep the soil evenly moist, but avoid overwatering.
Feel free to supplement with a liquid nutrient rich in potassium during the season. This will give you a better fruit development and a bigger harvest.
7. untie!
To give the heavy tomato plants good support through the season, it’s important to tie and prop them up so they don’t break off. Clips, strings or trellis towers for tomatoes are great help!
Extra variety tips from Elin herself:
Two new varieties that I’m really looking forward to growing this year are the low
pot tomato “Balconi Yellow” and the winter tomato “Principe Borghese
You can find Elin during the Garden Fair at Nelson Gardens stand A25:30 where you can ask her all your questions about tomatoes! If she’s not at the stand, you’ll probably find her lecturing on the Practical Stage and the Inspiration Stage. Check out that program here.