How to Care for Tomato Plants
There are a few aspects that have to be taken into account when considering how to care for tomato plants:
- Supporting Tomato Plants
- Pruning Tomatoes
- Watering Tomatoes
- Feeding Tomatoes
- Pest Control
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Supporting Tomato Plants
This is particularly important for tomato care when growing vine tomatoes, they usually produce trusses on which you will first get blossom and the blossom will become your tomato fruits. To keep your plants and fruit healthy it is necessary to tie the trusses to a suitable support usually with a soft string. There are a number of ways in which you can provide support for the plants but the simplest is just a stake pushed in besides the plant and soft string to tie the plant to the stake.
Pruning Tomatoes
Pruning tomato plants is done for 3 primary reasons, to prevent lower trusses touching the soil which is the biggest source of contamination. To control the number of trusses you want on the plant so that you can ensure all the fruit you get will ripen and finally to remove non producing foliage, i.e. take out growth where there is no blossom so that the energy for the plant is directed to the fruit producing regions.
Watering Tomato Plants
Tomato plant care requires regular and consistent watering to ensure that the plants neither dry out or become saturated in water i.e. water logged. Neither of these conditions is desirable and incorrect watering is the biggest source of tomato problems related to tomato care.
Feeding Tomato Plants
Occasional feeding of tomato plants with a high nitrogen liquid feed, ideally that has been developed specifically for tomatoes, is always a good idea. This should ensure that you will produce healthy fruit in a plentiful supply. The best suggestion for this is that you follow the instructions on the product you use and also be aware that over feeding tomato plants can actually be counter productive and may result in problems such as blossom end rot for example. So the key is to follow a properly planned feeding regime and make sure you feed your tomatoes enough but not too much.
Pest Control
Tomato plants will need to be regularly checked for the presence of pests, the vast majority of which place themselves on the underside of the tomato plant leaves. Many can be removed by hand, if caught early enough, either by picking them off or by wiping the leaves between your thumb and forefinger. For persistent pests or large infestations you may need to use a suitable pesticide or sometimes a mix of 1 part soap and 4 parts water may be enough. Clearly when looking for pests the underside of leaves is the first place you should look. Tomato plant pests are much easier to eradicate if you find them early on and hopefully before any permanent damage has occurred
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What Causes the top of tomato to split open?
The 2 most common causes for tomatoes splitting are erratic watering and erratic temperatures. The first one is fairly easy to take care of, you just have to set up a regular watering routine of at least once a day, twice a day is better and some people even say 3 times a day. Remembering not to over water though, you want the tomatoes consistently moist, never dry but not water logged either.
The second problem occurs less often but is more difficult to control when it does. If you have a greenhouse you can of course open and close doors and windows or white out the glass as appropriate, but outdoors there isn’t much you can do practically other than perhaps a temporary poly-tunnel or something similar. The watering issue is more likely your problem though.