History of tomato plant
The history of the tomato reaches 2500 years to the past, when people of ancient Aztec empire saw its value and integrated it into their lives. Tomato plants belong to the family Solanaceae, or the nightshade family. The tomato is native to western South America and Central America. The Latin name for the cultivated tomato is Lycopersicon escutentum. Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium is a wild species of tomato which is found in the low altitude coastal valleys in Peru. It produces cherry-size red fruit and easily hybridises with cultivated varieties. Probably the first tomatoes came from Peru, and wild tomatoes can still be found in the Andes. By the time the conquistadors came to Central and South America, there was widespread cultivation of tomatoes, though there’s much debate about where tomatoes were first raised and about exactly how they made their way north to Mexico. Cortez discovered tomatoes growing in Montezuma's gardens and brought seeds back to Europe where they were planted as ornamental curiosities.
Is the Tomato a Fruit or Vegetable?
By definition, a fruit is the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw, some are sweet like apples, but the ones that are not sweet such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Are commonly called vegetables. Botanists claim that a fruit is any fleshy material that covers a seed or seeds, where as horticulturists point of view would pose that the tomato is a vegetable plant. Until the late 1800's the tomato was classified as a fruit to avoid taxation, but this was changed after a Supreme Court ruling that the tomato is a vegetable and should be taxed accordingly. The history of the tomato has classified as a poisonous beautiful plant, a tax-avoiding fruit, and a taxable vegetable. The tomato now is the most popular vegetable in America and enjoyed by millions all over the world.
How to Grow Organic Tomatoes
Keep reading, i'll take you through growing tomatoes from starting seeds indoors, planting seedlings the right way to harvest without chemicals, plus companion plants and how to use organic fertilizer tips to give you tons of organic tomatoes.
Choosing tomato varieties can be confusing because there are so many. What to choose and which type is best suited for your particular garden depends on a few things!
1. How much space you have to devote to tomatoes, if you want to grow in pots or containers.
2. How many tomatoes you can handle at once?
3. Do you want most of your tomatoes in one harvest or prefer to get a few at a time!
Here are a few things to consider:
1. Decide on the type of tomatoes you want.2. Consider the size of the mature plants.
3. Find out which diseases are common in your area and select resistant varieties whenever possible.
Determinate and Indeterminate Tomatoes
One of the classifications you will often see on the label of a tomato plant or on a packet of tomato seeds is Determinate or Indeterminate. These terms refer to the growth habit of tomato plants and basically mean bush or vining.
You'll get better results growing your seedlings under Led grow light. Early spring sunlight isn't intense as summer sunlight, and there are fewer hours of daylight. Insufficient light can lead to weak, spindly plants.
When choosing a location to grow tomatoes, full sun is usually the best option. Pick a sunny spot and don’t plant your tomatoes too close together. Tomato plants thrive in full sun and are healthier when provided good air circulation. Pick a location that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each day to plant your plants.
. Determinate tomato Are varieties that grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short period, usually about 2 weeks. Once this first flush of fruit has ripened, the plant will begin to diminish in vigor and will set little to no new fruit. Determinate tomato varieties are often referred to as ( bush ) tomatoes because they do not continue growing in length throughout the growing season. They are generally smaller plants than indeterminate tomatoes, with most growing to a compact 4-5 ft.tall. Despite their compact size, staking or caging is recommended, because they will be supporting a very heavy load, once all of their fruits are set and begin to plump up and ripen. Growing determinate tomato makes good sense when you want a lot of tomatoes all at one time, such as when you want to make tomato sauce.
. Indeterminate tomato Indeterminate tomatoes are perfect for the home gardener who wants a smaller harvest several times during the season instead of one large batch at once. The amount of fresh tomatoes on your kitchen counter is easily controlled by how many plants are in the garden. Indeterminate tomatoes get very large, up to 6 feet tall and produce fruit throughout an entire growing season until climate conditions become too cold. Support for these tomatoes is essential for good harvests and to keep the plants healthy.
You can choose what works best for your garden!
Click here to shop organic seeds for the best tomato varieties to grow in your garden.
It’s a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. Research has shown that organic, homegrown tomatoes have a much more complex chemistry than commercially produced fruits. Not only does chemistry equal a greater depth of flavour, it is also likely that homegrown tomatoes are healthier with higher levels of the pigment ‘Lycopene’. Lycopene has been shown to help unclog blocked arteries and is thought to be one of the reasons the Mediterranean diet is so healthy. The other big bonus with growing your own tomatoes is the amazing variety of size, shape, colour and flavour there is available. Tomatoes are long-season, heat-loving plants that won't tolerate frost, so it's best to set them into the garden as transplants (young plants) after the weather has warmed up in spring. You can purchase tomato transplants, but there's something especially rewarding about starting your own plants indoors. Plus, by growing your own transplants you can choose from among hundreds of tomato varieties that are available as seed but rarely sold as transplants.
Starting Tomato Seeds Indoors
When you start with seeds, you have full control over the type of tomatoes you want to grow. Since tomatoes are heat lovers, most gardeners don't have growing seasons long enough to start tomatoes from seed outdoors. To get around that, tomato seeds are often started indoors. Starting tomato seeds indoors allows for a longer growing season, which means tomatoes not only bear fruit earlier, but they harvest longer before the frost sets in the autumn.
Tomatoes are quick to germinate and grow, tomato seeds are best sown indoors about six weeks before your average last frost date.
Here's what you'll need to start tomato seeds indoors:
seed-starting soil mix, you can also buy an organic coconut coir seed starting mix. You just need to add water and the block will expand to eight quarts, ready for use.
A warm place with sufficient natural light or grow lights
You can start your seeds in just about anything that holds soil and has drainage holes, from yogurt containers, egg cartons with holes poked in the bottoms. However, I advice to use purchased pots, such as biodegradable pots and seed-starting trays.
How to Sow Tomato seeds
1. Thoroughly moisten the seed-starting soil mix, always use high-quality seed-starting soil mix. Avoid cheap imitations, which are often the cause of seedling failure.
2.fill the containers or pots to within 1/2" of the top.
3. Firm the mix but don't compact it.
4.Shake out some seeds from your seed packet into your hand. Every tomato seed contains a tiny tomato plant that is alive but dormant, and when environmental conditions are right, the seed will germinate.
5.Place two or three seeds into each small container or each cell of a seed starter then Cover the seed with about 1/4" of soil and gently firm it over the seeds. You can use a single container or pot as i always do, fill your pot with good quality seed starting soil mix, leaving a couple of centimetres below the rim. Sprinkle seeds over the compost from the palm of your hand using your finger evenly over the compost and cover with soil. 6.Water gently with a water spray. You don't need to soak the soil, just moisten the top layer,
7.Cover the pot with a plastic bag or some plastic kitchen wrap to keep the compost moist.
8.Place the pots in a warm spot.
8.Place the pots in a warm spot.
9.Keep the mix moist but not soaking wet.
10.Check pots daily. Within a week or two, germination will take place. Tiny seedlings will rise out of the soil, as soon as you see sprouts, remove the covering and place the pots in a sunny window or under grow lights, keeping the lights just an inch or two above the tops of the plants. The young seedlings need to be kept at 18°C (64°F).
11. If you are growing your tomatoes on a windowsill, turn the pots or containers regularly to prevent the plants growing towards the light and becoming distorted. The best tomato seedlings are short and stubby rather than tall and thin.
12. Remember always label your pots. Growing several different varieties of tomatoes without markers to label them all, how will you keep track of them?
However, using plant markers gives you a clear visual sign of what variety you are growing and the date seeds were sown!
Fertilizing Seedlings
Once the second set of true leaves appears, it's time to begin fertilizing.
Yes you can give your plant the correct amount of sunlight, water and nutrients but if you don’t give them enough room to grow, they will not be able to thrive. They will compete for nutrients and you will be left with many smaller plants, instead of one large, healthy plant!
You have two choices!
1 Thinning Seedlings
2 Repottig Seedlings
Thinning Tomato Seedlings
Tomato plants are ready for thinning when seedlings reach 2-3 weeks of age or approximately 3-4 inches in height. When choosing which seedlings to pull and which to leave, keep the larger, more-developed seedlings and remove weaker, smaller seedlings. Thinning seedlings means to remove all or part of a plant to make room for the growth of others. Select the strongest, healthiest seedling and use a pair of scissors to cut off the others at the soil line. The reason you will want to cut the seedlings instead of pulling them is to avoid disturbing the delicate roots of the neighboring seedling.
Tomato seedlings grown in pots need to be spaced out when their leaves touch each other to avoid overcrowding and plants becoming elongated and 'leggy'; the best tomato seedlings are short and stubby rather than tall and thin. Once your tomato seedlings have two or three sets of true leaves, they can be transplanted into larger pots. Transplanting will give your new tomatoes more room for root growth.
Repotting will give your tomatoes more room for root growth. Pot on the tomato seedlings when they’re about 10cm tall.
1. Gently remove tomato seedlings from the pot one at a time with a spoon or widger.
2.Poke a hole into the middle of the soil with your finger.
3.Place the young tomato into the hole, sinking it down as deeply as possible without bending the stem.
4.Add soil, filling the hole and the nursery pot.
5.Water your repotted tomato and place it in a sunny southern window.
6. Soil should be kept moist and should never be allowed to dry out.
Watch How to Transplant Tomato Seedlings Video
How to Successfully Harden Off Tomato Seedlings
About 7-10 days before planting your tomatoes seedlings outdoors,help acclimate them to temperatures, sunlight, and wind. This is the process of hardening off, or gradually acclimating you tomato seedlings to outdoor conditions. These plants have spent their short lives in a warm, sunny, protected place and won't fare well if you don't expose them slowly to the elements. Before you intend to plant, put your transplants outdoors in an area where they'll be protected from the direct sunlight and wind. Leave them out for a few hours and bring them back inside. Repeat this each day, gradually increasing the amount of time they're outside and the degree of exposure to sun and wind. Gradual exposure helps your plants toughen up and reduces the possibility of injury. With proper hardening off, they’ll have an easier transition to the garden and begin producing fruit sooner.After a week, leave the transplants out overnight.
Watch How to Successfully Harden Off Tomato Seedlings
How to plant tomato seedling the right way
Here are some tips for preparing soil, how to correctly plant tomato seedlings, and produce healthy organic tomatoes.
Preparing Soil
Soil is a main factor in planting nearly all types of tomatoes.
1: Test the soil's acidity. You should check the pH level in your garden every three to five years. You can test it with soil ph test kit. Tomatoes like their soil pH around 6.0 to 6.8. If your soil pH is too low (too acid), you'll need to add lime to the soil to bring the pH back into the proper range.
2: When you’re growing tomatoes, the deeper their root systems. The more nutrients they can pull from the soil, larger, more vigorous and more resilient your tomato plants will be. Before transplanting tomatoes, it's a good idea to work the soil until it's loose to a depth of six to eight inches. You can do the work with a garden fork. The tomato roots will be able to expand quickly in the loose earth and you'll also uproot and kill many weeds.
3:Tomatoes grow well in moderately fertile soil with lots of organic matter. You can incorporate organic fertilizer when you prepare the soil. No matter what kind of soil you have in your garden, you can shape it into a great home for your tomatoes. Both light, sandy soils that drain too rapidly and heavy, clay soils that take forever to drain and warm up in spring can be improved with the addition of organic matter such leaves, compost and well rottd chicken manure.
4:Organic fertilizer is a plant, animal, or mineral that is applied to the garden without any processing. The advantage to this form of fertilization is that not only are main nutrients added to the soil but organic matter and humus, as well. Organic matter improves soil structure, moisture retention, drainage, and the microbial life of the soil. An adequate amount of organic matter in the soil can help ensure that nutrients are available to plants on a steady basis and that the soil structure enhances root growth. Organic fertilizers have many benefits for the soil. Unlike chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers reduce acidity in the soil and do not cause leaching. They do not kill beneficial microorganisms in the soil. Organic fertilizers also help improve the structure of the soil including the circulation of air, which sustains beneficial microorganisms that help release nutrients to the soil.
I always use well rotted chicken manure to fertilize my garden soil. The oldest of all fertilizers and still is the best is " Manure". In addition to its nitrogen and other food content, it is high in humus and contains bacteria which improve the soil.
This is how i use chicken manure as an organic fertilizer and the result is very good. BUT make sure you are careful when adding manure to the garden, raw manure can burn and kill plants. It should be composted or aged prior to use!!!
Where to Plant Tomatoes
How to Plant
1:Till the soil with a hand shovel and mix in some manure, organic fertilizer, or compost.
2:Dig holes deep enough to accommodate your transplants.
3:Carefully remove the plant by holding it at the base, turning it upside down, and sliding off the pot.
4:Set the plant in the hole deeply enough so that two-thirds of it is buried. Roots will sprout all along the buried stem to make a stronger plant. You can pinch off the lower leaves if you prefer, but it is not necessary. Tomatoes have the ability to grow roots along their stems, so when planting tomato plants, plant deep; right up to the first set of leaves. This takes care of those leggy tomato seedlings. If the plant is too long and wobbly, dig a small trench and lay the plant on its side, gently bending it into a right angle. Bury the stem in this position leaving those first two leaves exposed. Some gardeners believe those leggy starters will form a healthier plant than those with a more compact form.
5:After transplanting your seedlings, water well aroud your new plants. For the first 2 weeks after planting, water a little bit every day or every other day if it doesn’t rain, to get the plants established.
6: All tomato plants are vines that would sprawl along the ground if you do not stake them to grow upward. If left to their natural tendencies, tomato vines would become a damp, tangled mess on the soil, where they would attract all types of diseases and pests. Stake or cage all tomatoes with the exception of small bush or patio varieties, which can often support themselves. Waiting a few weeks after planting to install stakes or cages can injure the plant's roots. Cages and stakes keep tomatoes off the ground, helping to encourage successful tomato growing and prevent fruit rot and numerous diseases. I always use bamboo stakes as they keep the plants stand tall and help tomatoes successfully grow. They need to be at least 8 feet high and 1 inch wide. Pound the stake at least 12 inches into the ground and 4 inches from the plant. Attach the stem to the stake with garden twine.
7:About 3 to 5 weeks after setting tomato plants in the garden, and the soil has warmedfor best results. Spread organic mulch evenly around the plant, leaving some space around the stem so that water can reach the roots easily.
8: After the tomatoes have been in the ground for 3 weeks, when the vines are thickening up and beginning to grow aggressively, stop watering. Let them dry out for a few days. At this stage, you want to make your tomatoes work to sink their roots deeper to find water. If it’s hot and they are wilting, give them some water. The point is to make them stretch, not stress them excessively. After a few days, give them a good, deep soaking. Saturate the soil, then let it dry out again for a few days, to make your tomatoes stretch their roots even deeper into the soil. The deeper their root systems, the more nutrients they can pull from the soil and you will have robust tomatoes plants put off garden pests, that resist diseases and healthy.
9:Once your tomatoes start flowering and setting fruit, shift to regular watering, a little bit every day or every other day, for 1-1 ½” (2-4cm) of water per week. Flowering plants require a higher ratio of potassium. To ensure proper tomato plant nutrition, you will need to add nutrients at differing amounts at various stages of growth.
Tomato Fertilizers
You can add bone meal in your planting hole to boost fruit production. But i recommend top dressing the plants with several inches of well aged manure midway through the season. That's all.
I advice for the healthiest tomato plants with the best yield, plant deep, water well, and stake the vines as they grow.
Pruning Tomatoe Plants
Should i prune my tomatoes or not?
The frequent question and debate in the tomato growing world. Let me tell you? You can do both! You can choose to either heavily prune, minimally prune, or not prune your tomatoes at all. The decision to prune or not is personal, depending on how much effort you care to invest, the type of tomato grown, and how you plan to support it.
Watch Know How To Prune Tomato Plants For A Lots Of Fruits Not Leaves
If you like you can remove side “sucker” branches from indeterminate tomatoes. A sucker is a new branch that sprouts up in the crotch between an existing leafy branch and the main tomato stem. A small sucker will not have little flower buds. Those are immature fruit branches. Pruning suckers reduces overall yield, but can increase fruit quality, and if allowed to grow, these sucker branches will eventually produce fruit. By pruning away the suckers, you do get less fruit from one plant. But your tomatoes produced will be larger, juicier, and superior in flavor. This could be especially helpful if you’re growing big beautiful heirloom tomatoes that need a lot of energy to ripen.
Pruning makes tomato plants more manageable and compact. That means you can usually space the plants closer together, but need to plan on training them upward. If you’re excited to grow several varieties in a limited amount of space, heavy pruning and training can make it possible.
Tomato Companion Planting
You need to give your tomato plants the best possible environment to grow by implementing companion planting in your vegetable garden. Companion planting is an excellent way to improve the health and the good growth of your tomato plants!
What is Companion Planting?
Companion planting is the practice of growing different plants together.
This will make them strong, healthy, and more productive because some plants have complementary characteristics, such as their nutrient requirements, growth habits, and pest-repelling abilities. The right tomato companions will engender a healthier plant with better fruit yields. Plant companion plants next to your tomato plants that will naturally deter bugs from residing on or near your beloved fruit. Plant , basil, chamomile,beans,oregano, borage, chives, garlic, mint, marigolds, anise, nasturtium, onion, parsley, peppers or petunias near your tomatoes to ward off unwanted visitors.
Read: Companion Plants For Tomatoes
Tomato Plants Care
After the soil has warmed, mulch plants with a layer of organic mulch, such as straw or finely shredded wood chips, to prevent weeds and to maintain soil moisture. Mulch is also necessary to help successfully grow tomatoes as it prevents soil and soilborne diseases from splashing onto leaves when it rains.
Water about once a week in the morning and do not water at night, as this creates dangerous conditions for your plants as insects love wet dark environments and rot and other diseases such as mold, verticillium rot, they are easily avoided by watering during the morning. Tomatoes grow most successfully when they have consistent moisture. If it rains less than 1 inch per week, supplement by watering. To prevent diseases, avoid wetting the foliage. Use a watering can or deliver water directly to the root zones by using a drip irrigation system. Remember that Your tomato plants can withstand both insects and fungal or bacterial disease better if they're watered regularly.
How To Protect Your Tomatoes
Healthy plants are much more likely to resist diseases and other problems so give your plants good soil, fertilizer, regular watering, avoid watering the foliage of your plants, especially in humid climates, as many diseases are encouraged by damp conditions and rotate crops so that soil-borne pathogens never have more than a season to get established.
Tomato Pests
Hornworms: They are so big (three inches long or more ) it's easy to control them just by picking them off. The problem is that their pale green color provides excellent camouflage, and the nymph and larval stages are far smaller and less obvious. If there are only a few, picking them off works well. To keep hornworms away from your plants, plant borage among your tomato plants.
Whiteflies: These tiny flying insects feed on plant juices, leaving behind a sticky residue which can become a host for sooty mold. To deal with release natural predators such as ladybugs, lacewings, but if the situation is out of control, use insecticidal soaps or botanical insecticides.
Tomato Diseases
Early blight develops in early summer and causes leaves near the ground to develop dry, brown patches surrounded by concentric black rings. The best intervention is to prune off all affected leaves as soon as the problem is noticed. Pruning leaves to 18 inches from the ground will also reduce outbreaks.
Late blight may strike following a prolonged period of heavy cool rain. Affected leaves develop light brown, water-soaked patches, and entire plants can wilt within a few days. To reduce the risk of late blight, provide excellent light penetration and air circulation to keep plants dry.
Successfully Harvesting Tomatoes
Harvesting tomatoes at the right time means you get fantastic flavor. Fully-ripened fruit tastes much better than fruit picked early. You’ll start picking your tomatoes about 60-85 days after planting seedlings in the garden.
Determinate tomatoes set and ripen their fruit all at one time
Indeterminate tomatoes ripen all season long. You can help them to set fruit earlier by pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer.
Grasp the fruit firmly, but gently, and pull from the plant by holding the stem with one hand and the fruit with the other, breaking the stalk just above the calyx that has formed to protect the bud.
Once tomatoes start ripening, check plants each day and pick those that are ready. Overripe tomatoes will fall or be knocked off stems. They rot quickly. You can easily lose a big portion of your crop if you don’t monitor your patch and keep harvesting tomatoes.
Home-grown Oganic tomatoes are a source of pride, a thing of beauty, and beyond-description delicious!
Watch How to Plant Tomato Plants
Tomatoes are one of the greatest additions to any garden! There's nothing quite like the exquisite flavor of a homegrown tomato. I hope that this step by step guide to grow organic tomato will help you to grow your own.
Please let us know your thoughts, experiences, or questions in the comments below. If you like this, you can share with your friends!
Big Selection of Tomato Seeds From Here!
Happy Organic Gardening
Affiliate Disclosure:
This blog post contains affiliate links to products on Amazon. This means that if you click on one of these links and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you but helps support the creation of valuable content for our readers.
The inclusion of affiliate links is a way for us to earn a modest compensation for the time and effort invested in researching, curating, and presenting information. It's important to note that the products recommended in this blog post are chosen based on their perceived value, relevance to the content, and positive reviews, not solely on the potential for earning commissions.
We want to assure our readers that our primary goal is to provide informative and unbiased content. The presence of affiliate links does not influence the editorial integrity of our recommendations. We only endorse products that we genuinely believe may bring value to our audience. Please be aware that individual experiences with products may vary, and it's advisable to conduct personal research or consult customer reviews before making a purchase decision. Your support through the use of affiliate links is greatly appreciated and contributes to the sustainability of our efforts to provide quality content.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the affiliate links in this blog post, feel free to reach out to us. We value transparency and aim to maintain the trust of our readers.