Planting Tomato Garden Wisely Helps Maintain Plants
With a couple thousand varieties of tomatoes, how you create your tomato garden will depend on the type of tomatoes you are planning to grow. There are plants that mature at about two-feet high and others that can grow as tall as eight-feet. The height will determine the type stakes you use to keep the plants upright, but how wide they bush will decide how far apart to plant them.
Typically, the plants are placed in prepared soil with two to three feet between the plants for those expected to grow to an average width. Many varieties can become exceptionally bushy and caring for the plants as they grow larger will be easier if placed four or even five feet apart. When the plants in the tomato garden are young is the time to add a vertical cage it you expect them to bush as once they get so large, adding the cage may not be possible. Tomatoes can thrive being watered about once a week, for often in excessively dry weather without becoming too stressed to produce.
Prior to the weekly visit to water, check the plants’ progress and if any limbs are hanging low, rearrange them into the cage or, if using stakes in the tomato garden, secure them with twine or another material that will not cut through the vine. It is important to keep the tomatoes from lying on the ground to help keep bugs off the fruit.
Do Not Let Nature Bug Your Plants
In the early stages of growth, walking through the tomato garden on a regular basis can keep an eye out for bugs and diseases that may destroy the plants or the subsequent fruit as it grows. Many people will use chemical pesticides on the plants to keep the bug population from exploding, but if there are other plants adjacent to your tomato garden, the pesticides may prevent proper pollination. For example, cucumbers need help from bees to grow their fruit, and many pesticides chase the bees away.
There are several forms of all-natural pesticides that can provide the same benefit without causing harm to surrounding plantings. Additionally, chemicals can be extremely harmful if eaten with the vegetables in the tomato garden being thoroughly washed prior to consumption.
Plants growing in a tomato garden will present a distinct aroma when you work around them pulling weeds and keeping the branches and fruit tied up from the ground. It is a very pleasant, somewhat sweet smell that many who have a tomato garden claim smells like success.
