Growing tomatoes
By tweety_missa
@tweety_missa (30)
March 14, 2012 4:50pm CST
I want to grow tomatoes this year since I absolutely love eating them and I seem to be consuming an enormous amount in the summer, especially when the weather is nice and we can have BBQs. I don't have a garden so will need to pot-plant the tomatoes. Does anyone have some advice from me. Do the plant like to be in full sunshine?
2 people like this
3 responses
@marguicha (215746)
• Chile
14 Mar 12
I have planted tomatoes several years. If you plant them in containers, don´t place next year´s plants in the same soil you used this year. The earth must the easy to work: if there´s too much clay, add some coarse sand. Tomatoes, like any plant that you want to grow because you want it´s fruit, must be in full sun. Depending on the variety, you might have to prune some leaves when the plant grows. A good place to learn about this is to ask at the web.
1 person likes this
@pergammano (7682)
• Canada
14 Mar 12
Lots of good advice from dear Ms. Marguicha....I always mulch the tops of the plant pots...with grass clippings! Seeings, I read you are in the UK, we have similar weather, and we promote both fusarium and fulsilium wilt, which is a spore that is splashed on the plant whilst watering! The mulch will stop the splashing of the spores! High nitrogen fertilizer will only promote leaf growth, so make sure, when using fertilizer that the nitrogen number is low!
Tomatoes are from the "nightshade" family ...which LOVE warm roots...soooo Black Pots with good drainage keeps their roots nice and warm! I prefer to water in the a.m. as the water is cool, and the soil has cooled somewhat over the night!
For reference only; the best site that I have found for tomatoes--HERITAGE ONLY is www.tomatofest.com and it contains a lot of good advice. Happy growing!
@marguicha (215746)
• Chile
15 Mar 12
Thanks, Perg. I think I will be able to have a few of my last tomatoes for my mylot´s friend visit. She should be arriving next week. I didn´t know about the "nightshade" family, but I guess our Summer hasmore that enough heat for my tomato plants. 
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
14 Mar 12
They need about six hours of sunshine, I always have a pot of cherry tomatoes every year because I like to just pick to eat when I am in the year...this year I bought a much larger pot saucer and put some wooden scraps at the bottom to sit the pot on and then filled the saucer up with water to stop the snails, I did it this way as I was told to have the pot sitting in the water was not good for the tomatoes...
@tweety_missa (30)
•
15 Mar 12
Lilaclady, thank you very much for your reply. I have not heard of this method to stop snails but I think I will give this a try. Thank you.
@mgzg11 (139)
• Croatia (Hrvatska)
14 Mar 12
I see that others before me answer your questions. I could only add that if you can, avoid watering them during the day, and in direct sunlight. Best time for watering is in the evening. If you can, don't use cold water (leave it during the day to warm up), since that is shock to the plant. And use pot with holes at the bottom, so excess water can drain out, because too much water at the bottom of the pot can cause rotting of the roots.
Most important, enjoy your harvest ;-)
