At last, winter is over and spring has arrived and it is finally time to get out in the garden and start planting your organic tomatoes in time for eating this summer. You should always be ready to begin planting as soon as the temperatures are warm and stable enough for your organic tomatoes to thrive regardless of whether you are planting heirloom or hybrid plants.
Here are my Top Six Tips for growing organic tomatoes.
1. The Weather: Make sure you don’t plant until the temperatures are above 10 degrees which is no problem these days as you can either go online or I have downloaded an app for my iPhone which gives me accurate temperature measurements
2. Temperature of the Soil: Make sure your soil is above 12 degrees before planting. I don’t often plant my tomatoes before May in the UK
3. Warming the soil: If you want to speed up the process of warming the soil then cover your tomato beds with clear plastic about a week before you are going to plant
4. Separate your organic tomato plants: Organic Tomatoes prefer to be about three feet apart which allows the roots to spread out. Also make sure you plant your tomato plant in a deep enough hole
5. Watering and Feeding: Pour about a cup of organic fertiliser such as bone meal on to the area where you are going to grow your plants. Before you plant make sure you water your organic plants and press the soil down
6. Insect & Pest Control: Did you know that you can buy ladybugs for your garden? They eat the insects that like to eat your plants. You can also consider planting some bulbs of garlic as bugs hate the odour
Have fun and don’t take gardening too seriously. Being out in the garden with the birds singing, breathing the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun is magic and having a bumper crop is the cherry on the cake
Want to find out more about Organic Tomatoes, then visit Lesley Pirrie’s site on How to Plant Tomatoes for more Free Information.