How to Successfully Grow Your Tomatoes
Great Tasting & Homegrown
QUICK LINKS:
Buy Tomatoes • Buy Soil + Fertilizer • Buy Tools + Accessories • Everything Tomatoes
Now that you have selected your tomatoes, here are some helpful tips, to ensure a long, productive and delicious tomato season.
FULL SUN IS BEST
Full sun is usually best, unless you are in a really hot inland valley.
A simple rule of thumb: The larger the tomato, the more sunlight it will need. At least 8 to 10 hours is best. Six hours of sunlight is about the minimum to produce at least some fruit.
GROW ORGANICALLY
Great tomatoes begin and end with great soil.
Organic, biologically active soil, teaming with microbes, earthworms and other life is essential. All our soils at Roger’s Gardens are certified organic and the highest quality. Our best soils are Bu’s Blend Potting Soil (for pots) and Bu’s Blend Compost (for the ground) as well as our OMRI and CDFA Certified Roger’s Gardens Organic Potting Soil and Planting Mix.
Use organic fertilizers.
They last longer, help build healthy living soils, are safer, better for the planet and produce more flavorful tomatoes. Don’t use synthetic chemical fertilizer, like MiracleGro, Shultz, Jobes, etc. Our staff and Tomatomania's favorites are the organic Down To Earth fertilizers.
THE RIGHT SIZE CONTAINER
Most tomatoes are going to be six-to-eight-foot giants by mid-summer.
If you are using plant containers, we suggest a container that is about 18 inches across and similar in depth. Anything smaller and your plants will show their unhappiness – just when they are at their productive peak.
WATER ACCORDING TO THE SOIL, NOT THE CALENDAR
How much and how often to water?
How much is easy – whether in a container or in the ground always apply enough water to thoroughly saturate the soil all the way to the depth of the furthest roots.
How often depends on soil moisture, not the calendar. When first planted, tomatoes might need more frequent watering than later on when their roots are deeper into the soil.
For newly planted tomatoes the soil should dry to about one inch before the next watering. As your tomatoes grow, the soil can dry a bit deeper between irrigations, maybe to two inches and eventually perhaps to three inches. The best way to know this is to simply put your finger into the soil, until you get into a rhythm and get familiar with the soil. Most important is to water according to the soil, not because it has been a certain number of days since the last watering.