Now is the time to make up your mind about whether your going to grow or transplant your tomatoes. A lot of folks decide to just buy their tomato plants at a local nursery and transplant them into their garden.

If you decide to grow your own tomato plants, follow these tips to get better tomato's. Start your seeds out in small containers with a hole in the bottom for good drainage. I prefer to use Miracle Grow Moisture Control Soil in my containers. These seeds will need a container large enough to hold about a 3"  to 6" plant. You can also put them in larger containers and leave them there to grow.


They should be watered depending on your climate whether is dry or humid at least twice a day. In order to keep the soil moisture high until time to transplant. If you decide to grow them larger before transplanting, then the container should also be larger.
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When I am transplanting my tomatoes I like to put about a couple of tablespoons of coffee grounds into the hole then sit the plants in and fill the hole with water. This ensures that the roots will not only get a good drink of water in their new home, but also the coffee grounds will add nutrients to the root system  so start growing without to much stress. Also when I have them transplanted I will have broken eggshells to sprinkle around the new plants to discourage insects.


When your plant gets it's full height, a good idea is to remove all of the leaves and flowers from the bottom 2/3 rds. of the stems. These stems don't produce very good tomato's and drain needed nutrients from the rest of the plant. This will produce better tomato's over the rest of the plant. Also remove any sucker stems that begin growing. These sucker stems will not produce any tomato's and will use up nutrients also.Besides you don't want the tomato's to come into contact with the soil because mildew has a better chance of forming on the lower tomato's.

Be sure to water your tomato plants well and regularly to keep from getting blossom end rot. They will require less watering once the tomatoes begin to ripen. This will give you better tasting tomato's.

After maturity try cutting back on the watering by a third, but still water regularly. If you notice that the plants are starting to wilt or stressed because of the reduced watering. Increase the water back to normal. Depending on the rainfall, I usually have to water about every third day or so. I live in West Texas, so the water dries up pretty quickly here.

When it doesn't rain for a couple of weeks to a month. I will increase watering to every other day. Some summers I have had to water as much as every day for a week to get the soil moisture back up again. Then reduce back to every other day after a weeks worth of watering. You can also put mulch around your tomato plants to reduce evaporation.

If you live where there is more humidity, then you might just have to water twice a week. No matter where you live, I would suggest that you invest in a moisture meter. They are relatively cheap and easy to use. You can get them at any garden center. Keep it handy to be sure that your soil has enough moisture to sustain optimum growth of your plants.

Be sure to keep the soil loosened so that oxygen can get to down in the soil to the root system.  It also lets moisture seep down to the roots. This also encourages root growth, the better the root system the stronger the plants will be.

I like to use eggshells around the base of my tomato plants to discourage insects and coffee grounds

to add nutrients into the soil. I throw my coffee filters into the compost pile and let them return to their natural state also.

If you have a lot of insects invading your garden, then invest in lady bugs, frogs, and praying mantis'. These also reduce the need for insecticides that you would have to use. These measures are great for the gardens and will keep the insect population down considerably.


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