How to Water Tomatoes
Tomatoes are thirsty plants and when you plant them in their final position they need watering at least three times per week. Tomatoes prefer rain water as while the fluoride and chlorine in our tap water might be good for us, it’s not for them.
When watering tomatoes, regularity is more important than amount. When the fruits begin to form on the plant, over-watering, or watering at irregular intervals will cause the fruits to split, and become more susceptible to molds.
Water tomatoes from the base, ideally standing pots in trays, or digging recycled plastic bottles into the soil for tomatoes planted in the ground.
By watering from the base, you promote root growth, but also avoid the risk of splashing leaves, as over wetting tomato leaves promotes blight and fungal problems.
Pruning Tomatoes
Cordon, or indeterminate tomatoes are the most complicated to prune, but it’s still probably the simplest job in any tomato care guide.
Side shoots (the small suckers that grow between a main truss and the stem) should be removed every time you see them. They take energy away from fruit production, and slow down flowering.
For all cordon varieties it is important to maintain a height you can manage, so any trusses (the horizontal limbs of your tomato plant, that will later bear fruit), or stems growing above head height should be removed regularly.
And before we move on, never, ever forget about DDD; dead diseased or damaged. Any dead, diseased or damaged materials need to be removed from tomatoes.
It will lead to stem rot, fungal disease, attract pests, and blight. DDD plant materials should be pruned out as soon as you see them.
How to Train Tomatoes
For bush tomatoes, no real training is needed, simply provide a central stake, and tie in the main stem if it gets floppy. For cordon tomatoes, training is absolutely essential and is likely to become something of an architectural addition to our garden.
If you grow tomatoes indoors or in a greenhouse, the simplest way to train them is to attach twine to any overhead beams, and run them straight down to the base of the tomato.
Tie them gently to the base, and wrap them around the stem as the tomato grows taller.
For outdoor cordons, either build a frame out of bamboo canes, and repeat the twine supports in the greenhouse, or for individual plants, or individual pots, a bamboo teepee or obelisk is ideal.
Feeding Tomatoes
Your tomato feed should have an NPK of around 8-32-16 which supports overall health. Start to feed your plants when the first flowers are setting. Continue to feed every week during the growing season until all fruit is harvested.
The best and most cost-effective tomato fertilizers are concentrated liquid feeds, this should be diluted with water at approximately 1-capful per 3-gallon watering can. There's no benefit of overfeeding and can lead to root rot and an empty wallet!
Tomato Best Companion Plants
Companion planting for tomatoes has two purposes; flavor and pest distraction. There are no plants that truly repel slugs (sorry) but there are plants that distract them.
To distract slugs try planting sacrificial marigolds, these are really easy to grow and start from seed at the same time as your tomatoes so as soon as you plant your tomatoes out accompany them with young marigolds to provide an alternative feast for the slugs.
Basil is not just a great companion for tomatoes on pizza, but growing them side by side is supposed to actually improve the flavor of the tomato fruit too.
