How to Grow Great Tomatoes

The tomato is one of the most commonly grown plants for home gardeners. They are reasonable easy to care for, once you get them started which I do indoors from seed about six weeks before I put them out.

It can get quite cool here until around the end of the first week in June, even after that I usually put the plants out for a few hours each day for the first week and make sure they are inside at night.

I always have an old sheet handy by the door at the beginning and ending of the growing season and pay particular attention to frost warning. If one is sounded then the tomatoes will get covered for that night, making sure to lift the cover in the morning when the sun is up.

It is important that you are aware of the e three general types of growth habit; determinate, indeterminate and semi-determinate.

Determinate: varieties are often referred to as bush tomatoes. This is because the terminal (top and end) buds end in a flower cluster that produces fruit. The plant will stop growing when the terminal flowers develop. The fruit then develops and ripens over a short period of time, depending upon the weather. Tomatoes like heat so in cooler summers this process will slow down. The determinate varieties usually mature early and will produce small plants with generally smaller fruit. The small size means they do not need to be pruned or staked and can be great for a balcony or patio, especially if space is limited.

Indeterminate: these varieties are very popular with home gardeners. The indeterminate varieties will they often produce high-quality, flavourful, desirable fruit; they do mature later in the season than the determinate varieties do. Indeterminate refers to the continual growth habit of the plant which will continue to grow and flower until a killing frost. These are tall plants and will require staking for best results. Pruning is also vital if you want to enhance quality. Both flowering and fruiting occur over a longer time period.

Semi-Indeterminate: the name says it all they have characteristics that are intermediate between determinate and indeterminate. Basically indeterminate in nature, they will need staking and pruning in order to improve quality, but this is not essential. The indeterminate varieties are also very popular with home gardeners as they can provide a fairly early and good-quality yield.

I generally grow Camp Joy Heritage Cherry Tomatoes. They have performed well for me over the years and I first grew them in containers on my balcony. I could sit on my chair watch the Lake and pick a tomato for a quick snack. Add some fresh beans and a bit of lettuce and an instant balcony salad was created.

I have also grown Camp Joy indoors with less success but one plant did continue to produce fruit for nearly eight months, mind you for the last few weeks it was one tomato at a time but when you consider that was in winter that was a gift.