While some gardeners say tomatoes are one of the easiest plants to grow, a few common mistakes can make for a bad harvest.
Fortunately, TikToker Home.Coop.Garden (@home.coop.garden) shared some helpful tips on growing healthy, juicy tomatoes that will taste just as good as they look.
@home.coop.garden Gardening tips for growing tomatoes. Tomato plants need and thrive with proper airflow. Fungal diseases are no fun. Follow the steps for a great harvest this year. 📌SAVE & share this post. What are some of our favorite tomato varieties tots grow and why? #gardening #garden #backyardgarden #tomatos #growingtomatoes #urbanfarming #lifeouthere #organic #homestead #sustainability #soil #soilhealth ♬ original sound - Home.Coop.Garden
The scoop
The creator shared four tips on growing a bountiful tomato harvest.
For the first tip, she advised pruning your tomato plants to help prevent diseases, making sure the plants sit at least three to five inches above the soil.
"It's important that you trim off the bottom sets of the leaves so that the plant isn't touching the ground, just in case there are any diseases lingering within the soil," she says, showing viewers as she pruned two leaves on a tomato plant.
Next, the creator said many people make the mistake of watering on top or in between their tomato plants, but this can promote fungal growth. Instead, she recommends watering at the base of the stem and adding mulch on top if you use a drip system so the water doesn't splash directly on the plants.
The third tip she offered was to support your tomato plants with a cage or other creative structure so they don't break once they become too heavy.
"Another thing I recommend is companion planting your tomato plants with basil. Basil is known to repel insects like hornworms and is believed to increase yield," she said. "Before you know it, you'll have beautiful, delicious tomatoes."
How it's helping
Growing your own tomatoes will save you money at the grocery store, as one plant can produce between 20 and 200 tomatoes, per Gardenary. Depending on how many plants you have, that could mean you would never have to buy store-bought tomatoes again.
Homegrown tomatoes tend to taste much better than grocery store varieties since they're usually left on the vine longer and grown in mineral-rich soil that isn't degraded like industrialized soil, per One Green Planet.
In addition, gardening boosts your mood and physical health by giving you a healthy dose of sunshine and helping you connect with nature.
As a bonus, growing food in your backyard puts less strain on Earth's resources since you'll lower demand for mass-produced fruits and veggies that typically travel hundreds of miles before arriving at the store. Plus, you'll help reduce the amount of plastic packaging and bags polluting the environment.
What everyone's saying
Commenters appreciated the tips and asked several questions about how to ensure a great harvest.
"Ok. Now, please show us how to prune to yield more tomatoes," someone said.
Another asked, "How tall do they get? The stem with the cluster of tomato snapped from my plant. Any tips?"
Someone replied that height depends on the tomato variety and that stems with clusters should be supported more.
One commenter asked for specifics on growing tomatoes, and another said, "For tomatoes, well-draining soil with a good layer of compost on top and full sun. After they start flowering, give them fertilizer with phosphorus and potassium and nitrogen."
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