They are really simple to make and the video below is a light hearted look at exactly what you need to do to make your own cheap composting bin. Incidentally you don’t have to go and get worms from a worm farm, you can actually dig them up in the garden and add them to the composter when you have it ready.

There are a number of benefits associated with having a ready supply of well processed compost available, especially the kind that is full of nutrients and in particular nitrogen. Tomatoes love nitrogen, although you can overdose them so be careful with supplementary feeding if you have used compost that is already rich in nitrogen. Creating a mix of good quality top soil, well rotted manure and a rich compost will give your tomato plants exactly what they need to flourish and produce loads of fruit. Keep an eye on the pH levels though, a perefect range is between 6.5 to 7.0 and you can check the pH level with a simple pH test kit. You can use this link for more information on preparing soil for tomatoes.

The same principles apply whether you want to grow tomatoes, peppers or any other vegetables, there are 4 key aspects that need to be given consideration, the solution may not be the same for each type of plant but this is what you need to determine.

So what are the 4 basic aspects that you need to consider for growing any vegetables or fruit: -

• Location
• Soil preparation
• Watering plan
• Plant care and maintenance

What you sometimes have to accept is that if you cannot supply the right conditions for the product you want to grow then maybe you should select some other option that will thrive in your environment and give you your best chance of succeeding.

In this post we are going to be discussing what is required for good tomato growing and what we need to ensure so that when you grow your tomatoes you are going to have at the end, fresh red tomatoes that are juicy, full of flavour and will compliment any table.

First Consideration – best location for tomatoes

A key element of producing the best tasting , juicy red tomatoes (assuming you are growing red tomatoes) is to ensure they are placed in a location where they will get a minimum of 6 hours of sunshine every day, many people prefer it if you can actually select a location that will provide up to 10 hours sunshine but the minimum requirement is 6 hours.  It does not matter if you are tight for space, you can put your tomato plant in a pot or hang tomatoes upside down in a tomato plant hanger or use a greenhouse to grow tomatoes. As long as you can get the required quota of sunlight that will be fine.

Second Consideration – preparing the soil for tomato growing

It is fairly well known that tomatoes need water and that the plants should not be allowed to dry out, they also need plenty of nutrients from a nitrogen rich compost and the first stage of achieving this is proper soil preparation.

Preparing the soil for tomatoes requires a 2 pronged approach, you need to provide a base of mulch in the soil in order to help retain moisture and you need to mix a ‘high in nitrogen’ compost mix to the soil to ensure that the plants can get enough nutrients when the fruit starts to develop. This applies whatever medium you are using to grow your tomato plants, plant pot, plant hanger or straight into the soil.

It is also better to place your tomato plants deep in the soil so make sure that you have dug deep enough to allow this or used a big enough container. Tomato plants can grow roots from any portion of the stem so once in the ground a new root system will develop to take advantage of the deep planting.

Third Consideration – Watering Tomato Plants

Regular watering of tomato plants is an essential requirement, my recommendation is that you water your plants 3 times a day. The objective you are aiming for is that the plants should not be completely drenched in water but also should never be allowed to dry out completely. The first scenario can prevent the proper air to root interface in the soil required for the plant to absorb the nutrients and  thrive. The second scenario will also result in poor absorption  of  nutrients and the fruit is likely to wither and the skin can split, not very attractive or very tasty.

If you are busy and feel you cannot provide this level of service to a watering program then you may want to consider purchasing a watering system. Not completely ideal in terms of you inspecting your plants first hand less often, but great for establishing a very accurate metered watering scheme for your plants. I personally favour a watering system because many people have busy lifestyles and it is easy to forget to water with potentially disastrous affects.

Forth Consideration – Tomato plant care and maintenance

There are 3 parts to tomato plant care and maintenance:

• proper support of the fronds
• preventing tomato disease
• preventing the attack of harmful pests

There are various means of supporting tomato plants, tomato cages, upside down tomato planters (i.e. self supporting as they simply hang down from the root ball), staking and stringing. Whichever you choose remember that tomato plants are quite tender and will bruise easily, so when/if tying them off make sure that you use a soft string and do not tie too tightly. The other point is that it does not matter so much which method you choose as long as you select one of them and ensure that the fronds are well supported with a structure that is strong enough to take the weight when the fruit appears.

Preventing disease is easy enough to achieve by pruning the lower branches of the tomato plant in order to ensure that there is no contact with the ground where most disease will be contracted. In addition to that keep an eye out for any leaves that are drying out or turning yellow, these should be removed and disposed of.  It is also worth pointing out that it is best to retain just the main core fronds and to remove any excess growth, this will keep the plant size manageable and will ensure that the remaining growth stays healthy and well fed with nutrients and water.

Better lots of good fruit from a smaller, healthier plant than poor quality fruit from an overabundance of growth.

There are 2 trains of thought on managing pests, either to use a pesticide and spray occasionally, twice a week should be sufficient, or to introduce predators that feed on the bad pests so are,in effect, tomato friendly . The latter is a bit more specialist although a perfectly legitimate approach especially if you prefer organic gardening.  I suppose there is also a half way house and that is to use naturally produced pesticides that are less likely to be harmful to the environment, I actually like this option the best as I believe it to be a very good compromise and much easier to manage.

Well those are the nuts and bolts of how to grow tomatoes and at this basic level it really is about the science of vegetable growing rather than art. I believe art does  play a small part and there is in my opinion those amongst us that have green fingers and an artful way of producing the best crops from everything they touch and there are those that perhaps do not have this natural gift but if they stick to the science will still achieve very satisfactory results. I will leave you to decide which camp you think you fall into.