Assuming you have got your plants planted, whether that is in the soil or in some sort of container, and remembering to make sure that you do not put them in too early which would risk exposure to frost (not good), you will need to start thinking about ongoing care.

Bush type tomatoes (determinate tomato plants) grow to a set size and don’t really need any staking or pruning.

Vine plants (indeterminate tomato plants) on the other hand will need support and there are many ways of supporting them. A popular method is to use tomato cages, but using stakes or string is equally effective. Whatever way you choose make sure that the individual trusses are properly supported as the plant grows and take off any side shoots that appear, especially near the ground, to keep the growth under control and direct all the nutrients and water to the fruit bearing trusses.

Once the plant has developed 4 to 6 trusses the main stem should be pinched off about 2 leaves above the top truss. The 4 to 6 rule really depends on your available growing season and type of plant. For example in the UK you should probably only allow 4 trusses if planting outdoors but you will probably be OK with 6 trusses if greenhouse growing. Elsewhere in the world where you potentially have a better climate you may get away with more trusses outdoors, this is really a judgment call which needs to made based on climate and the length of your growing season.

Watering is very important, you need to set up a regime that ensures your plants are never dried out but equally important they should not be saturated either. Pots and or growbags tend to need more watering as they can dry out more quickly than if you have planted in the ground, 2 or 3 times a day is recommended or you can make use of an automatic watering system.

Feeding tomatoes is less important for plants in the soil, especially if the ground has been properly prepared but again if the plants are in pots or growbags they will benefit from regular feeding.

Its best to use a formulated tomato feed and to work with the instructions on the bottle for feeding. As a rule of thumb once or twice a week is good depending on the feed you use. If you prefer to feed twice a week and this contradicts the instructions on your chosen feed you can, for example, half the dose and deliver the same amount of feed but applying it twice instead of once. It’s really up to you and you will see from the results whether that works better in your environment, remembering of course not to exceed the recommended amount on the instructions.

If you are just starting don’t be scared to experiment and treat 1/2 your crop one way and the other 1/2 another way to find out what works best. As soon as you notice a difference you can adjust your regime to the best method.

A final tip on how to pollinate tomatoes, when the flowers are on the plants they tend to pollinate themselves with no problem, but it doesn’t hurt to help them along with a little bit of gentle shaking to dislodge the pollen, particularly if they are inside a greenhouse.

Tomato plants are one of the easiest and most popular vine plants to grow but, as with all homegrown vegetables and fruits, it pays to do your homework up front to make sure you can successfully grow your own tomatoes or any other vegetables. Selecting the right location and using the right soil or compost mix will set you on your way to successful tomato crops.

One of the best options available to people with small gardens that will still allow them to grow a few tomato plants and enjoy the satisfaction of eating fresh homegrown tomatoes is to use a hanging planter, the planter can be hung in any convenient location, remembering of course that tomato plants need plenty of sun and plenty of water.

The main benefit of using a hanger in a small garden is that you need very little space in which to hang it and instead of spreading out to take up a large area they tend to hang straight down and occupy vertical space rather than horizontal space. So plenty of scope for the fruit to grow but in a long vertical line.

Other benefits are that you can clip the end of the plant to make sure there is no contact with the ground and therefore less chance of disease. There will naturally be good air movement around and through the plant, again good for keeping disease at bay.

The downside is that the hanging planter will need frequent watering, the fact that the soil is suspended in the air and in sunlight for most of the day means that it is bound to dry out more quickly than some other tomato growing options.

A great way of dealing with this is to employ the use of a plant watering system, particularly useful for this method of growing tomato plants. The main benefit is that it removes the need to lift heavy watering cans up to water the planter or as some people do lowering the planter down to water, not a good idea. Too much risk of damaging your plants and you still have to lift the planter back up after watering and now its full of water so heavier as well.

There are plenty of watering systems available that you can easily purchase from gardening centers, I would suggest a micro system for this type of planting as it is lightweight and can be controlled with a built in timer.

Visit Grow a Tomato for great tips on tomato growing and to gain access to some expert advice.

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