Tomatoes, with various sizes and varieties, are compact plants and can grow tall according to their type. Although there are several types of tomato plants that are suitable for growing at home, all tomato varieties have a short harvest period, as well as special growing conditions. Soil is a major factor when growing almost any type of tomato. Here are some tips for preparing the ground so you can get healthy tomatoes.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Preparing the Land by Providing Supplements
Step 1. Choose a well-drained, deep, loamy soil (rich in sand, silt, and loam) for growing tomatoes
Step 2. Check the soil acidity level
Tomatoes prefer to grow in soil that tends to be acidic with a pH between 6.2 and 6.8. To determine the acidity of the soil, use a soil pH meter available at home supply stores or gardening supply stores.
Step 3. Choose an area that gets direct sunlight for at least 6 hours a day
Step 4. Till the land before planting
Use a shovel or hoe to till the land while it is dry. Wet soil will be difficult to move and work and will stick to the tools you use. If the soil pH is not yet suitable for growing tomatoes, add fertilizer to prepare it.
Step 5. Give supplements
Apply peat moss, compost, or animal manure to the soil to improve its quality. Mix a little of each of the ingredients above while hoeing so that it mixes with the soil before planting the tomatoes. The more fertile the land, the better the tomato growing conditions will be.
Step 6. Choose a planting area that is deep enough
The roots of the tomato plant will spread deep into the soil until the first leaves grow.
Step 7. Purchase a fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in a ratio of 5:10:5
Step 8. Prepare the fertilizer
Dissolve 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of fertilizer in 4 liters of water. Pour 1 cup (250 ml) of fertilizer solution into the bottom of each tomato plant. Meanwhile, for a larger planting area, use about 1 kg of fertilizer for every 9 square meters of land.
Method 2 of 2: Minimally Prepare the Land
Step 1. Process the land until smooth
Don't do anything else on the land, focus on how to grow tomatoes on the land.
Step 2. Sow tomato seeds in simple rows
Plant about 8-10 tomato plants in a small garden.
- Leave a distance of about 60 cm between each tomato seed and between each row. That way, the tomatoes and the planting area will stay cool.
- Plant 2 tomato seeds in one hole. Remove weaker plants when they reach 4 cm in height.
Step 3. Apply fertilizer after some time
Avoid over-cultivating the land. Young tomato plants are very sensitive to new conditions when transplanted from seed. This plant can not only die, but also stunted growth so it does not give good yields. Instead, use chicken manure to fertilize plants. You can get this fertilizer in pellet form and use it easily. Simply apply about 1 cup of chicken manure pellets to the surface of each plant. After that, watering the planting area can dissolve these pellet nutrients into the soil. There is no need to cultivate the soil at this point.
Step 4. Make use of grass clippings
Spread the grass clippings around the garden. The more the better. Provide grass clippings until they reach about 5-8 cm in height. These grass clippings will not only inhibit weed growth, they will also help keep the soil cool and moist. That way, you don't have to water the plant too often.
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The grass clippings will also serve as compost for the next growing season.
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Step 5. Water the plant once a week in the morning only
Do not water the plant at night because it makes it vulnerable to insects that like dark and wet places, rot, and other diseases such as fungus, verticillium wilt, etc. To avoid this, water the tomato plants only in the morning.
Watering plants during the day is also not good because the water will quickly evaporate before being absorbed by the plants
Step 6. Maintain the tomato plant height according to your height
This reference is made for two reasons. The first reason, tomato plants are quite difficult to care for. Therefore, there is no reason for you to let it grow to be hard to reach. It's okay to prune tomato plants even shorter, as long as you control their growth. The second reason, tomato plants are not too easy to produce fruit. Some types of tomatoes will just grow and continue to grow. As a result, nutrients in plants are focused on producing leaves instead of fruit. So, by shortening your tomato plants, you can get a bigger and faster harvest.
Step 7. Prune the tomato plants
Notice the three-branched branches. Cut the middle leaf.
Tips
- After planting tomatoes, apply mulch to keep the soil moist so it doesn't dry out.
- Based on the results of the soil pH check, you may be advised to add lime. Preferably, give lime when cultivating the land and not directly to the plants.
- Save the egg shells. When planting tomatoes, put the crushed eggshells into the ground (if you are growing tomatoes from seed, mix these eggshells into the planting hole). The calcium from the eggshell will help prevent the plant from rotting fruit. You may experience this problem due to the weather (rain and heat) when growing tomatoes.
