I’ve been gardening in my backyard for several years now, and each year I’ve learned something new. More often than not, these have been hard-won lessons through trial and error, and I emphasize the word “error.”
One of the first plants I tried to grow was tomatoes, because I heard everyone say they were easy. Well … they may be easy, but if so, everything else is ridiculously hard, at least for me. I have gotten them to produce fruit, but only in small amounts, and the tomatoes on the whole have been rather small and disappointing.
I just found this super-awesome video though which includes a ton of great tips and tricks!
There are 10 easy steps to growing high-yield tomatoes!
- Get the right types of tomatoes to grow in your climate. If you need tips, talk to a local expert.
- Lay the plants on their sides.
- Plant them in a trench with the top three inches uncovered.
- Add a fourth to a half a cup of slow release fertilizer.
- Erect a cage around each individual plant. It should be about five feet tall with a two foot diameter.
- Cover the cages with floating row cover to provide protection from wind.
- Fertilize the plants each week using a hose-end applicator. Apply directly to the leaves.
- Side dress the tomatoes with two to three teaspoons of ammonium sulfate after they produce their first yield. Water afterward.
- Wait until tomatoes are 30% ripe, and then pick them. Otherwise the birds will get them.
- Do not refrigerate tomatoes. They go bad quickly if you do, so put them on the counter instead.
Watch the video for the details, and be sure to check out the other great gardening videos in LDSPrepper’s channel—he’s got a lot of other great advice for growing tomatoes and much more.
Bonus Tip:
This brilliant watering solution will ensure your plant is well hydrated and stimulates growth to its full potential! Check out James Bryan's Hometalk post and the discussion, he shares some really insightful tips on growing tomatoes.
Diane
I had a friend put powdered milk around the base of the plants. The plants need calcium as well. For pests, you can also plant companion plants that will keep bugs away, but if you screen the plants, they can get sun and water and no bugs gat in. Also, you can put down a dark mulch or bright red and it will keep the soil warm. Toms like it warm.
Jan Wahl
I was wondering if your thoughts put tomato on side would work for other plants, such as zucchini or spaghetti squash?
Francis
Great video and very helpful. I am definitely going to try this. One or two questions though, which have already been asked but not answered. Do you take off the shoots that come between he leaf joints? My Grandfather told me you should. Now I am not sure as you seem to leave them on. I like the wire support, we use one strong support but I think your way is better. I have a mini greenhouse 6ft tall, so I am going to take out the shelves and put the tomatoes in that. Is 'miracle grow' the same as this method? Will it supply everything the plant needs. Interesting to know you should not put tomatoes in the fridge. I am in England so the climate is wind, rain and some hot sun in summer, but overcast and cold in winter. Tomatoes do not ripen outside until late summer. When should we stop picking the fruit? We make green tomato chutney when fruit has stopped ripening due to the weather and lack of sunshine. Tell me if I am going wrong somewhere please. Much appreciated because although it says heavy fruiting mine just 'don't'! Using Gardeners Delight and Tom Thumb varieties. Thank you for the video and the information. Very good of you to share your knowledge.
Pamela
I love the way you've caged your tomatoes! Once the tomatoes are ripe enough to pick, how do you reach them through the wire to get to the tomatoes out?
We have horrible issues with blight; what are your thoughts on preventing this issue?
Do you pick off the suckers?
Bonnie Meyer
I don''t do any of these things. I dig a deep hole put eggshells and coffee grounds in the bottom and plant the tomato plant almost halfway up the stem. Sometimes I crack a raw egg in the bottom too.
Debby Butzler
We snip off the lower stems, wrap the stem with a strip of newspaper to keep the cutworms at Bay. Dig a trench, add powder milk and Epsom salts to the hole, add some water lay the plant on it's side and carefully bend as you add the soil.
When the tomatoes start to turn 1/3 to 1/2 ripe we pick them, take the stem off, lay them upside down on a tray with newspaper over top in the garage. Check everyday. You can add an apple in there, the gases speed up the riping. My folks use to grow 1000 tomato plants a year.
Paul
Some good tips here. I like the raised beds. Where can I get these or are they a DIY job? You can contact me @ http://www.liverpooltreecare.co.uk
Gene Buchholz
What causes my leafs on my tomato plants to curl
Karen Gibbs
I use blossom set and get a lot more tomatoes at least 2 weeks earlier than normal
MALCOLM Chambers
Feed with Epsom Salts once a fortnight, a tablespoon in an average size watering can should be enough. My plants this year are eight feet tall, and would be taller if I had not pinched out the tops. Also, remove the bottom leaves, this reduces the risk of disease.
A quick way to obtain tomato plants is to cut a thick slice of a shop bought tomato across the middle, put it on top of some compost and cover with more compost. thin out resulting plants once they appear. Make sure you put strong support frame to hold up the plants, as they get very heavy once the fruit forms.
Anne in Virginia
Can you share where to purchase the raised beds you use?
Pam
I try and try to griw tomatoes. I had healthy olants and blooms last summer, but no fruit. Someone told me it was to hot. Any suggestions?
Gary
Never never, have I had birds eat my tomatoes.
Where do you live ? What kind of bird eats tomatoes ?
Andrew
What is the purpose of the pale in the center of the planter in your first picture? Is that just so that you can control the way it grows and get like down in between in the middle.?
Are usually put an Olla in the center. It’s an agent way to irrigate slowly and effectively with a little water loss. Personally, I like it because I don’t have the water is often and I can drop any new drain I walked directly to the root system.
Your idea on leaning the plant over makes me want to leave it over until I can get a ring out of it so I can have it grow completely around the fencing. Any ideas of that has been done? I imagine you have one heck of a root system.
Last thing, there are some beneficial funguses. One product comes in capsules which you push into the root system. It’s a symbiotic relationship, the fungus actually help break down nutrients and create an Environment that’s very helpful for the root system. Changes the pH of the soil, protects the roots, holds moisture without making the dirt wet and integrate with the root system to increase its function.
Andrew
I’m going to be growing vegetables indoors this winter. I want to do this for sometime, but just haven’t quite gotten around to it. As you probably noted from some of my other posts, that I like to use a simple watering system, initially route hormones of some sort, worm castings, OllaS for slow irrigation, it’s a in ground solution that allows you to apply moisture and nutrients directly to the root system. I also use a multi fungi that usually comes in capsules that you push into the soil through the root system. A symbiotic relationship occurs between the root system and these fungus to increase the routes ability and capacity. It’s really quite remarkable. I think about taking his idea about laying down The tomato plant but waiting until I can get a nice 2 foot Radius circle out of it and see if I can’t get an amazing root system.
If anybody is interested in knowing more or getting pictures of what I’m going to do, let me know. However, we may want to first as this gentleman as this is his post.