Growing Winter Tomatoes
Growing winter tomatoes is an art as well as a science. Tomatoes do not thrive in cold weather, this is an understatement. Tomatoes cannot survive in cold weather. Anyway, cold weather need not put a damper on tomato lovers botanical exploits. I am going to show ways you can continue growing winter tomatoes from the comfort of your own home.
You can start growing winter tomatoes by planting the seeds outdoors just as the garden plants start to die off. By this time of the season seeds are quite cheap. Just before frost sets, in transfer the seedlings indoors. For a continuous supply of tomatoes, ensure that you start a varying but manageable number of plants after a few weeks. Purchase an inexpensive light and put a bulb in it thus creating indoor illumination that will aid the plants in their development.
Using discarded containers, start the tomatoes inside them, using them as green houses. Puncture holes at the bottom of the containers to help in drainage. You then put a mixture of growing medium and plant the seeds inside. Put them beneath the grow light for about 10 hours each day and raise that period up to 14 hours each day as the plants grows larger.
When the seedlings eventually grow up to the top of the container, tear the plastic that joins the top to the bottom and raise the cover above the lower container using toothpicks in every corner. To keep the moisture inside, layer the sides with a nylon wrap. Never, should you let the ground dry up when growing these tomatoes in winter and neither should you over water the container in an effort to meet the required amount of water.
As soon as your seedlings have grown large enough and are able to be planted, the next focus is on preparation of the soil. There has to be proper drainage in the vessel. Soil preparation is achieved by blending a mixture of planting soil with potting soil. You should fill the pot up to more than two thirds full. Once the pot is ready, you place the seedling inside it and fill in all over it then add water.
Growing winter tomatoes is usually fun in that you build the soil as the seedling grows. You may prune some of the leaves if need be and make sure you add fertilizer fortnightly.
For growing winter tomatoes, the best variety of plants are the tinier cherry type like Red Robin, Small Fry and Cherry Gold, though larger tomatoes may as well be cultivated in containers. These include the red, gold, and pink, of the Husky variety.
As soon as the plant starts blossoming, you have to assist the plant in pollinating. You can do this by shaking the flowers thus releasing pollen. If it was outdoors, the bees and other insects would have done this.
The plant should always be kept in the sun and the tomatoes plucked as soon as they ripen. Growing winter tomatoes can be a chore but can also be very rewarding when successful.
