Grow Tomatoes From the Seeds of the Tomato You Eat
The tomato has many claims to fame. The fruit, used as a vegetable, is the first ingredient in Chef Boyardee’s ravioli cans of beef and the reason why raw school cafeteria pizza smeared with sauce is classified as a vegetable .
Exported all over the world, the pride of the New World, along with macaroni, changed Italian cuisine, took the place of the pride of salads and helped to create the Heinz empire. There is a reason why tomatoes have become popular across cultures and culinary traditions. Tomatoes are surprisingly easy to grow, are forgiven enough if you forgot to water, and reach maturity in about two to three months.
And you don’t have to look for more suitable tomato seeds than the sandwich you eat or the salad you make. So surprise your friends and family with your amazing tomato facts. Then surprise them with your amazing home grown tomatoes.
1. Choose a tomato
Assess the environment in which you are growing. Do you live in a city where there is nothing but a windowsill and a huge terracotta garden pot, or do you have a real piece of land? Tomato plants vary in size, and naturally those that grow larger tomatoes also tend to grow larger than the cherry tomato variety.
If you grow them on a windowsill, cherry tomatoes may be the right choice for you. There are all kinds of tiny tomatoes available at the grocery store these days, so pick your color, size, and flavor. Depending on where you live, you probably want to plant tomatoes in late spring or early summer when the weather is consistently warm and free from frost. If you grow at home on a windowsill, that means you don’t have to wait for a certain season if your home is beautiful and toasty in the winter.
2. Plant a tomato
Place a handful of orchid bark or pebbles in the bottom of your seed pot for drainage, fill it with all-purpose soil, and you’re done. Be sure to use a pot with a drainage hole. Then, simply bite into your juicy little tomato, remove a few seeds, and stick them with your finger into the pot a few inches apart until they are covered with dirt. Keep the soil moist and wait for the seeds to germinate.
3. Growing tomatoes
Once your seeds sprout and push tiny green leaves up to the surface, make sure you keep the pot on a windowsill that gets plenty of sunlight throughout the day. Tomatoes grow remarkably fast, and you’ll see your tiny plants rise noticeably higher almost every day, which is incredibly pleasing to watch.
You will also likely notice small white hairs along the stem as the tomato grows. These small hairs can grow into roots, helping the tomato grow stronger. When your small tomato plants are several inches tall and have a lot of leaves, it’s time to transplant them into a pot big enough to support their adult size.
Choose a pot with a drainage hole and a diameter of 18 to 24 inches, fill it with drainage material and soil, and bury the tomato stems when transplanting to cover most of the fluffy white hairs. It may seem fun to bury some of the stem, but this will allow the fluffy hairs to grow into roots, giving the plants stronger support and a better ability to seek and absorb moisture, which is an added bonus if you forget water sometimes.
Fertilizing make sure the tomato has enough food to grow quickly. There are a surprising amount of commercial fertilizers specifically made for tomatoes, so select and use according to package directions.
When it comes to water, tomatoes love it and absorb it at an amazing rate, so water liberally to keep the soil moist and to get the water to the base of the roots. If you’re not sure if your plant needs water, use your finger to push the top of the potting soil up to about the first knuckle; if it seems dry, it’s time to water again. If you forget to water once too often, your tomato will wilt dramatically, but don’t worry, all is not lost and good watering will revive it.
4. Keep the tomato upright
Tomatoes cannot support their fruit and tend to grow on the ground. To keep them upright, you can buy a tomato cage online or at most gardening or hardware stores. Place the cage over the plant, moving closer to the pot when the tomato is still relatively small and has not yet begun to bear fruit. This will enable it to grow inside the cell. After about a month to two and a half months, depending on the variety, little flowers will develop on your tomato that will eventually turn into your tomatoes. As the tomatoes grow and weigh down the vines, you may need to help the plant lean against the tomato cage, or better wrap it around to support the fruit.
5. Enjoy and show off
It may not be scientific, but the tomatoes you grow yourself are just tastier. There is something about taking them off the vine and putting them in your mouth knowing that you nurtured them, which makes them juicier and sweeter. Collect small tomatoes as they ripen so that the plant can allocate more resources for tomatoes that are still developing. And as an added bonus, while you wait for your home harvest, they make a wonderful ornamental plant. When tomatoes first hit Europe, they were actually grown as an ornamental plant, so enjoy the vibrant flowers and cheerful foliage on your windowsill.