May is the best month to plant i tomatoes But, to get a good harvest, you need to know how choose the seedlings at best In addition to the rules and tricks to obtain juicy fruits and excellent flavor.
If it is the first time that I planted tomatoes in your garden or pot, you will be spoiled for choice on which variety to choose: round, elongated, cherries, etc. You will probably find yourself in difficulty also because you don’t know what is the best time to plant them and how to do it best to have more likely to success.
Here are some useful tips for those who try their hand for the first time in the cultivation of tomatoes.
Variety of tomatoes
First of all you have to understand which varieties are for you and therefore you want to plant. In fact, there are an infinite number of variations that, as we know, also lend themselves to different uses in the kitchen. For example:
If you have to plant in the garden, you can choose more or less all the varieties while if your cultivation is poton the balcony or terrace, It is better to choose the dwarf tomato varietiesthose that form smaller bushes like cherries.
To get to know other varieties of tomatoes and how to use them at best in the kitchen you can also read:
Finally, consider that some varieties of tomatoes need greater sun and heat to give juicy fruits, others instead adapt better even to be grown at high altitude. Keep this aspect well before choosing the varieties to be cultivated.
Mix early and late varieties
Another good advice to always have fresh tomatoes in your garden, from the beginning to the end of the season, is to plant early but also late varieties. Among the early varieties there is the Marmande, at medium seasonality there is instead Bern’s squad while among the late we remember the heart of the ox.
For this aspect of cultivation you can advise you from a trusted nursery that will be able to indicate you among the varieties of tomatoes available the best, based on your needs and the characteristics of the place where you want to grow them.
Choose the seedlings
Choosing tomato seedlings is a fundamental step. Avoid those labeled such as F1, Behind this abbreviation is hiding the hybrids, that is, the cross between two varieties. Hybridization is a system that allows to produce genetically resistant plants to the most common diseases. However, the hybrids designed for department stores and nurseries must also resist transport, storage and remain cheap. It goes without saying that these plants are not those that give the most juicy fruits. Among other things, then, they will not be able to reproduce their own and therefore they will force you, the following year, to recover seeds or plants.
When possible, orient yourself on ancient varieties of your areaconsider that among other things, in this way you will have greater possibility of success, considering precisely the fact that, being widespread in those places, they are particularly suitable for growing in that type of climate.
Check the appearance of the seedlings to choose the best. If at the base the stem is too pale it means that they have not received enough light up to that moment, the stem should not be too thin or too long since for an excessively filiform plant it is more difficult to land correctly.
How to plant
It is important, if planted in the garden, that the tomatoes have the right space, that is, that the seedlings are arranged in spaces spaced at least 50 cm from each other. We can juxtapose two distances spaced 50 cm and make an 80 cm corridor, and so on …
Equally important to insert the roots well in depth (dug holes of about 30 cm) so that the plant can develop at best, draw the right nourishment from the earth but also resist the weather. After positioning them, add the Earth and speck -to -hole leaves that will provide them with the right quantity of nitrogen. Finally add plenty of water to make the roots adhere well to the earth.
Take care of the plants
For tomatoes the mulch It is important. The straw that adds to the earth helps to better preserve its humidity while maintaining a correct and constant temperature. In addition, in this way, the plant manages to protect itself better from diseases.
To support them correctly, then, given that they become high and when there are also heavy tomatoes, it is good to use a brace that can keep them straight and have the stem does not break in the event of a strong wind or weather.
Attention also to proceed with a correct watering, this must be done from the bottom and slowly so that the water penetrates slowly in the ground reaching the roots.
Put close to basil and calendula
A very useful trick to grow tomatoes better by avoiding unpleasant diseases is to put them near “allied” plants. Basil is above all recommended, as this aromatic herb stimulates the growth of tomatoes, and calendula that helps to keep parasites away. Even the garlic, in reality, planted near the tomatoes will help limit mushrooms and parasites and could also add a pinch of taste to the plants.
Don’t be in a hurry!
One last, but fundamental advice, is to be in a hurry to plant tomatoes. The ideal is to wait mid -May, especially if the spring climate is still uncertain and there are morning frosts. Planting in March or April is very premature and therefore to be avoided if you want to have a good result.
For more advice on how to plant and cultivate tomatoes also read:
