There are several advantages to growing tomatoes in raised beds, many of which are similar to growing tomatoes in containers. If you think about it a raised bed is a form of container, it is just a container on a slightly grander scale, a little like a growbag or a large pot.

The main advantages of growing tomatoes in raised beds

• You can more easily control the mix of the soil and utilise compost specifically suited to growing tomatoes
• The plants are generally easier to access for staking, weeding, watering, pruning and pest control
• The soil tends to warm up more quickly than non-raised beds
• Its easier to apply a mulch to aid contamination prevention, supplement feeding and keep weeds down
• You can avoid standing on the soil causing it to compact
• raised beds tend to be free draining and do not get over saturated
• the soil can easily be dug out and replaced should any contamination occur. This should be done on an annual or bi-annual basis in any case
• Feeding the tomato plants is much more targeted and effective, follow the instructions on the feed of choice or as a rule of thumb you can apply a high nitrogen liquid tomato feed around once a fortnight
• Pests are less likely to infiltrate a raised bed but when they do they are easier to deal with

(more…)

If you are interested in growing tomatoes from seed then you can find out the technique for separating the seeds from the fruit and preparing them for cultivation in the following video. The video describes the process in a clear and easy way that most anyone will be able to follow.

Heirloom tomato varieties are very popular for their full flavour and taste. Although the video does not use heirloom tomatoes the technique is pretty much the same for all tomato types. If you want to find out how to cultivate the seeds and turn them into plants you can find out how to grow tomatoes from seed by clicking on the link.

(more…)

Tomato Pruning, Is It Really Necessary to Prune Tomato Plants?
By Brian R Stephens

It seems as though sometimes when working in the garden that there are a lot of tasks that we do that one might sometimes consider as being unnecessary. After all if a plant was growing wild as nature intended they would not get lavish care and attention would they?

Clearly the answer to that question is ‘no of course not’, so why then do we do it. Its a pretty straight forward answer or set of answers really and probably best put in bullet statements: (more…)

For years my father spent every minute of his spare time in the garden, originally it was out of a pure need to feed the family. Times were a little hard financially when we were all kids and my father had been brought up in an environment of self sufficiency which not only meant growing vegetables in the garden but also included rearing and slaughtering a family pig to provide the meat for a year.

Hard to believe in these days of fast food and supermarkets, which supply every kind of produce that you can imagine from all around the world, that I am only talking about one generation removed where literally if you could not grow your own vegetables there was a good chance you were going to go hungry. Clearly over the years things improved and gardening out of necessity turned into gardening out of a love for it. There is a lot of satisfaction to be gained from growing your own fruit and vegetables, being able to put the freshest possible produce on the table and to have the satisfaction of having grown it yourself.

My father as he was, could not help himself from turning the extra he produced into a tidy little profit by selling it on to the local villagers who would be very happy to pay for the extra vegetables and tomatoes that were invariably available, he had in absolute abundance what we and many others referred to as ‘green fingers’.

(more…)