The number one mistake when growing tomatoes is under-watering them. When tomatoes don’t get what they need from the soil, they are more likely to split, more likely to get blossom end rot and more likely to get blight. Here’s how to get the best from your tomato plants…
- Tomatoes will do well grown in very fertile soil – containers filled with compost and growbags are perfect. If using a grow bag, halve it, stand each half on its end and plant one plant in each (instead of planting three in a row – they will have more depth for their roots this way!)
- If you haven’t yet planted your tomatoes, then we would recommend planting tomatoes a little deeper than other plants, so that the roots are well submerged in the soil and the lower part of the stem is under surface level, too. This will help them put extra roots down making them stronger and healthier.
- Add some worm cast fertiliser when you plant – this will release nutrients steadily during the season.
- Do your best to keep the soil consistently moist, but not waterlogged. Tomatoes are thirsty plants and they don’t do well with irregular wet and dry spells (which can lead to blossom end rot and splitting skin.) We’d recommend watering thoroughly every two to three days. If the soil is dry in the top cm, that’s ok, but if you push your finger into the soil and it is dry deeper down then you need to water really well to bring the moisture level up again.
- Once flowers start to form, feed with a liquid tomato feed every fortnight. Continue with this right through until the plants stop cropping.
Following these steps should ensure nice, healthy plants that are a little more resistant to blight and far less likely to suffer from blossom end rot or splitting/cracking when the tomatoes start to ripen in late summer.