How to Plant Raw Tomato Seeds So They Germinate Easily
The tomato is native to South America and is widely cultivated in both northern and southern China. Its fruit is rich in nutrients and has a distinctive flavor. It can be eaten raw, cooked, processed into tomato sauce, juice, or canned whole. So how do you plant raw tomato seeds?
1. How to plant raw tomato seeds
Choose a suitable sowing container, put an appropriate amount of soil in the container, water it once first, and then sow the tomato seeds into the soil. After sowing, first cover the seeds with a layer of nutrient soil, then press gently with your hand to firm the soil. Spray some water to keep the soil moist, and they will germinate in about 2 weeks.
2. Precautions for eating tomatoes
1. It is not advisable to eat them raw, especially for people with a weak and cold spleen and stomach and for women during menstruation. If you eat tomatoes only as a fruit to supplement vitamin C, or to clear summer heat in the height of summer, then eating them raw is best.
2. It is not advisable to eat them on an empty stomach. When the stomach is empty, gastric acid secretion increases, and because some chemical substance contained in tomatoes combines with gastric acid, it easily forms water-insoluble lumps; eating them often causes abdominal pain, stomach discomfort and bloating pain.
3. It is not advisable to eat unripe green tomatoes, because they contain the toxic solanine. Eating unripe green tomatoes will taste bitter; eating many of them can, in serious cases, lead to poisoning, with symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, general discomfort, vomiting and whole-body fatigue, and in severe cases it can even endanger life.
4. It is not advisable to heat them at high temperature for a long time, because lycopene easily breaks down when exposed to light, heat and oxygen, losing its health benefits. Therefore, prolonged high-temperature heating should be avoided during cooking.
Eating tomatoes before a meal easily raises gastric acid, and the eater will experience discomfort such as heartburn and abdominal pain. Eating tomatoes after a meal, however, allows the gastric acid to mix with the food first, lowering the acidity in the stomach and thus avoiding these symptoms.