A Detailed Guide to Tomato Growing Methods and Precautions

The tomato fruit is rich in nutrients and has a distinctive flavor. It can be eaten raw, cooked, processed into tomato sauce or juice, or canned whole. At present, it is cultivated in many regions, so what are the tomato growing methods and precautions?

1. Tomato growing methods

1. Soil

Tomatoes can tolerate drought but not waterlogging, and they are not very demanding about soil. To obtain high yields, choose soil that is deep, loose, fertile, and has strong water- and fertilizer-holding capacity.

2. Fertilization

After deep plowing and fine raking, form beds 80 cm wide and 16-24 cm high, with furrows 33 cm wide, and plant 2 rows per bed. When fertilizing, the reasonable combined ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is 1:1:2. Apply 3000-5000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu, together with 25 kg of superphosphate and 20 kg of potash fertilizer (or 80 kg of plant ash).

3. Sowing and raising seedlings

Put the seeds into 55°c hot water, stir until it cools to 30°C, then soak for 3-4 hours. After soaking, place the seeds under 25-28°C conditions to germinate. Once 60-70% of the seeds have sprouted, they can be sown.

4. Transplanting

Transplant at the right time and with a reasonable density: for early-maturing protected cultivation in spring, transplant from late February to early March, seizing the weather at the end of a cold spell and the start of a warm one; for open-field plastic-film mulched cultivation, transplant around March 20, also seizing the weather at the end of a cold spell and the start of a warm one. The transplanting density is about 3000 plants per mu for early-maturing varieties with multi-stem pruning at a row-to-plant spacing of 50×30 cm; about 3500 plants per mu for mid- and late-maturing varieties with single-stem pruning; and about 2000 plants per mu when using double-stem pruning.

5. Pruning

Pruning, trellising, and tying vines: after the first cluster of fruit sets, build an “A-shaped” trellis. There are mainly two pruning methods. One is to keep only the main stem and remove all side branches (best removed when the side branches grow to 4-7 cm), called single-stem pruning; the other is to keep the main stem and also keep the side branch below the first inflorescence, removing all other side branches, called double-stem pruning. No matter which pruning method is used, be sure to tie the vines in time.

6. Preserving flowers

To prevent flower and fruit drop, during the flowering period you can dip or paint the flowers with a 10-20 ppm 2,4-D solution, or spray the flowers with 20-30 ppm Tomatotone. In the middle and late stages of plant growth, the lower old leaves can also be appropriately removed to reduce nutrient consumption and improve ventilation and light penetration; for indeterminate varieties, after 4-5 clusters of fruit, top the plants in time to increase the fruit-setting rate and promote fruit ripening.

2. Precautions for growing tomatoes

1. Pest and disease control

Viral diseases and late blight are common tomato diseases. Their occurrence is mainly caused by poor land drainage, overly dense planting, and poor light penetration, so field management needs to be strengthened, drainage done in time, and ventilation and light penetration improved. If aphids are found on tomatoes, spray to control the insects with 10% imidacloprid wettable powder at 2000—3000 times, or 50% pirimicarb wettable powder at 2000—3000 times.

2. Harvesting

Tomato ripening has 4 stages: mature green, turning, ripe, and fully ripe. For storage and freshness preservation, harvest at the mature green stage. For transport and sale, pick at the turning stage (when 1/3 of the fruit has turned red). For local sale or personal consumption, pick at the ripe stage, that is, when more than 1/3 of the fruit has turned red. When harvesting, pick and place gently, and it is best not to leave the fruit stalk attached, to prevent the fruits from piercing each other during packing and transport.

In addition, tomato field management should follow scientific and reasonable methods. Only through effective management and diligent, careful cultivation can the goals of saving costs and increasing efficiency, as well as high quality, high efficiency, and high yield, be achieved.