How to Grow Tomatoes? Latest Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Growing tomatoes requires a fair amount of time and management in the early stages; later on, you basically just need to check on them occasionally and then wait for harvest. So what exactly does this process look like? Let's take a look below at tomato growing techniques and see how to grow high-quality tomatoes.

1. Site Selection

Tomatoes do not have high demands regarding location; generally, any field with sunlight, such as paddy fields, can be used for planting, but there are still some aspects to pay attention to. Ventilation should be good, but the site should not be in a wind tunnel; the soil should be relatively fertile, ideally near a water source with soil that stays moist year-round; the terrain should be relatively flat with a gentle slope; there are no strict requirements for soil permeability, as long as it is slightly loose.

2. Land Preparation

Although tomatoes like a relatively moist environment, they cannot tolerate waterlogging, so drainage is quite important. If the local soil moisture is high, it is recommended to till the soil shallower; if it is rather dry, deeper tilling is needed to help the tomatoes take root and grow. For denser planting, more drainage channels should be dug; for sparser planting, fewer drainage channels can be dug. The width of each planting plot should be controlled at around one meter, arranged in a rectangular layout, which facilitates management and harvest.

3. Planting

Once the planting site has been selected and prepared, planting can begin. At present, the method commonly used by farmers is generally to raise seedlings first and then transplant. Transplanting usually starts after the seedlings have been grown for about 1-2 months, when the seedlings are about 10-20 cm tall and in a highly vigorous state, making them easier to establish. The spacing between each plant should be controlled at 40-50 cm; for large varieties, this can be appropriately increased by 10-20 cm. The soil should completely cover the roots, and then the soil should be slightly compacted.

4. Fertilizing

When setting the seedlings, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied. The base fertilizer for each plant should mainly be farmyard manure, used at around 100-150 grams, combined with 5-10 grams of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, to ensure the fertilizer needs in the early stage. The interval between top dressings gradually shortens over time. The first top dressing starts at the flowering stage, followed by a second top dressing during the fruit growth stage. After the first harvest, top dressing becomes even more frequent; fertilizer can be applied during each of the flowering, fruiting, and swelling stages to ensure the nutrient needs of the tomato plant itself.

5. Watering

When transplanting, a small amount of water should be poured to help the seedlings adapt to the soil more quickly. One week after transplanting, the first real watering begins; it should be thorough, so that the roots can absorb sufficient water, and watering should be done along the roots. Later watering depends on how dry or moist the soil is, generally at an interval of about 2 weeks. During each fruiting period, watering should be more frequent, which can make the fruit grow with brighter color.

Tomato seedlings are rather fragile, but once they get past the seedling stage, their toughness exceeds what you might imagine. In order to have a high-yielding tomato crop, everyone should still spend a bit more time in the early stage carefully watching over the growth of the seedlings.