The tomato plant is a beautiful and complex plant that belongs to the Solanaceae family and, although it is currently cultivated throughout the planet, it is native to the American continent.
It is very appreciated from the food field for its rich fruit (berry type), fleshy and red, which we call tomato, and which we use daily both raw and processed in different ways.
Regarding its cultivation, it is important to point out that it is a vegetable with a quite complex cultivation cycle, and with very complete vital and nutritional requirements. It needs abundant waterings and direct sun.
We could say that it is not the best crop to start in the world of the garden. However, below we will list the fundamental steps in their cultivation and the main aspects that you should take into account when you get down to work with it:
Sowing:
In regions with a mild climate, seeds should be sown in March, and in April in colder climates. It is advisable to do it in the seedbed, covering each seed with approximately half a centimeter of soil or substrate. Later, we will water carefully so as not to move the earth too much, and we will keep it moist until the appearance of the first shoots.
Transplant:
When we see that the seedlings are more or less developed (they already have at least 4 leaves), we will move them to the place where we want to create our garden, either to free land or to boxes or cultivation tables.
This part is delicate, and not to damage the seedlings when removing them, we must take them from the part of the stem closest to the earth, and pull them out of it firmly but carefully. We will bury them again in their new location, covering the stem with soil until the first leaves begin. We will re plow abundantly and regularly.
Installation of tutors:
Tutors are sticks (you can use, for example, reeds) of about five feet in height that are installed next to each floor. About 15 or 20 days after the transplant, we will attach each tomato to its tutor, always below each floral branch. This procedure is necessary in all cases, because the tomato plants can grow to more than two meters, and without a tutor to support them, they can not grow properly and, consequently, they will not give us good tomatoes.
Pruning:
It is convenient to carry it out between May and July, and we will always have to carry out successive pruning by cutting above the floral branches. It is important to point out that it will not be necessary to prune the varieties of defined size, that is, those that have a limited growth.
Collection:
It is usually carried out from July to August, depending on the degree of maturity of the tomatoes, which is easy to evaluate, according to its color and consistency.