How to Save Money By Growing Your Own Homegrown Tomatoes Indoors From Seeds
Personal_Finance / Money Saving Feb 08, 2016 - 03:21 PM GMTBy: Sami_Walayat
February is the right time of year to get started growing your own vegetables of which given the high shop prices tomatoes should be at the top of ones list. In this comprehensive guide spanning a whole years worth of growing I will show how literally anyone, even a child can easily grow hundreds of tomatoes indoors in a small pot from seed germination, to planting, to hand pollination, to pruning and then enjoying the fruits for a whole years worth of money saving crops of healthy fresh organically home grown tomatoes, good for your financial and physical health as well as delivering a lot of self satisfaction.
Tomato Seeds Planting
Firstly pick the right variety. If you want to grow the same tomatoes as sold in the supermarkets then get hold of Alicante Red either from discount stores, garden centres or online. Don't buy hundreds of seeds as you will only need about 2 to 4!
Tomatoes need hot summer to grow the fruit, so whilst you can plant the seeds at any time of the year the best time to plant is during Feb-March so that the plants can germinate and be ready to grow during summer. Though there is nothing wrong with starting the plants earlier say December, because the seeds will still germinate but only grow slowly until summer arrives.
Tomato Plants Growing
Within 2-4 weeks the seeds should have germinated and sprouted into baby tomato plants. If for some reason they have not then try again with new seeds and fresh compost.
Once the plants have reached about a foot height then look at repotting into separate pots. Though remember that each plant will produce about 100 tomatoes so if you have 6 like here then pick 2 or 3 of the biggest plants and throw the rest away after the plants have survived repotting.
Plants Location
Tomato plants need a sunny location, a south facing window sill is deal.
Other options include a grow bag in a green house.
Pollination
It won't be long before lots of yellow flowers start appearing which is where the tomatoes will grow. To pollinate, all you need to do is to touch the inside of the flowers with your finger tip, takes just a few minutes each week.
Plant Support and Weekly Feeding
By June the tomato plants will be growing fast and will need some support, nothing fancy or expensive, plant supports can be bought from most discount retailers such as Poundland. By now the plants will also need weekly feeding with Tomato Feed that can be bought from DIY stores.
Summer Maintenance
by late June there should be lots of green tomatoes growing, so now cut off most of the remaining flowers so that the plants concentrate on producing tomatoes.
Early July First Crop
The first crop of red tomatoes may not yield much more than handful but they will be bigger than the store sold tomatoes
Tomato Flood
During July and August sit back and enjoy a flood of tomatoes as each plant could yield as many as 150 tomatoes each!
At peak expect over 50 tomatoes a week!
Late September Maintenance
By late September cut the tops off of the tomato plants and all of the remaining flowers so that the plants focus on the remaining tomatoes.
Mid November Crops
The rate of tomato ripening will gradually slow from Mid October to Mid November as the plants leaves turn yellow. Now it's just a waiting game for the remaining tomatoes to turn red before the plants die, so don't expect any more big tomatoes from now as as most will tend to be small.
Christmas - Times Up
By Christmas day pick the remaining red tomatoes left on the plants as its mostly likely dead by now, leaves and stem yellow / brown.
Now cut down and dispose of the plants.
New Year - Start of New Tomato Growing Season
And so the money saving cycle begins again. Remember to check the youtube video which at 40 minutes is very comprehensive.
Subscribe to our youtube channel for more money saving Grow Your Own video guides.
By Sami Walayat
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