Growing your own tomatoes in TOM TOMATO not only makes your plants happy thanks to the integrated water tank and sturdy climbing aid, but also saves you a lot of work. Of course, tomatoes also need appropriate care for a rich harvest. We have summarized the most important tips and tricks for you.

Location

Tomatoes need a lot of light and love warmth. This means that the most optimal conditions for a rich tomato harvest are: sunny, warm and protected from rain. A place in front of a wall from which the heat is reflected is particularly suitable for this. In addition, your tomato plant is additionally protected from wind and rain. If you don't have a covered location for TOM TOMATO, we would recommend a tomato cover to protect your plant from rain.

Pour

Tomatoes love water, but NOT on their leaves. Wet tomato leaves are very susceptible to fungal diseases and rot. To ensure that the roots can absorb enough water after planting, water the soil around your plant from above for a while. Additionally, fill the water tank regularly during this time.
Once the roots reach into the water tank, all you have to do is fill the tank regularly. You can easily check this by lifting the plant pot. The integrated irrigation bands ensure that the soil in the root area is also kept moist. This allows the plant to absorb all the important nutrients from the soil.

Gusta Garden Tip: Once the plant has formed fruit, the water tank no longer needs to be constantly filled with water. Always let the water tank become completely empty every now and then before refilling it with fresh water. The roots of your tomato plant can be left dry for 1-2 days during this phase. This will make your fruits taste even more intense and aromatic.

Fertilize

Tomatoes are heavy feeders, meaning they remove a lot of nutrients from the soil in order to produce plenty of fruit. These nutrients must therefore be supplied to the soil regularly. Ideally, organic sheep's wool fertilizer was mixed into the soil when planting. You can then add organic liquid fertilizer to the irrigation water every 2 weeks and water the soil from above. We recommend emptying the water tank after fertilizing with liquid fertilizer and filling it with fresh water.

Maxed out

In order to concentrate the plant's growth potential into fruit formation, tomato plants must be trimmed regularly. The most common measure is “pinching out” the plants, i.e. removing the so-called stingy shoots. To ensure that your fruits on the main shoot ripen optimally and become large and firm, you should cut off the shoots early with scissors. They should be a maximum of 10cm long. You can find out more about this in our blog post “Properly exploiting tomatoes” .

Caps

According to the same principle, you should also cut off the top of the main shoot as soon as it grows beyond the climbing aid. Tomato plants should not grow too tall. Only 5 to a maximum of 7 inflorescences can mature optimally. That's why we recommend simply topping the plant with a straight cut if it develops too many buds.

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