Dave Truman our expert of the day, writes:

For many people, growing big juicy tomatoes is part of what makes vegetable gardening so enjoyable. Whether purchasing plants from your local nursery or starting tomatoes from seed, there are a few basic steps to follow to ensure that you harvest an abundant crop at the end of the growing season. There are many different varieties of tomatoes to choose from, depending on whether you will be cooking, canning, slicing, or eating miniature or grape-like varieties right off the vine. Sweet 100ís are very abundant, and are good for salads as well as eating fresh from the garden. Roma tomatoes are good for making salsa, because the peels are not as tough as others so you donít need to peel the skins off. Romas are also known as the classic paste and sauce tomato. There are Early Girls, Early Boys, Big Boys, Big Mamas, Sweet Baby Girls, Beefsteaks, French Rose hybrids, Big Rainbow, specialty tomatoes and many more. So start by choosing the kind of tomato you would like to grow.

Planting Tomatoes from Seeds

Annettew our expert of the day, writes:

Every tomato grower has a “secret recipe” for tomato growing success. An integral part of high tomato yield is proper plant nutrition. Plants need food, too! Giving a plant the right food at the right time will not only increase fruit yield, it will also help prevent damage from diseases and pests.

Plant Nutrients

Plants do not eat hamburgers and French fries, but they do still need “nutrients.” Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are the three nutrients most commonly fed to plants. Most fertilizers are a combination of the three. When reading a fertilizer package, a three number series such as 3-0-3, or 15-10-5, presents the ratio of all three nutrients in the fertilizer. Other nutrients and minerals, in smaller amounts, help tomato plants grow robustly and healthily. Plants get nutrients from the soil in which they are planted, so soil preparation is integral to providing plant nutrients in proper amounts.

Douglas Taylor our expert of the day, writes:

The tomato is an essential part of my vegetable garden every year. I plan the rest of my garden around my tomatoes. They are that important to many gardeners. One thing about planting tomatoes is they are not that hard to grow. Add some tender loving care and a little water and compost and you should be enjoying this wonderful plants harvest before you know it.

By following a few simple steps you will be well on your way to a great tomato season. Start by deciding whether you want to start your plants from seed or by buying plants at your local nursery. Next you should pick a few different varieties so your harvest will not all come at the same time. Put your plants in a spot that will get plenty of sun and add some compost or fertilizer. This article will look at a few ways to increase your chances of having a better tomato harvest.