Tomato Gardening - 5 Tomato Gardening Tips For Great Tomato Harvest

If you are planning to start out with vegetable gardening, you have made the right choice for choosing tomato gardening. Tomato gardening is one of the simplest form of vegetable gardening that a newbie gardener can get started with. In this article, I will show you 5 tomato gardening tips that you can use to grow red and juicy tomatoes over and over again.

Space Up When Planting

This is the basics of all gardening but many new gardeners still make the mistake of not giving enough space between tomato plants. Crowding them up will lead to intense competition for nutrients, sunlight and water. Such competition is not healthy as they are unable to get an adequate amount of the elements.

Soil Preheating for Early Harvest

This is one well kept secret that only a few tomato gardeners know. By preheating the soil, you can actually bring forward your harvest period way earlier than other tomato gardeners in town. How? Does that mean you should burn your soil prior to planting? NO! You can preheat the soil by placing it under the sun and cover it with a black plastic sheet to prevent heat from escaping.

Sunlight - Crucial for Tomato Plants Growth

Just like any other vegetables, tomato plants achieve optimum growth when exposed to at least 10 hours of sunlight everyday. If you want plant your tomatoes indoors, which is another popular way of planting tomatoes, you should get yourself a grow light that emits UV rays from nurseries or online gardening supplies stores, which normal fluorescent lights don't.

Watering Skills for Sweet Tomatoes

When your tomato plants are developing, be sure to provide adequate amount of water every single day. However, when inching closer to the harvest season, decrease the amount of water when you are watering. This will increase the density of sugar within the tomatoes, which will then give you sweeter tomatoes.

Apart from this, another reason of not watering too much during the harvest season is that the excessive watering will cause stress to the plants and tomatoes may drop to the ground before you pick them as a result of that.

Deep Burying Helps

Another tomato gardening tip that I would like to share here is that you should always bury your tomato plants deeper after getting them back from the nursery. This will allow the plants to develop stronger and better root system for better nutrients absorption. Roots can grow from the stems of tomato plants so you don't have to worry about them will die off just because you are planting them deeper than usual.

Vegetable Gardening Tips

Lots of vegetable gardening tips are available to make gardening easier and a better experience. Here are some simple tips.

You can add some flowers and herbs in your vegetable garden, which is good for the vegetables. Some flowers and herbs such as marigolds and garlic can repel pests and help prevent disease.

Keeping your plants properly watered is essential. You can use plastic gallon-sized jugs. But remember to just poke some holes around the bottom of the empty container and bury it in the ground up to the bottle neck. These should be placed near the plants. The water will then be slowly released into the ground. This will provide an appropriate amount of moisture to plants. Don't water at night in hot or humid weather. The moisture and humidity may combine with the high temperatures to promote plant diseases. This may happen when water gathers at the roots or the foliage is allowed to become excessively wet and causing diseases to spread. You should also be sure that you do not water your garden too much or you can kill your plants with too much water. When you plant your garden, you will want to leave adequate space in between your rows so that you can cultivate your plants to stimulate growth.

Once you have your vegetable garden planted, you want to make sure that you keep up with the garden to be sure you get the best growth possible. It is important that you keep the weeds out of your garden, since weeds can take away nutrients and water from your plants.

If you plant your garden in a great place and make sure that you take care of it faithfully, at the end of the season, you will reap the benefits of your hard work. When you sit around your table enjoying the wonderful fresh vegetables, it will be with the pleasure of knowing that your vegetable garden was a job well done.

Organic Gardening Tips - 4 Tips For The Conscientious Gardener

For the horticulturist or simply the amateur home gardener who grows fruits, flowers and vegetables in the backyard, there is certain information about gardening they should always keep in mind. This information is outlines in the form of some simple gardening tips in this article.

Some simple gardening tips for you to follow:

1. Make sure that all the products you use are completely natural and free of chemicals, pesticides and insect repellents. Use organic gardening to grow naturally healthy fruits and vegetables, because these are good for the community and environment as a whole. Organic gardening is natural, and consequently, safe in every sense of the term. It poses no health hazards, but enhances and well-being of plants, animals, humans and environment at large, alike. On the other hand, the harsh chemicals that are used in gardening and growing food crops lead to many diseases such as lung problems, allergies or even cancer. If gardeners refrain from using these dangerous products then they are saving anyone who consumes their products from a lot of health hazards.

2. Look for non-toxic weed killers. These are available in organic gardening supply stores everywhere and are much environmentally and medically safer than the ones found in the gardening sections of hardware stores. Organic products are guaranteed to be safe for everyone.

3. Read the labels of every gardening product you buy, to make sure that they only consist of natural and chemical-free products. This will let your garden be totally organic in nature and much healthier than non-organic gardens. It is advisable not to let the personnel at the stores direct you - simply don?t buy it if it doesn?t have ?all natural? or ?organic? written on the label. When in doubt, ask an organic gardening expert, especially those in stores, write the names of the products down and find them on the Internet. This is your best bet and the least risky one and will allow you to find the perfect products for your organic garden.

4. Be absolutely certain that you use organic gardening tips taken from very reliable and trustworthy sources. Retail or wholesale outlets either do not have any organic products or have very little of them and thus are not in a position to advise you in any way as far as organic gardening is concerned. Either through ignorance or deliberately, they will give you wrong information and probably discourage you to look for and use organic products, citing many reasons, none of which are reliable enough to trust. Organic gardening stores and the Internet are perfect places to look for organic gardening tips.

Best Gardening Tips

If you are someone who has never gardened before, or you are someone who has had a long habit of destroying the plants that you have, you'll find that having a basic knowledge of what gardening takes and what you need to do can help you out a lot. While some people find gardening instinctive, other people need some very basic information to start out with, so take a look at some of the gardening tips below. You can build on these later, but you'll find that by keeping the following in mind, you can get your garden off to a good start.

1.Start with seedlings
You'll find that if you are new to gardening that you can do a great deal to make sure that things go well by making sure that you don't put vulnerable seeds in the garden right away. Look for seedlings at the gardening centers, or you can grow the yourself. You can always take your seeds and place them on a wet paper towel, leaving them in the sunlight. Keep the paper towel moist, and you'll find that the seeds start to grow in a few days, and at that point, they are ready to be put in pots or in your garden.

2.Work with mints
You'll find that not only do mints smell great that they are an amazingly easy covering plant to grow as well. You'll find that peppermint, catnip and oregano are all varieties of mint that are very easy to grow. They are water-loving and do well in the shade. Take some time to make sure that your mint plants are contained though; left unattended, they can very easily take grow rampant.

3.Protecting your plants
One thing that you have to guard against is cold weather, but how to do that for your outdoor plants if you don't have a greenhouse? You'll find that you can create a very healthy, very humid atmosphere for your plants by taking empty clear plastic bottles, cutting off the mouth and then placing them over your new plants. This dome can then be fitted over your new plants to help them grow up healthily and even to protect them from animals and insects that would eat them.

4.Going to pot
If you are a little bit nervous about working in a full garden, or simply don't have the time, think bout having a small container garden. You'll find that there are plenty of plants that grow well in pots and that you will have a great deal of control over how they do. You can start with a window box herb garden or flowers in a hanging pot. For more edible plants, think about tomatoes and strawberries.

5.Go native
The best way to get good results outdoors is to avoid getting into a fight with Mother Nature. Try to figure out what plants grow best in your area and plant them. Plants that do well naturally in your area have a much better chance of surviving than those that are exotic imports.

Organic Gardening Tips - Valuable Information You Must Know

Organic Gardening is no doubt becoming more popular and in demand. Due to the reason that using fertilizers and pesticides are harmful, many had diverted their direction towards Organic Gardening.

However, it's not just a mere change you say, you can't just start without knowing the basics and information needed. You will fail, horribly.

This article reveals just 4 organic gardening tips you must know.

Organic Gardening Tips #1 - Your Soil

Poof! This will determine your success. Because you will not be depending on chemical fertilizers, you have to depend on nature. And your soil plays a big part.

While you are planting your crops, you have to make sure first that you have a healthy soil of pH Value 6.8.

Side Note: Always rotate your crops.

Organic Gardening Tips #2 - Water

Plants need water. That is obvious. However, you have to spare a thought for those who do not. Water is essential to your plant growth, enough said.

Organic Gardening Tips #3 - Sunlight

Sunlight is yet another important element in organic gardening. However, it's hard to control this. Thus, it must be prevented right from the start.

Make sure you pick the right location during your planning phase. Ensure your final location has a six hours of direct sunlight. Otherwise, it will not receive the maximum growth it should have.

Organic Gardening Tips #4 - Dealing With Insects

This is inevitable, they will invade. And when they invade, you should panic. :) Nah, you should stay calm instead. Don't expect your garden to be a PERFECTLY pest free.

Because of this, you should start welcoming the beneficial bugs and animals like the ladybugs and birds for example into your garden.

An additional one would be to start learning how to mix your own organic fertilizer recipes to accelerate your plant growth and prevent pests. It's best to pick up mulching and composting as they will be a huge arsenal in your organic success.

Extra Benefit: Organic Gardening would be able to survive in times of drought because there is enough water underground, thus providing "life" still to the crop.

As time goes, organic gardening would definitely be in demand due to safety food issues and how it will affect the green environment.

Now that you know these tips, you should take extra action & precaution on these factors while working on your organic garden at your backyard.

If you already knew, give yourself a pat on the shoulder. Call yourself an intermediate organic gardener.

Remember, learning and practice makes perfect.

Organic Garden Tips and So Much More!

In this day and age, many people are becoming more aware of the environment as well as the world around them. If you're an official "Greenie" or you want to get into organic gardening there a few really easy ways to go about this! First off why should you try organic or "green" anything? Its been said since the 1980s and even earlier on that there was a huge hole forming in the ozone from things like methane gases from garbage dumps, animals becoming extinct because of littering, and polar ice caps melting and collapsing piece by piece because of the rising temperatures. Isn't it about time we start saving the place we live, rather than hurting it even more?

This is where becoming green or living organically comes into play, and the easiest place to start is right in your own backyard! Several million sites online offer tips on how you can start an organic garden, become greener in your life. These sites also offer other things as well such as products that are good for the earth and recipes you can make for things such as you're own green compost! These sites are pretty useful and really interesting. As said above, even if you aren't an official "greenie" but you're curious about how stuff like this works, this is a great place to start.

Organic fertilizers are made from such items as cottonseed meal, compost, and bone meal. As well as other things such as Green Sand, Kelp Meal, Fish Meal, and Blood Meal.

Cottonseed Meal: Cottonseed meal is the byproduct remaining after cotton is ginned and the seeds crushed and the oil extracted. The remaining meal is usually used for animal feed.

Bone Meal: Bone meal is a mixture of crushed and coarsely ground bones that is used as an organic fertilizer for plants and formerly in animal feed. As a slow-release fertilizer, bone meal is primarily used as a source of phosphorus.

Green Sand: Green sand forms in anoxic marine environments that are rich in organic detritus and low in sedimentary input.

Kelp Meal: Kelp Meal is brown seaweed harvested from the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the north Atlantic Ocean. Kelp Meal, Ascophyllum nodosum, is the best species of kelp for both horticultural and agricultural use.

Fish Meal: Fish meal, or fish-meal, is a commercial product made from both whole fish and the bones and offal from processed fish. It is a brown powder or cake obtained by rendering pressing the whole fish or fish trimmings to remove the fish oil.

Blood Meal: Blood meal is dried, powdered blood used as a high-nitrogen fertilizer. It is one of the highest non-synthetic sources of nitrogen and if over-applied it can burn plants with excessive ammonia. Blood meal is completely soluble and can be mixed with water to be used as a liquid fertilizer. It usually comes from cattle as a slaughterhouse by-product. It can be spread on gardens to deter animals such as rabbits, or as a compost activator.

Here are some really great recipes that use the above ingredients as well:

Rose feed/mulch
3 cups Alfalfa Meal
3 cups Mushroom compost
1-cup bone meal

Lilac, and other sweet soil lover feed/mulch
1-cup bone meal
3 cups lime
3 cups mushroom compost

Azaleas and Rhodo feed/mulch
1/2-cup rock phosphate
1/2-cup green sand
1/2-cup cottonseed
1/8-cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup used coffee grinds
20 shovels fish compost

Perennial feed/mulch
1/2-cup bone meal
1/2 cup green sand
1/2-cup rock phosphate
1 wheelbarrow of leaf mould

Fruit tree feed/mulch
5 shovels leaf mould
5 shovels garden compost
5 shovels peat moss
1-cup bone meal
1/4-cup rock phosphate
1/4-cup alfalfa
1/4-cup green sand

Basic Organic Fertilizer
3 parts blood or fish-meal
3 parts steamed bone meal
1 part kelp meal
1 and 1/2 parts Sul-Po-Mag (a brand name for a sulfur, potassium, and magnesium source, but you can substitute any such mixture.)

High Nitrogen Mix
4 parts blood meal
2 parts cottonseed meal
1 part steamed bone meal
1/2 part Sul-Po-Mag (a brand name source for sulfur, potassium, and magnesium)
1/2 part kelp meal

High Potassium Mix
2 parts cottonseed meal
2 and 1/2 parts Sul-Po-Mag
1 and 1/2 parts steamed bone meal
1 part green-sand
1 part kelp meal

High Phosphorous Mix
4 parts steamed bone meal
1 part fish meal
1 part meat and bone meal
1 part soft phosphate
1/2 part Sul-Po-Mag
1/2 part kelp meal

You can find any and all of these ingredients at your local garden center so its not that difficult to find! All it takes is a little creativity and you can make all sorts of really green fertilizers for your vegetable or flower garden at home! If you're searching for some more tips try going to Google and looking for things like "Organic Garden Tips" or "Green Garden Tips."

Some of the Best Gardening Tips

It doesn't matter if you are a seasoned professional or the most novice of gardeners, you will quickly realize there are many people out there who will offer you their tips on how to plant and care for your garden. No matter what gardening problem you are facing, the solution to that problem is out there. You may even find that there is more than one suitable solution. Of the many gardening tips that you will find, there are a few in particular that stand out.

How to rid household Plants of Pests

A very common problem that many gardeners face is how to deal with pests and insects on their houseplants. You need to take caution here and choose a solution that will get rid of the pest but not harm the plants.

You will need to find a solution that will allow you to deal with the pests safely. One of your first steps should be to remove the insects from the plants. Daily cleaning of the plant will allow you to take physical control of the pests and also give you a chance to monitor the health of your plants to see how well any of your other efforts are working.

One way to clean the plant is to use an insecticidal soap. This process works by smothering or suffocating the insects as it comes in contact with the product. You will need to apply the soap liberally and frequently until you have rid the plant of all pests.

Another common method of ending an insect problem is by simply dusting your plants with a light chemical insecticide. Make sure to review the warnings on the product packaging so you don't accidentally kill your plants. Follow the application instructions carefully.

When to Start Seeding

One of the often overlooked gardening tips by the novice gardener is not paying attention to the proper time to begin seed starting. One thing is for sure, you do not want to begin too early. If you plant too early in the year you risk having your plants killed by a frost. As a rule of thumb it is generally accepted good practice to begin most seedlings in mid-March.

Another technique is to start your plants indoors and then move them outdoors once they are healthy enough to survive outside. This technique involves a bit of math to get the timing just right but basically you will plant your seeds so that you can safely move them outdoors in about 6 weeks. Depending on your plants, this gives you about a week or two for germination and then about a month of growth before you can safely move it outdoors.

These are just a small portion of the thousands of gardening tips that are available. The more you can learn the more plentiful your garden will be. Gardening can be an extremely enjoyable activity when you follow a few basic steps. So if you are interested in gardening and you want to produce some beautiful plants you should try to learn as many gardening tips as you can to give you a garden you will be proud of.

And oh yeah, don't forget to water.

Gardening Tips - Gladiolas

You want to read and learn about all things related to plants and gardens? If that is the case, then you are in the right place to get information about gardening tips. Individuals who love gardening should give a the following gardening tips a try. If you're planting gladiolas this year, be sure to try the following:

o Plant gladiolus corms when the soil is warm enough to plant. The best season to plant them in your garden is spring season.

o Make sure to plant only plump, clean corms. Check for the best sizes too as smaller corms may produce a smaller flower or just leaves and no flower at all. Toss any that don't look right or feel soft or crumbly.

o Plant the corms on an area that receives maximum sunlight. Full sun is best, however, if you cannot get away from a partial shade, your gladiolas will still grow.

o While planting the corms make sure it is three to five inches deep and four to six inches apart.

o Cover the place with mulch lightly around glads, or between rows, to prevent growing of weeds.

o The stems of the glads are very weak. They are prone to break in the wind. When blooming begins, hill the soil about six inches up around the stem to help support the heavy flower growth. You can even fasten it to a stake to keep them perky and tall.

o Water once and let the spring rains do the rest. If dry conditions prevail water occasionally along with the rest of the garden.

o You will start seeing fresh blooms within three months or a bit more after planting the corms. Make sure the glad aren't shaded by other plants or weeds. Mulch all varieties to maintain moisture and to conserve water.

o Gladiolas are prey to pest insects and are susceptible to a number of diseases as well. To get rid of these problems, watch for aphids and trips which suck sap from leaves, stems and flowers. If found, spray with insecticidal soap or other natural pest control. Glad's are host to several virus diseases.

o If the plants are infected just pull them of the soil and destroy them as there is no cure once plants are infected.

Low Cost Garden Tips For Growing Organic Vegetables and Fruit

Many people seem to think that growing organic vegetables and fruit is time consuming and costly. Whilst developing such a garden can take a little while, that investment in time is far outweighed by the fulfillment that comes from eating fresh healthy produce at very low cost.

Here are some tips to assist you in your development of a low cost garden.

Low cost garden tip 1: You can make a compost pile for next to nothing - use recycled materials like timber, chicken wire, old hay bales, etc. Look around at what's free. You can put almost anything into your compost pile - leaves, grass, wood clippings from your local area, coffee grounds from local cafes, shredded paper - anything biodegradable except animal by-products.

Low cost garden tip 2: For your hard landscaping (paths, steps and borders) use recycled materials and be surprised by how much money you can save. Check with your neighbors or local construction sites for old bricks, stones or timber that you can use.

Low cost garden tip 3: Use what you have (or scrounge) and you will be surprised at what is possible! Plant seedlings right in egg shells (those not headed for the compost pile), or use any small containers or egg cartons.

Low cost garden tip 4: If you having trouble with weeds in your garden beds, use old newspapers, cardboard or carpet under mulch to smother them. They will eventually break down and provide organic matter in the garden. This is much better than spending money on commercial weed mats.

Low cost garden tip 5: Are you having problems with pests on your fruit and vegetables? Don't use commercially produced insecticides and poisons (no-one wants to eat produce that has been treated with chemicals), make your own!. Coffee grounds will deter snails and slugs, and your own white oil (soap, vegetable oil and water) will work on scale. Mix an emulsion with chili and water, or use molasses with water as another spray for caterpillars. You will save money and also preserve your health.

Low cost garden tip 6: Hook up with a Gardening Buddy and you can share seeds, tools, buy cheap bulk products that you can split (such as potting mix) and share machinery rental fees. Join a local garden club or check with your local council to see what programs are available in your area.

Low cost garden tip 7: Expand your plant horizons by finding alternative ways to get new plants - look for plant swaps, garden club plant sales, exchange plants with a friend or arrange a neighborhood plant exchange. Always be on the lookout for seasonal bargains and check for end of line clearances - you can find your plants in some unusual places.

Remember that growing your own food is part of a return to times when we were all a lot healthier and spent less money on junk food. Do something important for yourself, your family and the environment at very low cost - get growing organic vegetables and fruit!

Tomato Gardening - Tips For Growing Tomatoes

Are you planning to grow tomatoes in your backyard but lack of knowledge holds you back? If you want to grow the juiciest, sweetest, and reddest tomatoes in your neighbourhood, then you should know these basic information about growing these fruits (yes, tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable).  Whether you are a tomato hobbyist or a tomato seller, these tomato gardening tips are for you.

Give ample space for the seedlings. Seedlings that are too close may choke the roots, which can prevent the tomatoes from growing and can potentially kill them. Also, there is a bigger chance of competition or water and nutrients if the seedlings are placed very near each other. Make sure that the spaces between the seedlings are just enough for the roots' activities such as intake of water and nutrients from the soil. If you can observe that your tomato seedling is starting to have its very first leaf, transfer it to a pot for faster growth.

In tomato gardening, you should remember to put them directly under the sunlight. Or if not possible, place your seedlings under artificial lighting such as fluorescent lights. Your tomato garden should be exposed to sunlight.

If you want your tomatoes to have strong and sturdy stems, make sure that they are exposed to a slight breeze outside your garden. Your tomato garden should be in an open area without any structures blocking the wind. If you only have a small space and your house is blocking your garden from the breeze, you can place a fan near your tomatoes and turn it on for up to 10 minutes two times in a day.

Before planting your tomatoes in your garden, make sure that you heat the soil. Use a red or black plastic and cover the whole land where you are planning to plant your tomatoes. Tomatoes that are exposed to sunlight and preheated soil will grow faster that tomatoes that are not.

Tomatoes need to be planted deeply into the soil. You can bury it up to the stem with leaves. Even if you plant the tomato sideways, not upright, it will still grow upward.

Mulching is another way to keep your garden tidy and neat and also to save water. This also prevents diseases caused by bacteria in the soil. For tomatoes, plastic mulch is better because they also give off heat.

Always trim your tomatoes' leaves. If you are into tomato gardening, you should know that leaves at the bottom of the plant will just wilt because they are not exposed to sunlight. They are also closer to the soil so any organisms that can cause diseases in the soil can reach the leaves and infect them. Pruning is also necessary to make your tomatoes bear more fruits.

Be generous when it comes to watering your tomatoes. Also, watering should be regular. Do not let your plants go thirsty for a long period of time and then give them too much water to make up for your neglect because this can cause rotting in flowers and fruits.