I heart tomatoes...

If you're like me, nothing tastes better than homegrown tomatoes. The ones in the market, even the ones marked "organic," never taste nearly as good. I feel there are two reasons for this: 1) Store tomatoes must be picked prior to full ripeness in order to make it to the shelf before rotting and 2) Things grown by you will always taste better. Maybe it's mental, but when you take the time to grown your own produce, it will just taste better.

For the last several years I've been growing tomatoes in containers. I find it to be fairly simple. I use Miracle Grow soil in 10-15 gallon pots. I add some tomato fertilizer to the soil towards the bottom of the pot and again in the middle. I've been using cheap tomato cages from Big Lots. (Today I saw they had much larger cages at Home Depot. I will try those next year, as my plants have already reached the top of the cheap cages.)

Tomatoes love sun, so try placing them in a spot that receives at least 6 hours of sunlight. The advantage to growing in containers is you place them anywhere. You can even use upside down containers and hang them from a balcony. I tried it one year and it worked just fine. (I just found it a little difficult to water because I'm short.)

I water my tomato plants almost daily. However, if you drench the soil at each watering, you can certainly water less frequently. I like to check out the plants on a daily basis, so that's why I water them a bit each day. Try to water your tomatoes in the morning and be careful not to get the leaves wet. Tomato foliage is prone to fungal diseases, keeping the leaves dry helps to avoid such issues.

Something new I'm doing this year is helping the flowers pollinate. I've read all sorts of posts on how to do this. Without getting technical, tomatoes are self-pollinating and do not require bees for pollination. All that's needed is wind or vibration for the pollen to drop within the flower. However, with a little help, you can produce a much larger yield! The idea is if you can lightly vibrate or tap the flowers, the motion will help insure the pollen drops. This can be especially handy if you're growing on a balcony where the wind is restricted. I've been flicking or tapping the flowers lightly from the back or top. I'm happy to report I have twice as many tomatoes this year. Some folks suggest using an electronic toothbrush to vibrate the stems or flowers. Just be careful not to damage the blossoms or your efforts will be for wasted.

I've done a lot of research on growing tomatoes in containers and there are some really wonderful sites out there. At some point I will share all of the links I've found. And if you have links to add, let me know and I'll post those too.

Next up, photos of this year's garden.