8 Must-Do's for an INCREDIBLE Tomato Crop!

Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops to grow in a vegetable garden, and quite rightly too! As long as you have a healthy soil you can expect great harvests, however in this video I share the 8 things I do to increase my tomato yields and I really hope it helps you to enjoy an incredible tomato season this year. I feel tomatoes are much simpler to grow than often is made out to be, and every single one of these 8 tips are easy, low-cost, and highly-effective. Time to grow some awesome tomatoes.

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Introduction 0:00
Tips 1 & 2 (plus bonus) 0:24
Tip 3 6:06
Tip 4 7:07
Tip 5 8:38
Tip 6 10:26
Tip 7 11:28
Tip 8 12:49
Summary & Final Words 13:58

How to Grow Tomatoes

#tomatoes #vegetablegardening #growfood

[HuwRichards]

I'll be doing a full tour of it in peak summer🍅🌱

[nanatrish]

I live in NZ where the majority of gardeners grow their tomatoes outside. it can get very hot and dry in the summers and where I live water is precious at this time. After experimenting, I now put a 1 litre plastic milk bottle with holes drilled in the bottom between every 2 tomato plants, buried so just the top of the bottle is visible. I keep the top on the bottle to avoid evaporation. The bottles get filled with rainwater 2-3 times a week. I also put the plant tea and the rinsing from milkbottles into these bottles. I have had really good crops of tomatoes since doing this. I now have these bottles throughout my summer vegetable and berry gardens and my version of olla pots around my fruit trees, pots and rose gardens. My garden is small so interplanting etc is a given, and mulch laid around the edges of the plants.

[THiser-yqvf]

I just wanted to express my gratitude for what you are doing. The time and knowledge you give the world is priceless. I especially, from what I have learned from you is invaluable!

[ZgguratVertgo]

To prevent tomato cracking I came up with something that worked last year. If conditions are somewhat dry, and a large rain is coming, water the tomatoes. My theory was that if I reduced the Delta, if I made the sudden change less extreme, then the Tomato would have a better opportunity to absorb the excess water slowly enough not to crack. I found that this helped quite a bit.

[SaintCoemgen]

On trick to consider to increase root growth in shallow soils (such as in a raised bed), and with reasonably tall plants: rather than digging a deeper hole, you can dig a trench, and lay the root ball and part of the stem in horizontally, and gently bending the last part up. Trench planting also puts the roots into the warmer top soil, while a deep hole, in some climates, may put roots into a too cool sub soil, which may actually decrease root growth. Hope this helps.

[uwedornenburg]

Hello and good evening Huw,
I am also growing tomatoes and Chilis for a couple of years. Some years are good some aren’t! I was really enjoying your wonderful video you provided about tomato-culture. There are always new aspects to learn from. Today I just finished to plant my tomatoes and Chilis into my greenhouse. Little time later I add different types of basil and marygolds. I am very glad finding your blog here on YouTube. If you allow me one extra comment, as a German I really love the way you speak and pronounce your fantastic English. It’s really awesome. Can learn a lot.
Well, have a very good evening and thank you so much for your worthily advice for growing tomatoes.
Kind regards
Uwe

[uwedornenburg]

Hello and good evening dear Huw,
What I did this year is not even plant the tomatoes deep but even horizontal nearly! So you have to dig a wider hole, quite deep and lay your rootball very shallow and just leave the upper part above soil. Fill everything up with soil and water around the stem. Next morning, the plant stands upright and is about for more! Did it the first time this spring and it works well.
Maybe this technique will be of any interest so just leave a little comment if you wish.
Regards Uwe

[kerrym]

It rained SO much last year that put my tent canopy frame over my raised tomato bed. I had taken off the velcroed cover that came with it and draped the frame with a large cotton canvas paint drop cloth. When it rained I pulled the canvas up and over. As soon as it stopped I lifted the sides for air circulation. When the sky stopped threatening I pulled it off. It saved my tomatoes. Thanks for your info

[Betterton]

Good morning,
I love your videos! Thank you. Those suckers that you remove from your tomatoes; my mother taught me many years ago that suckers can be rooted in a bit of water and it will become an entirely new plant that will produce lots of tomatoes too.

[keshlalish]

as for lawn clipping, people it work marvelous at keeping weeds down, went from full on forest to nice looking beds with lawn clipping.
been filling every spot where i usually use woodchip

[jemroberts]

love the video. you mention growing extra tomatoes to take through the winter. keep following your tips then it's bumper harvests. But would love to see a video on storing harvests to get through the winter - whether it be freezing, fresh or processed -not just tomatoes

[Diamondback]

I utilize fish remains ( heads, tails, scales & entrails) under the soil just before transplanting seedlings. Where as it does slightly impede growth of the vine, I get bigger, fatter, juicier tomatoes as a result.

[-__]

'Carrots LOVE tomatoes'
Actually an excellent book filled with useful information. Regardless, Carrots Actually help your tomatoes to have deeper roots. So it's a great idea to plant them side by side for the best productivity

[talapeanutbutter]

I have 2 raised beds 4x8 and have 8 tomatoes growing as well as cucumbers, zucchini and radishes. This is the first time I’ve had a garden in 20 years! I’m not young and have back and health issues, but I’m trying! I didn’t press down firmly when I planted them. And I did mulch them about 2-3 inches deep. So far (it’s only been 6 weeks) everything looks good. Though I did have a couple zucchini plants with I guess borers. I pulled them up and used neem oil. I live in Florida so I won’t be doing the challenge of discontinuing water on a couple. If this year’s plants do well, I will add to the sides to get them deeper. Thank you and God Bless!

[REDD]

Your Poly tunnel looks amazing. Nice and snug and cosy, especially with the sound of the rain stotting off the roof. 🌧 ☂ ❤️

[valerie]

Instead of deeper beds you can also plant the tomatoes on their side and gently hold the top upright while you fill in the dirt.

[brinkum]

Hi Huw, I've been watching your clips for a while. They're all fantastic and invigorating! In this clip you focused on Tomatoes and how to stop watering them in order to get better taste.
I have made my experiences too. Big farmers have found out that the tomato is very adaptive to its climate and will send roots up to 2, 5 meters into the ground to reach water within the season.
Knowing this, I planted my tomatoes using a teaspoon of epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) mixed into the planting hole in order to enable root building. Watered lightly at planting and sparingly after that. Adult plants hardly got watered, and the yield/crop was incredible. Try it out!

[memezilla]

Huw, having binge watched several videos going back 7 yrs, I must really commend you on how your style has improved, your editing and quality.

Everything is so informative but calm and well presented .

thanks, i still have many more to binge on.

[charlenenagel]

I live in an area of Canada where we can easily grow tomatoes outdoors. One tip I learned for increased harvests is to help with pollination. When the tomatoes begin to bloom, I walk by each day and give the flowers a gentle tap. That way even if the small native bees don't get to each flower, most of the fruit is pollinated.

[TanjaHermann]

If somebody in Germany could now switch on the sun, that would be lovely. My tomatoes, even the ones in the little plastic tomato huts are a purplish light green and very unhappy. Nights down to 7 C and days not above 18 C yet