No outdoor vegetable garden is complete without a few tomato plants.
Growing tomato plants is very easy to do and with a few easy to follow tips you'll be enjoying big, juicy, completely organic tomatoes in no time.
Did you know that there are literally thousands of varieties of tomatoes? While that may seem a little overwhelming, it is actually good news because with all of the different varieties to choose from, there is no doubt that your needs can be met.
You may want to try the big, juicy Beefsteak tomatoes if you're looking to make sauces or salsas.
On the other hand, if you're looking for more of the bite-sized variety for a salad or vegetable tray then you will want to try one of the many cherry tomato varieties.
Whatever your pleasure, there is no doubt that you can soon be harvesting plenty of tomatoes during the next harvesting season.
Tomato plants are a bit sensitive in that they cannot tolerate frost.
In fact, tomato plants should not be planted until nighttime temperatures are consistently over 55 - 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
They will thrive when daytime temperatures are between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Because of this planting limitation, many people target Memorial Day in the United States as the latest that they will transplant tomato plants to their outdoor garden.
When planting your tomato plants, take great care not to plant them too closely together.
The spacing should be about 18 to 36 inches apart but this will vary greatly since there are so many different varieties and sizes so there is no hard and fast rule here.
By spacing the plants out you will maximize the sun intake to all parts of all the plants.
You will also help to ensure that if one plant has the misfortune of becoming diseased or pest infested that it will not share this misfortune with other plants.
If you are growing tomatoes of the climbing kind then you will need to space them out even further so that you can incorporate cages or a trellis system which will help to support your plants and keep the tomatoes from reaching the ground and rotting.
Obviously watering the tomato plants is a crucial component to developing strong, healthy tomatoes.
Care should be taken to water the plants regularly when no rain is present.
The soil around the tomato plants should be a mixture of potting compost and sphagnum peat moss and needs to be kept moist.
You will also want to stay current on the pruning by removing the suckers and other non-fruit bearing branches.
Suckers develop in the joint of two branches.
They don't bear any fruit and they basically just "suck" the energy away from the rest of the plant and the tomatoes themselves.
Be careful not to remove too many leaves though as these leaves handle the photosynthesis process and produces sugar for the tomatoes.
Growing tomato plants is a very rewarding hobby and should be included in any outdoor vegetable garden.
The satisfaction you will get from growing your own tomato plants will be second to none.
You will save money buy growing your own tomatoes and will receive much better tasting tomatoes than if you were to buy them in a store.