8 Must-Do's for an INCREDIBLE Tomato Crop!
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
- 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 - Навчання та стиль
Anyone wanting to know more about the polycrub you can find out more here: www.polycrub.co.uk/
I'll be doing a full tour of it in peak summer🍅🌱
It would be nice if they were shipping them to the U.S.
@@ohiogardener4019 For real, I love it.
Hew, have you ever done a tutorial on how to build one from scratch? I'm designing mine now here in the States and would love some inspiration
wow, nice!
Hello, I'm glad to hear there is a local Market Farm near us!!
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.
Interesting suggestion. Climate change has made our West Coast Canadian gardens far more hot and sunny than in previous years....I've been ~ quite frankly ~ shocked at how quickly my soil DRIES OUT during the heat of particularly hot sunny days. It's nuts.
This is a great suggestion. Thank you.
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.
Thank you! I’m going to try that this year. I’m in Denver Colorado, so dry is the rule of thumb, but then we’ll get a huge downpour (hopefully without hail) and my tomatoes will crack. Your solution makes perfect sense!
Also you can pick them a little early after they start changing color and ripen inside. They usually don't split until nearly fully ripe.
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!
Wow, thank you! That's so lovely to hear!!
I’d like to double this comment. I got into gardening about four years ago and I’ve not had access to a garden for the last couple of years. Coming back and seeing how you’ve progressed and the quality of information you share is humbling. especially when the world in in the state it’s in. Your one of the good folk that gives us hope. Love from Yorkshire
@@TAMSTERMAN that's incredibly lovely of you to share, thank you so much!!
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.
That's an amazing concept.
Tks for the suggestion.
this is what I do :)
@@jellojoe00 Depends on how tall your beds are, what type of substrate is under your beds, and what you are growing. Shallow soil has a range of definitions, depending on what plants you are growing. A garden soil depth of 20 inches (50 cm) is one standard (but not the only one --- it can vary). So if one accept that standard, as just an example, and if your beds are shorter than that, and sit on heavy clay or sand, or are an enclosed box or are on a concrete slab in worst case scenarios, then you beds might be considered to be shallow soils for some plants.
@@jellojoe00 Some people also don't have the option to have deep beds. I garden on a balcony, as I live in a second story apartment. I use various smart pots, from 5 to 15 gallons (and one 6 foot long, 18" deep, bed). This suggestion is actually perfect for my garden, a trick I had forgotten about but fits perfectly for my situation.
@@HannaARTzink Our tomato seedling were super tall and used the trench planting method in the ground, In central Connecticut. We went from 70 degrees to 99 then back down to mid 60's. We had strong gusts of wind. All 4 have a lot of stems and leaves now. Started flowering this week.
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 UA-cam. 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
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
This spring was way too cold in Germany this year. Most of my tomato seedlings got frozen the one night. And the few remaining now get brown at some parts. Now i planted some I got from a friend. They are still quite small. Hope i can harvest something this year.
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
Thanks for the tip.
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
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.
Actually, you don’t even need to hold the tip upright. Just plant the tomato sideways & let the tip angle out of the hole. Within 24 hours, the tip will upright itself with far less stress than trying to bend it while planting. 😊
Your Poly tunnel looks amazing. Nice and snug and cosy, especially with the sound of the rain stotting off the roof. 🌧 ☂ ❤️
'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
Dont forget companion plants, like basil :)
Make sure you plant your carrots where they will get the most sun. Tomatoes can produce some pretty dense shade.
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
Yes, please!
I'm in 7a and grew tomatoes in the green house until December when it really froze. Some tomatoes made it until now ...and I opened one up and seeded my new crop. These were the smaller red ones.
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.
I did this by accident this season! One of our children got a seedling from school and it is producing an excellent crop in a Lidl tomato planter (if only they would ripen!) Anyway I was absentmindedly nicking off the suckers and throwing them into the pot thinking they would just shrivel up & return some nutrients to the soil, but I just noticed one yesterday was sticking up: it had rooted itself and grown about 2 inches
I stuck all my sucker in a handy trough I had just prepared for potting on, then found they had taken root and grown!
Yes I've done this too! I set the cut suckers in water until they root, if they have a lot of leaves remove all but the ones on top. Once you see the roots appearing then they go into potting soil or right into the ground depending on needs.
@@catcor2154 For cherry tomatoes yes, for larger types the tomatoes seemed a tad bit smaller but that could have been a function of where I planted them being a different soil quality than the original I cut it from. It's worth it in the earlier part of the season. Later in the season it's still a cutting of what amounts to an old plant so it'll do something if there's enough season left, but it won't shine like they do at peak season. Cherry tomatoes seem to do this best, but that could just be anecdotal.
I've recently discovered that dipping the cut end into honey and sprinkle cinnamon on it, it can be put directly into the soil. I just tried it and it never wilted and seems to have taken off without missing a beat. No tomatoes yet but I'll let ya'll know.
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.
I'd completely forgotten that I used to plant fish heads/bits in my veggie garden DECADES AGO when we used to fish and had easy access to fresh fish heads and guts.
Two decades after that, I used to also use a fish head as a wasp trap. Native peoples used to suspend a head over a bucket of water as they intuited wasps will gorge themselves upon the flesh, becoming too corpulent to FLY...so they fall in the water and drown. This is an incredibly effective trap.
One would think the head would reek, but, surprisingly, they did not. My eldest son was, at the time, a veritable "wasp magnet" and they would seek him out and sting him when he was minding his own business....it was unbelievable how often he was stung as an infant and toddler. I was loathe to have him in pain, (or develop an allergy from successive stings) so I employed various traditional/unconventional/non poison traps for wasps. This was by far more effective than any store-bought "solution".
Thank you Huw! Always appreciate your tomato wisdom!
Thanks Huw. Happy growing this season!
Perfect timing. Got tomatoes in and a few more to plant so I can’t wait to try out these tips!
So stoked for the book on the nettle ferment and her tinctures!
Absolutely amazing. We are growing them all time in a year.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tutorial, thank you 👍
Excellent tomato growing and harvesting tips video Huw Richards.
Thank you Hew appreciate your knowledge immensely 🙌🥰🧤👒🐨🦘🇦🇺Karen 🌱🐝
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!
If you have back issues, Id recommend a 3-4ft raised bed. You can fill the bottom two feet with wood, cardboard, and moss/grass. Then the top layer with soil and compost.
It helps with back issues so you don’t need to bend down too much
i enjoyed the sound of the rain in the background. fantastic audio!
Thanks to Huw and Charles for being brilliant mentors. Greenhouse being built for even more variety to share
learned so many tips for my new tomato garden! thanks for helping me replenish the earth🌏🌱
ultimate guide really full of tips that should guide toward successful harvest in the shortest time, really big thanks!
Awesome to learn that comfrey will help feed the tomatoes Gotta make some !
Muchas gracias Huw. 😃🙆
Good vid, and useful tips- Ill be doing much more pruning this season as we have high humidity and blight problems. Would love to see some of your preserving methods too.
I shared this video and others with my fiancé and she has moved out and is now 6 months prego with this man's twins. Dagnabbit!!!
Idk how this guy doesn’t have over a million subs. He has such a lovely voice and face
Thanks Huw nice information, a really nice information packed video 👍. First time growing tomatoes so 🤞!
I’ve been looking for some definitive info on how much & when to water tomatoes. Unbelievably, despite searching and searching, I hadn’t found anything that told me exactly when and how much, until this video.
Thanks!
Great video Huw.
Very good tips! Congratulations from Spain. Cheers
I really like your ideas for the tomato planting and growing. I don't do any of those things and now I know why my crop is just ok. Thanks for the tips.
Thankyou, very informative video for those of us who are new to this. Cheers Huw.
Very helpful. Thank-you.
Amazing information about plants, thanks for sharing.
Great video as usual! Beautiful garden.
I received an heirloom cherry tomato plant this week from a Mennonite lady who said they keep coming up ever year as extra fruits dropped and seeded themselves. I want to be sure to make the most of it! Thank you for these tips.
Great video Huw. This year I hope to have the best harvest yet. Last year was the first with my polytunnel and I did ok but this year I am being evangelical about nipping out the suckers, I've given them really good support and making sure I feed them each week with potash but not too frequently alongside that. Wish me luck.
Thanks for the tip on tomatoe skin cracking very useful !
my question is: how do you stay so damn clean while gardening?
You dont bwahahaha !
Huw, I would love more videos of you going to others gardens and talking with them. They are so beautiful, inspiring, and my absolute favorite!! Thanks for all you do!
Yes absolutely, it's going to be my winter content :)
Great vid - thank you. I'm doing okay with my toms it seems. 🙂
Thank you!! Last year I planted 10 tomato plants. This year so far I have planted just over 100. I am so excited to see the huge harvests!
Wow Meagan, how did it go? That is a lot. Did you get more plantdiseases or anything like that? Love to know, take care!
I have to admit, the polycrub is the most intresting... most of the other info is a kind of a reminder for me, but I think very usefull for more beginner like gardeners... keep up the good work!
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!
ANOTHER interesting, helpful comment. I typically watch Huw's videos and then READ THE COMMENTS/individual comment THREADS as there are typically so many great TIPS shared therein.
Thanks for the comment.
Love the rule of thumb for watering 2 sunny 3 overcaste..Thanks from across the pond 💌🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
Again Fantastic Video Huw. We're currently growing some cherry tomatoes and some regular bush ones. So this was very helpful!!
Don’t pull the suckers off your cherry tomatoes. Most, if not all, of their fruit is produced on the sucker growth.
I think it's been a year or two since I watched this video and many thanks Huw , I do't have as many plants as you but my 20 plants are very well established now and delighted with the progress.... the stinging needles are also in full growth and soon with be in the watering feed - great video and I'm sure I'll be commenting next year lol!! Take care Huw
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
Number 1 - plant under cover :( - one day I will have a polycrub! My tomatoes are not amused with the weather right now
That`s the least of my problem here in norway… we don`t have proper daylight here until mid may.. i need a room full og growing lights😅
@@karikiiiks6880 yeah our house is small and dark so I’ve been using grow lights too! Thank god we’ve started having some warm weather here now, how is it in your neck of the woods?
Amazing. I learned so much. Thank you for sharing
Less water when they ripen and the flavour will intensify 🤔I have to try this. But I'm sure I will be tempted to water the 🌱🍅🍅😉
Hi Huw, really goid video with lots ofcadvicex& tips on growing tomatoes. Thanks for sharing and take care 🙂
Hi how. Interesting test on the reduced water to improve flavour I'll give it a go x
A very warmly hello to you !
Thank you for the useful informations!
I am Austrian and I'm learning a lot of new things because of your clear and slow pronunciation. The subtitles make it a lot easier to understand. So I can ideally combine both hobbies ...gardening and English ... As a primary teacher I know how important good preparations are !
My compliments !
I' m looking forward to each of your videos !
Greetings from Gumpoldskirchen ....
a wine village / 20 km far away from Vienna
Sabine Wienerl
Great video Huw, I was told that nettle tea isn't ideal for tomato because it was high in iron.
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.
Huw, thank you very much for sharing your experience, I’ve learned a great deal, and just in time as the season takes off. Your tip to create a well around the plant base is very clever. And your advice re watering cadence and ground cover is equally logical. Last season I didn’t prune my plants correctly (suckers!) and my greenhouse became a jungle! I have learned my lesson, and together with your tips, I’ll fail better this season;) Big warm hug from Ireland. Thank you.
Very cool video. That's funny I just did a raised bed of tomatoes last week and I put them on 16 inches on center. I normally try to do the single stemming thing but I never follow through. So I was thinking that the extra bit of room might actually help. It's been raining here for probably a half a month seems like straight. I know that's a exaggeration but there's a low area between my house and the garden that stays wet and I can't take my truck back there to really do much work. I haven't been able to make enough compost myself. For the garden size that I have. A full truck load of compost on wet ground probably wouldn't be a good idea. Enjoyed your video as normal have a great day
I use a bowline knot at the base making a loop that allows for stem thickening. It’s a non slip knot and very effective
Just another great video, gratz!
Awesome content as usual! I'd like to hear more about comfrey on tomatoes. I have both, but I don't want to make the comfrey tea, as I have a lab dog who love smells, and all my plants.
Yes ... I really need to work on consistent watering. I'm doing better, because I had very little blossom end rot, but I did have too much splitting in 2020. I'm about a week out from transplanting all my starts ... tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The only thing that I have planted was onions so far. Thanks for the reminder .... take care.
beautiful video! thank you for the advices. my first season of growing :)
60 plants?? 😱😱. I’m wondering how many people are you feeding from your garden? Everything seems to be on such a large scale. Watching from NZ with seasons out of phase with Wales is good for forward planning. Will use a few of these tips next spring. Great videos Huw. Cymru am Byth!
How many do you have? I have 8 and thought I was "going big or go home" then I go on YT and see people with gardens of 20something tomato plants! For a family size like mine. Im like oh so I should have gotten more than twice as many OOPS.
@@ms.anonymousinformer242 I went down last year I had 60 this year 35 lol
Thank you for All the beauty in your videos - and instruction. What do you do for pollination when growing under cover?
Thank you s mic for your info i love it!!!
Soooo muchhhh
You are doing a great job with this channel 🤩greetings from Germany
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.
This advice is for indoor tomatoes. Outdoor you have the wind doing the tap.
@@dncviorel My tomatoes are outdoors and in spite of the wind, I still notice a marked improvement with the tapping. It is especially noticeable in the tomatoes that produce long trusses, where this technique results in nearly 100% fruit development.
@@charlenenagel7962 Really? That's so interesting to hear! I'm going to use this technique as well, thank you very much for the tip! ❤️❤️❤️
@@charlenenagel7962 if you wanna get really into it you can use a qtip to pick up pollen and move it to other flowers with a light dab.
Tomato & pepper flowers, unlike squash or cucumbers, have male & female parts in each flower. No need to dab it around to other flowers. I used an electric toothbrush, with a used brush head, to simulate the bee activity. Just rest the toothbrush on the stem of each flower for 3-5 seconds & the deed is done!
Nice to see so many fellow Canadians in the comments! Happy belated Victoria Day!
Helpful. Diolch yn fawr. For added depth without making the bed deeper, use tomato haloes. Good for low watering too.
Very informative...thanks 😎🍷🇬🇧
Nice video, I started moving my toms into the polytunnel last week, still quite a lot to go though 😅
Thanks for this good ideas Sir
Very smart idea 🙂
Thank you!
6:41 - I grow my tomatoes outside. And we get strong winds at times. So outside a poly tunnel, I recommend securely anchoring the string into the ground (either burying it tied to the plant stem when planted or using a stake), and not simply tying it loosely above soil. For outdoor tomatoes, this will provide for better support in an uncertain environment. Hope this helps.
I have stakes and upside down tomato cages for mine outside as well. I'm in Texas and it gets super windy here. They're pretty tough though!
Tie a knot in the string and put it in the hole before the plant. Roots will eventually anchor it ;)
I have high winds here too, so I tie the string to a metal u staple which I plant along with the tomato. Works well.
Hi I have burried the string before but need to choose type carefully as can rot through and the weight of the crop caused unravelling and collapse. Thankfully it was possible to salvage most plants.
BRILLIANT IDEA. Thank you. If growing outside do you erect an overhead wire between two posts from which to anchor your string supports?
I've not done so as I've revamped former "ornamental gardens" into veggie plots so was planning to use stakes to support my outdoor tomatoes. I see little mention of this type of support, so perhaps it is inferior to the string method.
I'm curious to hear if anyone still uses stakes.
Fab!! Just about to set up the tunnel for my tomatoes and peppers! Can you do a quick vid on Peppers Huw?! xx
Most helpful, thank you! Do you also have a few videos and suggestions with different ideas for processing tomatoes?
Thanks for the tips, so helpful and timely especially the advice for watering, easy way to remember and not get over anxious..Great channel Huw.
Something I knew for many years and lately I see in many of my mentors don't say anything is about the need of introducing O2 to the bucket of nettles to get fermented nettles instead of rotten nettles. So I appreciate your point of view, when you introduce a piece of timber over the nettles with water .. do you stir them every day and closed back the bucket again ?? Thank you Huw ! I made the fermented concentrated you show us ...amazing! Thanks again you are a great trainer
great video all looking good
THANK YOU!
Exelente explicación,muchas gracias y por favor continúa con la traducción en español. 💚💚💚💚
This was phat dude🤟
Great news about Comfrey water and tomatoes. It works wonders on courgettes too, in my experience. Thanks Huw.
What's a courgette?
@@2Ryled Zucchini you might know them as, if you're in USA. :D
Hi Huw,I have watched a few videos on UA-cam with reference to not removing the suckers on cherry tomato plants,Just wondered what your thought are on this subject,apparently,you achieve a higher yield !!!
Growing in greenhouse look cool and productive
Gonna have to replay!
Hello Huw, thank you very much for this teaching video about tomatoes. My question is: do you use warms hummus with the compost for your soil? See you 😊
Brilliant, thanks!
You're welcome!
Good tips.
You are amazing! Loving your videos. Do you speak about the structures of the beds? How to build the beds with woods like this, they seem to be very strong. Thank you for your time!
I have just bought a 4 x 7 polycrub due to be delivered in 2 weeks time. Any tips for building or for growing. This will be my first indoor growing space other than pots in a greenhouse and I'm looking forward to having more tomato plants. Thanks for the great vlogs you provide. Take care