Q&A for How to Grow a Tomato Plant

Plant your tomatoes in the spring, when the soil has warmed up, and after the last average annual frost date for your area.

They will take longer to ripen if you remove them from the plant. If you want to extend your harvest, harvest a few green tomatoes to ripen for later.

Yes, you can use these by storing the seed and letting the seed dry. Then wait for the correct season to plant the seeds, as explained in the article.

Keep them in a sunny window and rotate them every day to help them grow straight. Water only when the soil dries out. Be careful not to let the leaves get wet when you water.

Do not cut the stacks back (not the top at all) as you'll kill the plant. You can, however, trim the growth that's coming at the intersection between the leaf and the main stem to make it less bushy. If you nip the top growth, you will basically terminate the plant and cause it to die back. So, instead, push in stakes and tie the plants up with string (cotton string is fine, or butcher's string) to hold them in place. Tomato cages work well too, but should have been put in when they were only 8 to 12 inches tall.

Cut them off. Start from the bottom and then you will also be able to bury them deeper into the ground, which encourages more roots to grow.

White fungus are pests. To remove, [Make Organic Pesticide|make an organic pesticide using wikiHow]] or simply cut that leaf.

Yes. You need to pinch the growth that is coming at the very corner of the leaf of the plant, which is the junction between the leaf stem (housing all those leaflets) and the main stem. But do NOT pinch the very top growth, as this will terminate the growth of the plant and cause it to die.

That can happen if you do not prune back the growth. Suckers come from the base of the leaf where it meets the main stem, and if not pruned out, they continue to grow and produce new growth. It gets exponential if not controlled, and reduces fruit production as well. Trim the suckers out completely, and trim out any new growth coming from the base of the leaf. The suckers will have lighter green stems than the main plant. Stake up your plants to help them grow up instead of laterally over the ground.

Put in extra compost each year after harvesting your tomatoes and give the compost a whole winter to "set".

Not unless you want more. One will be sufficient for a salad or two.

Trim the growth coming from the base of the leaf, no matter how tiny. You don't need for shears, just use your thumb and forefingers to roll the growth between your fingers and let it fall away. Do not trim the growth at the top, as that is where the primary growth point is and what is needed to let the plant both continue to grow and produce fruit.

Yes, you remove plastic bag from root when planting. Otherwise the root will suffer and may die.

Those yellow flowers must be pollinated if you're going to get tomatoes. Keep them on.

Blossoms dry up because the plant is turning that flower into a fruit or body where seeds are produced. The plant needs to produce seeds so it can propagate its offspring and ensure the survivability of its species.

Mine started to blossom 4-5 weeks after seed. Be patient. It will happen.

Yes, mulching with oak leaves are good, but first chop them up with lawn mower. Large leaves hold water back from plants and take too long to decay,

No, you should not. This can limit the plant's growth over time.

The plant may be getting too much sun or not enough water.

No! This is the time when they are about to bloom and produce fruits.

Sprinkle crushed eggshells around it. Your plants are lacking in calcium, and should have had eggshell at the bottom of the hole if it was transplanted.

When your plants are about to bloom. Doing this will motivate the plant to put its energy into producing flowers and fruits instead of producing another branch or leaves.

No. One plant should give you enough tomatoes. It depends on how much you want.

Yes.

Those are the leaves or growth that comes up at the base of the main leaf. These little shoots need to be trimmed off, otherwise they become much bigger suckers that can make the plant look ugly, and cause it to become more bushy than fruit-bearing.

It sounds like those two plants may have root rot and are beyond saving. It would be best to pull them out and discard them in the compost pile.

Wait until after you have harvested, usually between October and December.

If you want, but you're better off maintaining the growth coming in at the base of the main leaves. Don't trim the tops as that's where the growth point is. That way it forces the plants to put energy into fruit production instead of leaf and stem production.

Yes, but make sure to let them cool down before mixing them into the soil to avoid harming the plants.

Tomatoes are actually perennials in warm climates where there is no killing frost or freezing winters. Bring them inside, in pots, to keep them producing fruit and maintain the once or twice weekly pruning schedule. Water regularly, and you will get regular fruit even during the winter.