One of the big problems growing tomatoes seems like it would be simple to avoid, but that is easier said than done. There are problems you run into when buying tomatoes that do not show up with a lot of other tomato gardening supplies. Unfortunately, most of the tomato gardening tips you read about do not prepare you for the fact that sometimes you don’t get what you wanted. This article will discuss some of the reasons why you do not end up with the plants you wanted.
Shopping for tomatoes is not like going to buy groceries where you have the array of choices in front of you and you pick the size and flavor, and put it in the cart to buy. When you get home, what you thought you picked out in the store is right there in your shopping bag and ready to use. Shopping in a tomato gardening supplies department does not quite work that way.
The problem is this: You went to the store and picked out four or five plants recommended for baking because you want to make home made spaghetti sauce. What you end up with are those Italian grape tomatoes used in salads, that not only are smaller than you wanted, but it will take a whole lot more to make sauce,not to mention no good for your burgers.
Here is an explanation of why you have these problems growing tomatoes:
Problem One: They all look the same. Honestly, one tomato plant looks like all the rest. There is no way to tell one type of tomato from another. The leaves are the same, they smell the same, they look like tomato plants.
Problem Two: There is really only one way to tell which brand or style you are buying and that is with the little tabs they put in the soil with the details you need to know about the plant. It is hard to read them while they are in the plant, so you usually have to take it out to read. This is where things can start to go wrong, as it would be really easy to put the tab back into the wrong plant pack.
Problem Three: It will take at least a month,if not more,before you realize your mistake. It is not until you see the tomato on the vine that you will know you got the wrong kind like if is yellow instead of red, or a grape tomato size instead of a big juicy tomato. Things get more complicated when only one of the plants is the wrong kind because as you know from the tomato gardening tips you read, cross pollination between a small tomato and larger ones results in all of them being smaller.
There really should be no problems growing tomatoes, as long as you have the plants you actually chose at the tomato gardening supplies section of your local garden center. Then all you have to do is use your common sense gardening knowledge, not to mention all the tomato gardening tips that your neighbors will share with you, as they watch you work!