5 common mistakes when growing tomatoes

The tomato harvest has failed again? If you avoid these five common mistakes, your tomatoes will get back in top shape too.

You learn from mistakes. If you learn from the mistakes of others, it is all the better. When growing tomatoes in particular, mishaps can quickly happen and suddenly the plants perish or bear no fruit. So that you don't have to pay dearly, we've picked out the five most common mistakes when growing tomatoes for you and show you how you can do it better.

Error 1: The wrong location

Tomatoes like sunshine: the plant should be exposed to the sun for six to seven hours a day so that it bears a lot of fruit. If, on the other hand, the sprouts are placed in a shady place in the ground, this has a strong impact on their growth. The plants die or grow very slowly. In addition, they have a lot of leaves, but hardly any or no fruit at all. You should also pay attention to the right soil: If the soil is too heavy and does not allow water to run off, waterlogging will form. The tomato does not tolerate this at all and it can lead to diseases or to the plant perishing.

Mistake 2: early repositioning

The early bird catches the worm? Not with tomatoes. Even if the seedlings look strong and healthy, they should never be yours Sow tomatoesbefore the soil has reached a temperature of 10 ° C. Otherwise the small plants will perish and there is a risk of crop failures. It is best to wait for the ice saints so that the plants are not surprised by late frost. If the temperatures are right, however, you should not move the small plants directly. First the offspring have to get used to the new environmental influences. To do this, they are placed outside for the hour (with increasing length) in a sheltered place. However, you should be careful to avoid direct sunlight. Otherwise there is a risk of burns on the leaves of the delicate plants.

Mistake 3: more is more?

Some believe that you need as many plants as possible for the harvest to be high in the end. The opposite is often the case: If the plants are planted too densely, their growth will be stunted and they will bear less fruit. To make matters worse, the close stocking density makes the plants more susceptible to a variety of diseases, such as the Tomato late blight. The tomatoes should be at least 60 cm apart in the bed. At the Growing tomatoes in the greenhouse it may be a bit narrower, but here too a distance of 50 cm should not be undercut so that the tomatoes thrive optimally.

Mistake 4: Too much of a good thing

Of course, tomatoes need fertilizer so that they bring a lot of fruit. Then a little more can't hurt either? Wrong: Although tomatoes are heavy eaters, too much fertilization of the harvest can be fatal. Too much nitrogen in particular ensures that the plant puts more energy into its leaf growth - but the fruits fall by the wayside. They suddenly ripen much more slowly and have less flavor. So that your tomato is neither undersupplied nor oversupplied, it is best to use a primarily organic fertilizer like ours Plantura organic tomato fertilizer To fall back on. This releases its ingredients slowly and gently to the plant and provides it with all the important nutrients for over three months. This gives you resilient and strong tomato plants with a rich tomato harvest. more on the subject Tomato fertilizer you can find out in our special article.

Mistake 5: avoiding a shower

Tomatoes need a lot of water. But also with Pouring tomatoes you can do a lot wrong. In no case should you simply water the plants from above so that the leaves get wet. The risk of fungal disease increases dramatically if the leaves have been moistened with liquid and cannot dry off properly. The plant can also experience burns when the midday sun falls on the damp leaves. To avoid this, always water the plant below, just above the ground. In addition, pay attention to a balanced water balance. The soil should never dry out completely, but too much water can lead to waterlogging and the plants can die.

The variety of tomatoes is almost endless. So we have the best, old and new, for you Varieties of tomatoes compiled in this overview.