Gardening tips to successfully plant and grow tomatoes at home

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables in India and are equally easy to grow. One can grow this vegetable even when they have an enclosed balcony with sunlight access. Tomatoes thrive in sunlight and grow pretty quick in the tropical climate of India. For growing tomatoes, you can use either the seeds or a ripe tomato. Here is how you can grow tomatoes in your vegetable garden . 

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How to grow tomatoes at home

• Start with cutting the tomatoes in thin slices. These slices will ensure that the seeds are exposed. If the slices are thickly cut, the seedlings would overlap each other and hence it would be difficult to separate them. 
• Place the tomato slices on top of the half-filled pot.
• Then cover up the tomato slices with an inch layer of the soil so that the slices are not visible. Place only 3-4 slices in an 11-inch deep pot. 
• The whole soil should be irrigated properly and to ensure that, keep adding water until you see it seeping down from the drainage hole of the pot. 
• Place the pot in a sunny spot at your home as the tomatoes require 3-4 hours of direct sunlight for growing. 

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Gardening tips to grow tomatoes

• Use a regular potting mix for growing tomato. This mix can be made by using normal garden soil which is mixed with cocopeat and vermicompost in equal parts. 
• Tomatoes do not need much watering, so add water only when the soil is dry.
• Make sure that you always keep the pot in the vicinity of the sun. A minimum of 3-4 hours of direct sun is needed to grow tomatoes. 
• You can replant the seedlings in different pots so that you grow one tomato plant in a single pot. 
• Tomatoes are shallow-rooted plants so a 9-inch pot or a higher pot will work well. Once the plant has grown, you can move them into a bigger pot.
• For replenishing the nutrients of the soil at intervals, you can use compost, manure or even seaweed solution. 
• You can get organic tomatoes at home if you avoid using pesticides or chemical agents to keep the pests and plant diseases at bay. 

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