Sowing

• Being very easy to grow, tomatoes can be sown throughout the year.
• For sowing take a seedling tray with medium sized cells & drainage holes at the bottom.
• Fill the seedling tray with a growing medium. Ideal growing medium for tomatoes is Coco Peat if you are growing them indoors and Fine Soil if you are growing them outdoors.
• Hold the Tomato seeds in your left palm & sow 2-3 seeds per cell/cup.
• Do not sow cherry tomato seeds in too deep.
• Place your seeds on the surface of the medium and use the inside with the tip of a pencil and cover the surface with coco peat ensuring that the seeds are covered.
• Alternately, you can also make shallow depressions in the medium using the back of a pencil and put your seeds inside these depressions and cover them up with coco peat.
• Keep the seedling tray indoors till the seeds germinate.
• Provide 2 tablespoons of water every day to the seeds. Of you can also keep the seed tray in another tray full of water for half an hour so that the water will be absorbed by the seed cells from the bottom, via drainage holes.
• To encourage germination, place the seed tray in a box or cover it with paper for first 4-5 days.
• If seeds are planted outdoors on seed beds, protect them from heavy rainfall or direct sunlight.
• Cover your seed bed by making a temporary roof of a plastic sheet. Water it in the form of a light shower using a watering can.

Caring

• Tomato seeds will germinate within 6 - 8 days and tiny sprouts will be visible at this stage.
• Once seeds germinate, put the tray in an open partially sunny spot near the window. Don’t cover the tray anymore.
• Second week onwards your seedlings will start growing into a plant. At this stage expose the seedling tray to more sunlight to encourage leaf growth.
• Keep one seedling per hole and cut off the smaller seedlings using a pair of scissors.
• Four weeks after sowing your seeds, your seedlings will be ready for transplantation.
• You can transplant the seedlings to container pots or raised beds.
• Ideal planting mixture for Tomato seedlings is2 part garden soil & 1 part organic manure OR part garden soil, 1 part coco-peat & 1 part Vermicompost.
• Transplant the seedling along with root ball of a medium.
• Tomato seedlings can be transplanted deeper into the planting mixture. This will encourage root formation.
• Plant the seedlings minimum 2 feet apart (60x60 or 60x45 cm) from each other on raised beds. Plant only single seedling at the centre of a single regular 8-12 inch pot.
• Before transplanting the seedling, use a good quality organic manure in the soil with 2:1 ratio. Organic fertilizer can be well rotten cow dung manure, farmyard manure, compost or vermicompost.
• Make sure your cherry tomato plant is receiving sufficient sunlight. Tomatoes require full sunlight.
• Tomatoes are weak trailing plants. They need trellis for support, particularly at the fruiting stage. You can use locally available material like bamboo, wood sticks, wires, tapes, ropes to make trellis of your own.
• Tomato plants will start flowering at the beginning of month 3.
• Tomatoes can be harvested 60-70 from the sowing of seeds & harvesting season can continue for next 3 months or so.

Common Problems

Why is my Tomato not ripening?
Ideal temperature to grow Tomatoes is 70 to 75°F. When the temperature exceeds 85 °F,the ripening process of cherry tomatoes slows down or can even stop.
Why are my Tomato seed not germinating?
Tomato seeds need a lot of moisture when they are germinating. Lack of moisture in the soil can hamper the growth of your seeds.
Why is my Tomato plant wilting?
Tomato plants will begin to wilt if they are under-watered. Make sure you are watering your plant sufficiently to avoid wilting.