All About Home and Garden

If you wanted a couple of tomatoes, you'd probably just go to the supermarket and pick up some of those red ones. I think of this as more of a hassle, though. You have to get dressed, drive or walk over to the supermarket, spend a great deal of time picking out the best tomatoes out of a pile that doesn't even look so good, wait at the long lineup, pay, and finally haul your groceries back home. But what if you could grow your own tomatoes in the convenience of your own home without traveling back and forth from the supermarket?

In fact, you could do the same for other vegetables and fruits, but because tomatoes are loved by most people and is the most versatile vegetable (or fruit) to be included in your recipes. Because growing tomatoes in containers is cost effective, convenient, and easy, there are many reasons why you should grow tomatoes at home.

It is much easier to start your tomato plants in containers because there is less to take care of. This is an advantage for beginners who don't know about or are new to gardening. In fact, because you are a beginner, you should start with growing smaller tomato varieties, like red cherry or grape tomatoes, since their roots take up less space and are smaller.

Starting out in the garden can cause some problems, such as possibilities for contamination from neighboring plants, harsh weather conditions or bad climate, or bad soil laced with fungi and viruses. It's important to always start with new soil because old soil can be contaminated or depleted of nutrients. Though you can change the soil in your tomato garden, it is a huge time- and money-eater due to the larger area and the labor; however, simply adding new soil into your tomato-growing containers is just so much easier, both on your back and your bank!

Be aware that raising tomato plants require constant maintenance including watering, pruning, staking, and feeding. Because your container tomato plants can be simply placed on your patio or deck, tending to them requires fewer steps from your home to the plants. In fact, these tomato plants can even be planted indoors, with the help of light boxes or just from the natural sunlight coming through the window. When growing tomatoes in containers during the colder seasons, they can simply be brought indoors and maintained with the help of light boxes. If you planted your tomatoes outside in the garden, they must be harvested before the cold strikes or your crops are ruined, and hard work lost. For aesthetic reasons, these portable tomato plants can free up space in your garden for hardier plants like strawberries, for planting flowers, or just left empty if your don't like crowding your back yard. Conversely, having them on your patio makes the place more attractive and lively, sure to bring up comments by your guests and friends.

Since tomatoes are relatively disease resistant and don't attract insects that much, choosing tomatoes as your first growing experience is great for beginners. The challenges that are involved when growing tomatoes in containers are moderate enough to become a great learning process, especially if you decide to grow other vegetables and fruits in containers in the future.

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