1.0 The realist urban farmer: Growing a Tomato plant
You have probably come across various DIYs on farming and “how tos” for growing “amazing, fresh, organic veggies right in your backyard with almost no effort!” on the internet and as an enthusiast you have actually tried out a few, most of the time failing because of lack of a detailed approach to it.
As an amateur myself, to get resources, all I could think of was to google “how to grow veggies” and a plethora of links came on and I could not contain my excitement on how easy it was to grow vegetables! I guess, I had to learn it the hard way.
My very first attempt was to plant a tomato seed. Not a person with patience, I cut up a slice of tomato and put it in a pot I found lying around with dry soil and waited for a few days for a tiny little seedling to come out; No, it does not work that way. Nothing popped out magically! But slowly and steadily I understood, a lot more fundamentals needed to be cleared than just ‘plant and wait’. From different weather conditions in India to nutrients plants need, each step has nuances.
In this blog, I would not attempt to sound like it is really easy to grow veggies and maintain them, or letting it lie around and it would grow magically; I would be taking a more realistic approach and be crisp & clear on how to work your way into productive gardening by stating steps and things you require to grow good quality veggies. I plan to post various helpful links I stumble upon, post pictures of progress, or videos of the process, and try and answer questions for other urban farmers.
For the first chapter of this blog, I will be listing down steps on “How to grow Tomato seedlings in hot and dry climatic conditions”.
“How to plant a tomato seed and transplant the seedling.”
Things you require:
1 pot (about 4 or 5inch diameter): To fill in the pot: Some compost (either home made or available at a nursery), sand (beach sand or sand used in construction), soil (available at a nursery), coco peat (made out of coconut peels, available at a nursery) and a few gravel stones (stones or a broken piece of pot should work) for layering at the bottom.
Tomato seeds or slices of Tomatoes (can scrap off from tomatoes available at home)
Tumbler of water
Step 1: Take the pot (make sure it has a hole in it at the bottom) and start by putting in the gravel stones at the bottom and layer it for about 2 to 3 inches or put broken piece of a pot on the hole of the pot. This ensures that the extra water seeps out.
Step 2: Take the sand and layer it above the gravel for about 2 inches.
Step 3: Take the soil and layer it above the sand.
Step 4: Take equal amounts of coco peat and compost and add to the last layer of the potting process. The compost ensures the necessary nutrients for the plant and coco peat retains the water. Make sure you dont completely fill up the pot. Keep about 1 to 2 inches of space.
Step 5: Take the tomato seeds or slices and put them in the pot about 3 to 5 cm apart. Add a thin layer of soil over it so as to protect the seeds from blowing away or moving within the pot. Sprinkle water on it with your hands. Don’t let the water stay on it as this would allow the seeds to slip away with the water.
Step 6: Keep the pot with the seedling in partial shade until it is transplanted and then the plant can be put in a sunny spot in winters, summer heat is harsh in India and may damage the plant, so keeping it in partial shade in summers would work well (I put mine in a balcony as that is where it gets maximum sun, and can be covered in summers) and keep watering twice daily until you see a seedling coming out. (Finally, right?) You should be able to see the tomato seedling come out in about a week’s time. In aboout 15 days it is ready to be transplanted.
TRANSPLANTING THE TOMATO SEEDLING
Things you require:
Small trowel (You can buy your set of gardening tools from amazon)
1 Pot for each seedling more than 5 inches diameter(layered in the manner mentioned above)
Process: After the seedlings are about 7 to 8 inches high take the smaller trowel and dig in deep (so that you dont break any roots) and take out the layer of soil with the seedling. Plant this seedling in the other pot covering most of the plant keeping only about 3 inches of it above the soil, this would ensure stronger and straighter growth for the tomato plant. Be gentle with the process as the seedlings are not very strong and can break easily. Water it immediately after transplanting with a sprinkler (or gently pour water thoroughly) and keep watering it twice daily.
Be patient with your tomato plant and keep growing :D
Until next time !
