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 Growing your own vegetables is a treat. There's something so very special about eating what has grown in your garden. Tomatoes are amongst the easier plants to start off with in your vegetable garden. The latest health reports say that tomatoes, besides being packed with Vitamin C, also have properties that help to fight cancer. Do we really need any more reasons to have this vegetable growing in our very own gardens? A few things we need to keep in mind while planting tomatoes are: Tomato plants need their own space. So don't try and cramp them together. It will tell on the quality of the plant. Each stem should be at least two feet away from each other. A distance of three feet is considered ideal though. It helps to stalk the plant. You get better quality fruit. All you need to do is stick a slim but sturdy pole (preferably bamboo) into the ground near the plant. Wrap the stalk and the leaves of the plant around the pole. If it doesn't hold well, tie it up gently with nylon cords. This helps keeping off slug and insect damage to the plant. Tomatoes need regular plant food. So make sure you fertilise them regularly. The vegetable consists largely of water. So pay extra attention to their water supply. If you don't it will tell on the quality of the fruit. While they look normal on the outside, black rot sets in on the inside. The ground needs to be kept wet with regular and deep watering. Sometimes, when the ground tends to be dry, you can use a simpler version of the drip irrigation. Take a pot or bottle. Make a tiny hole in it. Place it on the ground next to the plant. Fill it with water. All through the day, there will be a steady trickle of water to the plant. This is a very effective method in keeping the roots damp. Protect your plants from the cold wind. They need plenty of warmth. So choose a sunny place in your garden to grow them.
Homegrown tomatoes could be smaller than the regular ones. But that really shouldn't matter.
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