Growing tomatoes

Our 12 tomato plants - split up between three pots - are doing very well now, although I had my doubts for a while about whether we'd actually get any fruit from them...they spent an awful long time in the flowering stage. But after eating a couple and with plenty more on the vine, I feel like that worrying was completely unnecessary (as it usually is).


What I've learned about tomato gardening this year:

• These plants like their roots covered up, and their roots start surprisingly far up on the stem, so we've had to add more soil to re-cover them as the old stuff got matted down. Apparently you can bury them right up to below the first leaves when you plant them. (read that too late.)
• Last week Jason cut the tops off the plants so they don't grow too tall, and did a little more pruning so that non-producing branches are gone. Since then several more little tomatoes have appeared and we're even getting new flower buds, which I didn't think would happen. Tomatoes like having resources directed to them rather than wasted on the whole plant!
• Even on cloudy days, I'm amazed how you can literally see the tomatoes ripening. They get several shades of orange darker every day.

And tomato plants just smell really good. Even if they didn't produce, that would almost be enough reason to grow them. :)