Don’t laugh o. This is serious. So I went to the market last week after drawing up a list and budget. I went to buy tomatoes and pepper, I planned to use the cheat mode I usually use on the mallams selling. “Give me all for three hundred naira”. All usually includes tomatoes, bell pepper (tatashe) and chilli pepper (rodo). You can imagine my shock when the guy revolted, “Madam, we no dey sell like that again”. Trust me, I have used this method countless times and even beg for extra. You should have seen the miserable tomatoes in a small bowl he informed me was three hundred naira. I bought it but the situation lighted a fire in me. I remembered as a child, seeing my aunt grow tomatoes and scent leaf in her backyard. I have decided to grow tomatoes and I want to involve you. Before you tell me about your landlord, they grow in pots.
So let’s begin…
Growing tomatoes is an easy process once you get the hang of it. There are many different kind of tomatoes but they are mostly made the same way just take different times for them to mature.
When starting with seeds
it is best to plant your tomatoes indoors to start with, you can put them in small containers. The seeds should be planted about 1/8 of an inch into the soil. Once the seedlings have emerge you will need to start giving the plant sunlight for it to remain sturdy.
When starting with a transplant
Obtain a healthy tomato plant. Most varieties can be grown in pots, but larger tomatoes will need larger containers. Tomato plants are also significantly easier to grow by transplant, rather than by seed.  Most tomato plants require a 15-gallon (60-liter), 18-inch (46-centimeter) pot in order to have adequate room to develop. Some small varieties may fit inside a 12-inch (30.5-centimeter) pot, but the roots will be restricted and your yield may not be very impressive. You can simply buy a potting mix from a gardener or gardening shop even those people that sell plants by roadsides. Mix fertilizers into the soil. Push the stem of the plant into the existing soil, just enough to give it a base of support.  Pack the soil around the stem of the tomato plant as you go, making sure that it remains securely fixed in the pot and does not wiggle around. Water it well but don’t drown it o. Apply a water soluble fertilizer after you water your plants in the morning. Keep an eye out for garden pests. Harvest your tomatoes one by one, once they develop their red color. The fruits should almost be completely red, with only trace amounts of green remaining. Ripe tomatoes can be plucked or snipped off their branches.
Please contact me as soon as you have ripe tomatoes.