For optimal results, we recommend growing tomatoes and herbs separately using the tailored plant programs (we have one plant chip for tomatoes & chili and one for herbs & salads). However, here are some tips if you want to try growing them together.
In summary:
- Tomatoes and herbs need different light and nutrients, and the plant programs are adapted to their needs. If you want to grow them together, choose the program for the plants that are more important to you.
- Tomatoes and other fruit-bearing plants grow large, consuming a lot of light. If you plan to have herbs in other pots, you shouldn't have more than one tomato plant. If you're growing tomatoes alone, we recommend having only 1-3 plants per Auk.
Here, we have three tomato plants at the top. They cast shadows on the rest of the area, making it difficult for herbs to thrive in the other pots, as they also need light.
Different nutrition and light for various plant types
The plant chip for herbs & salad provides, among other things, a whiter light and potassium-deficient nutrition that promotes stem and leaf growth while delaying flowering for as long as possible. This allows the herbs to continue growing, giving you a prolonged harvest.
Conversely, the plant chip for tomatoes & chili provides a warmer light and more potassium-rich nutrition, encouraging flowering and later maturation. This way, you get numerous flowers and flavorful fruits.
If you want to try growing herbs and tomatoes simultaneously, select the program for the plant that is most important to you. If you use the herbs & salads program with tomatoes, it might take longer before you see tomatoes, and they might have less flavor. If you use the tomato & chili program with herbs, the lifespan of the herbs might be shorter as they flower faster.
Tomatoes and other fruit-producing plants grow large and need a lot of light. Light is the energy source for plants and facilitates their growth, so if the tomato plants get all the light, the other plants will grow more slowly – no light, no plant! To ensure light for the other pots, try trimming and supporting the tomato plant with support sticks and rearranging the pots. Alternatively, you can transplant tomato plants into larger pots outside of Auk when they start getting big.
Good luck!