When growing plants that bear fruits, like tomatoes, there are some extra things to remember.

Summary:

  1. Only grow one tomato plant per pot. Sow 2-3 seeds in the same spot and if more than one seed sprouts, remove the rest.
  2. Tomato flowers are self-pollinating, but shaking them can improve pollination.
  3. Some tomato plants need to be pruned, but not all. Check which type you’re growing.
  4. Auk is great for pre-cultivating tomato plants.


1. How to sow

We recommend growing one tomato plant per pot and a maximum of two tomato plants in the Auk at a time. If you have more plants, there will be less light for each one. This will make them spindly, with fewer flowers and less fruit.

Sow 2-3 seeds in the same spot in a pot. If more than one seed sprouts, remove the extra plants to leave just one. If you don't want to throw away the plants you remove, you can re-pot them outside the Auk.

2. You can help the flowers pollinate

For tomatoes to grow, the flowers must be pollinated. This is the fertilization of the flowers, which are the plant's reproductive organs.

Tomato plants are self-pollinating, which means that the flowers pollinate themselves, but you can help as many flowers as possible to pollinate. To do this, regularly shake the plant or blow on the flowers.

3. Pruning tomato plants

Some tomato plants need pruning. There are two different types: determinate and indeterminate. The indeterminate types grow almost without limits (the world's tallest measured 20 meters!), so they need to be pruned. The determinate types stop growing when they reach a certain size, so they don’t need pruning.

We sell three different tomato seeds in our online store: Twiggy orange, Cocktail tomato, and Tarzan tomato. Of these, only the Tarzan tomato needs pruning.

Remove side shoots to encourage the growth of tomatoes:
The side shoots come out above the leaves growing down the stem and are also called "suckers" (because they suck energy from the plant, that should rather be used for growing tomatoes). They should all be removed:


Trim the top shoots if the plant becomes too tall, growing beyond the light. Keep as many flowers or tomato clusters as possible, though you may need to remove some to reduce height. Here we’re trimming right above a flower cluster:

4. Auk is excellent for pre-cultivating tomato plants

You can pre-cultivate tomato plants; start them up in Auk, and re-pot them to grow in a greenhouse or outdoors during the summer.

When pre-cultivating, grow 1-5 plants in each of the six pots. The number of seeds depends on how big you want the plants to be before repotting them.

The plants can be repotted any time after they sprout. If they’re going to grow outside or in a greenhouse, wait until the temperature at night is at least 46°F (8°C). If you’re not using a greenhouse, place the tomato plants in a protected, sunny spot.

Is there anything else you’re wondering about? Don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@auk.eco or check out more articles :)